How Switzerland Cuts the Tax-Rate By 



Forest ' Harvesting ' 



Tlie municipal forests of Aarau, SicitzcrJand, prodticc an average gross profit 

 of $14 per acre. 



The richest state forests of Gcrmaini seldom surpass a revenue of $5.60 per 

 acre. 



Temperatures, winter and sa)nnier, modified hij the thick, forest regions. 



Landslides, torrents and avalanclics rendered impossible in many places by 

 proper care of pine trees. 



Switzerland uses for forest purposes chiefly land unsuited for agriexdture. 



By Marie Widmcr. 



(Contributed to the Canadian Forestry 

 Journal.) 



iSIore than one-fifth of the whole area of 

 Switzerland, i.e., 21.869^, is covered with 

 forests, and this proportion increases to 

 28% when one considers the area of the 

 productive land only. About 67% of these 

 forests belong to individual villages or 

 cities; 28.5% are private property, and 

 4.5% only pertain to the individual can- 

 tons. The ownership by canton, village or 

 jirivate persons shows a remarkable varia- 

 tion in the case of each canton and we thus 

 find that the cantonal governments of Va- 

 lais, Tieino, Grisons and Uri possess prac- 

 tically no forests. The biggest percentage 

 of forests owned by villages, i.e., 94.3%, is 

 however found in the Valais, and the great- 

 est percentage of private-owned forests, i.e.. 

 78.87^, is to be found in the canton of 

 Lucerne. 



A VAEIED SHOWING. 



Generally speaking, we encounter the most 

 extensive forest conservation, i.e., in a j)ro- 

 jiortion of 31-42% of the whole territory 

 available for cultivation, in vne Jura, and 

 the cantons of Basel (Land), Schaffnauseu, 

 Aargau, Soleure and Neuchatel have thus 

 the greatest number of forests. Geneva, 

 Basel (Stailty and Uri find themselves in 

 a reverse position, having to import most 

 of their timber, and the Alpine cantons of 

 the Grisons, Valais and Obwalden show a 

 timber production which exceeds by far 

 their own requirements. 



The timber production of the Swiss for- 

 ests generally has reached the comparatively 

 high figure of 40 million francs a year. The 

 average annual export amounts to about 3 

 million francs, but there is still an annuiJ 

 importation of wood for about 30 million 

 francs. This somewhat surprisingly big im- 

 port is explained by a continually increased 

 demand for wood by the paper industry, also 

 by a much developed building activity. 



A PAYING PBOPOSITION. 



The statistics available concerning the 

 average increase of the Swiss forest culti- 



vation do not yet suffice by far for an 

 approximate valuation of the respective 

 financial returns. However, in all those 

 cases, where it has been possible to investi- 

 gate the question, the ])roposition has jiroven 

 iti-elf a paying one. 



Thus it is shown for instance that the 

 muni("ipal forests of Aarau produce an aver- 

 age gross profit of $14 per acre, those of 

 Zurich, Winterthur and Morat $12 per acre, 

 and the most recent statistics in the case 

 of ^Vinterthur indicate a revenue of $14.90 

 per acre. Admitting that these are some- 

 what exceptional instances, we nevertheless 

 find that the general results of the cantonal 

 forests of Aargau and Ziirich reach a gross 

 profit of $8 per acre, while the richest state 

 forests in Germany scarcely ever surpass a 

 revenue of $5.(30 per acre. The returns in 

 the Jura and the Alps, where the soil is 

 naturally poorer, amount to $3.25 to $4.80 

 per acre. 



This steady and ever increasing reveiuie 

 yielded by the forests helps to reduce taxa- 

 tion in Switzerland to a minimum. 



It must also be remembered that these 

 forests frequently occupy land which would 

 not be fitted for any other cultivation and 

 that their very j^resence has, moreover, an 

 immense climatic and hygienic value. 



TREES AND CLIMATE. 



No place becomes o])pressive from the 

 summer's heat or unpleasant through the 

 winter 's cold if it is situated in a forest 

 region. It is an established fact that all 

 the renowned Swiss health and pleasure re- 

 sorts are in closest vicinity to woods and 

 forests whose purifying presence and whole- 

 some fragrance acts liKe a tonic on the 

 hmnan system. 



In certain mountainous regions where 

 lands^iiies, torrents and avalanches would 

 otherwise cause fearful havoc, the forests 

 alone can ward these disasters off. This is 

 the reason why every pine is held sacred in 

 those districts, and why but small tracts of 

 forests are denuded at one time and are 

 immediately replanted. 



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