Canadian Forestry Journal. July, igi6. 



609 



There has been no great activity 

 in the lumber industry in the newly 

 acquired parts of Serbia. The de- 

 velopment of those regions has been 

 hindered for decades, by the un- 

 certainty of the political conditions 

 in the Balkans, which has not been 

 removed by the passing of these 

 territories into the kingdom of Ser- 

 bia. As a consequence of which 

 foreign capital could be raised only 

 for the exploitation of the rich min- 

 eral resources such as copper, man- 

 ganese and gold. Such capital as 

 did enter Serbia in recent years 

 came chiefly from France. 



The forests of Serbia are for the 

 most part, virgin stands of mixed 

 species. The varieties are seldom 

 found in pure growths. The lower 

 elevations are for the most part cov- 

 ered with white beech, while the 

 finest fir and pine stands are found 

 at considerable altitudes. It is la- 

 mentable that the lower part of the 

 trunks are in many instances ruined 

 by a practice of the shepherds, 

 which has been carried on since the 

 history of man. This consists of 

 building fires on the lee side of the 

 pine trees directly against the 

 trunks. The flow of resin which 

 exudes from the tree in an effort to 

 eft'ace the scars, in turn gives the 

 shepherd the best sort of kindling 

 with which to light new fires. 



New forestry regulations have 

 never been enforced in Serbia. Now 

 and then there has been an order for 

 the complete removal of forest cov- 

 ering in various parts of the country, 

 where it was deemed that the land 

 was more suited for agricultural or 

 grazing purposes. The government 

 imposes a cutting tax upon such 

 timber as is removed, the measure- 

 ments being determined by forest 

 officers. 



The principal difficulty, even in 

 supplying the meagre requirements 

 of the domestic consumption has 

 arisen from the lack of transporta- 

 tion facilities. The mountains on 

 which the timber stands, are often 



rugged and broken and the rivers 

 which issue therefrom are conse- 

 quently crooked and hemmed in 

 with rocks, which make driving very 

 difficult. Railroads and highways 

 in many sections are almost entirely 

 wanting. Logging operations can 

 be carried on only along the larger 

 streams. 



The timber is removed from the 

 mountain slopes usually by means 

 of chutes running to the rivers. Sled 

 roads are built along the mountain 

 sides over which the logs are hauled 

 to the edge of the inclines. Hauling 

 is done only in the winter when the 

 snow is of sufficient depth. Oxen 

 are used chiefly on the sled roads. 

 Where the topography is more fa- 

 vorable, horse trucks are sometimes 

 used. These trucks are operated 

 over wooden tracks. One of the log 

 chutes built by the Traders' Bank 

 is one and a 'half miles in length, 

 raised at the lower end to check the 

 speed of the descending load. The 

 logs are stored at the end of the 

 slides from whence they are rafted 

 down stream. 



In some localities, the Bleichert 

 system of cable-way transportation 

 has been used with great success. 

 These cable lines are of great serv- 

 ice in the rough country. The lines 

 often swing for hundreds of vards 

 over v^alleys, penetrating mountai:i 

 walls through tunnels, and making 

 sharp turns. The cable-ways also 

 serve for the transportation of men 

 and supplies and special carriages 

 have been designed for the purpose. 

 One of these lines which is operated 

 by the Traders' Bank of Belgrade 

 has a drop of nearly 4,000 feei in 

 six miles It is constructed with 

 stations at various poincs. Thi.s 

 company found the Bleicherc .sys- 

 tem of great value as the stream" in 

 •his jmrticular locality, before enter- 

 ing into the Drina River, narroAvs 

 <iown to less than seven feet in 

 width, flowing with great rapidity 

 th.^cugh this box canyon and making 

 driving impossible. 



