construction, described above, would easily 
be paid for in full by the profit on the timber, 
until now considered inaccessible, that would 
be taken out over it during the coming year. 
Higher up on the same mountain slope in 
the Sch6nmiinzwald was seen a small area of 
truly original forest where no cutting had 
ever been done. This area also is soon to be 
opened up by a road. It is probably one of 
the last bits of virgin forest in Germany. 
THE PICTURESQUE 
ODENWALD 
Considered specifically each of the three for- 
est regions visited in Germany differs from 
the others in the character of the topography, 
the composition of the forest, and consequent- 
ly in the method of forest management. The 
Odenwald is an area lying to the south and 
east of Darmstadt, in the state of Hesse. It 
is roughly 25 or 30 miles square; rolling 
country where the slopes and hill tops are 
forested and the valleys and lower lying lands 
are used for agriculture. It is'an attractive 
of minor commercial importance. Not so in 
Germany. The European species reaches a 
good height and is characterized by long, 
columnar boles from which can be made ex- 
cellent lumber. But the reason for favoring 
the beech lies at quite another door; the de- 
mand for fuel. The use of coal for fuel is of 
comparatively recent date, not much over a 
century anywhere. In the rural districts of 
Germany wood is still:the main fuel, as is at- 
tested by the high, porcelain stoves, which 
continue for hours to radiate heat, and are 
typical not only of private houses, but of of- 
fices and other buildings as well. Beech is 
considered the best fuel wood and it was to 
insure a supply that this species was favored 
in the local forests. The extensive use of 
beech for lumber has come about only in rela- 
tively recent years. 
There are many communal forests in the 
Odenwald which supply forest products to the 
people of the villages. Many of these forests 
were established in exchange for old time 
CONSTRUCTING 
A FOREST 
ROAD IN THE 
SCHONMUNZ- 
WALD IN THE 
BLACK FOREST 
region from the tourist standpoint, for there 
are many picturesque villages, and on certain 
of the hills the ruins of old castles that date 
back to feudal times. A case in point is Lin- 
denfels, where the towers of the old schloss 
dominate the little settlement that clusters 
close about the foot of the crag, in part still 
encircled by the ancient wall. Before the 
days of artillery these places could easily be 
defended against an attacking enemy; conse- 
quently the people all lived in compact little 
towns, cultivating the fields outside as oppor- 
tunity offered. The custom has persisted and 
even today the isolated farm house is the ex- 
ception. There is need that all the tillable 
land be used for growing food crops; the lo- 
cal authorities make it difficult for any one to 
devote it for other purposes than farming. 
The Odenwald is essentially a beech forest. 
With us in the United States beech is a tree 
rights, or servitudes, that had come down 
from the middle ages. They are under care- 
ful management, in some places by a modifi- 
cation of the shelterwood method, when nat- 
ural reproduction is re-enforced by artificial 
planting. The tendency today is to introduce 
more conifers and so create a mixed forest 
having a greater commercial value. Also 
there are found in the Odenwald many tracts 
of forest belonging to the old families, In- 
deed one of the things that kept up many of 
the families of the lesser nobility in Germany 
was the forest. Entail was required by laws 
which also stipulated that the forest area on 
the estate should not be diminished. In this 
Way, and by careful Management, the estate 
had an assured income that often was the 
chief support of the head of the family and his 
dependents. Since the incoming of the repub- 
lic laws have been enacted that forbid entail, 
(40) 
