PEACTICAL FOEESTEY. 43 



of these dunes, which once were blown about by the wind until they 

 overwhelmed great stretches of fertile ground, and even threatened 

 to bury whole towns, are now covered with forests of pine, and 

 produce great quantities of turpentine, lumber, and charcoal. 



Switzerland. — In Switzerland forestry received attention from 

 very early times. Nearly two hundred years before the discovery 

 of America the city of Zurich began to make rules for the protection 

 and management of the Sihlwald, a forest which it still owns, and 

 which now yields an annual return of about $8 per acre. In the 

 Canton of Bern a decree of the year 1592 warned the people against 

 the wasteful use of timber and provided for the protection of the 

 forest along various lines. It also directed that for every tree cut 

 down a young one should be planted in its place. It is curious to 

 find this mistaken prescription for the ills of the forest already in 

 fashion more than three centuries ago. To save the forest every 

 old tree must be replaced by many young ones. 



The first general forest law of Bern was passed as early as 172.5. 

 It embodied the most important principles of wise forest Ipgislation 

 as we know them to-day. But this was only one of a long series of 

 forest laws in which, from the beginning, the idea of the importance 

 of the forest to others besides its owner became steadily stronger. 

 The citizens of Bern have grown ever more willing to place restric- 

 tions on themselves for the benefit of the Commonwealth. 



There were great floods in Switzerland in 18.34, and they were the 

 cause of a general awakening of interest in forestry. Somewhat 

 later a federal forest commission was appointed. Since the appear- 

 ance of its final report in 1861 the progress of forestry in Switzerland 

 has been steady. In 1875 a federal forest inspector was appointed, 

 and a year later the first Swiss forest law was passed. This law 

 does not extend to the whole of Switzerland, but only to the Alps 

 and the steeper foothills. In a country of steep mountains it is of first 

 importance to guard the forests on the higher slopes. Consequently 

 all the forests on these higher lands which serve to protect the low- 

 lands against floods, avalanches, and other similar dangers of wind 

 and weather are put in charge of the Swiss federal forest service. 



A great saying of Landolt: "Our forest laws," said Ehas Landolt, 

 a great and simple man, whose name stands first among Swiss for- 

 esters, "are intended to work more through instruction, good 

 example, and encouragement than by severe regulations. This 

 method is somewhat slower than one which should involve harsher 

 measures, but the results achieved are more useful and lasting. 

 When forest owners do something because they are convinced of its 

 usefulness it is done well and with an eye to the future, but what 

 they do under compulsion is done carelessly and neglected at the 



358 



