wholesale exploitation. Under forestry the 
productivity of the forest has been restored 
and will be permanently maintained. . The 
forstmeister, Herr Stephani, has been in 
charge many years and has worked out adap- 
tations of the silvicultural methods that ex- 
actly fit his conditions. For this reason the 
Schifferschaftwald has especial interest for 
the forester, but it is well worth a visit from 
any one who wishes to see what can be ac- 
complished under intensive forestry. 
SCHONMUNZWALD 
AND HERRENWIES 
The adjoining forest of Schéumiinzwald is 
similar in many ways but differs considerably 
from the Schifferschaftwald in the details of 
Management. Here the mature crop is re- 
moved in a series of narrow strips, made di- 
agonally across and down the slope, between 
the roads. If reproduction is not secured 
through natural seeding quickly enough fully 
to stock the area with an even aged stand, 
nursery grown transplants are set out in the 
spaces. These two forests lie close together, 
in one place coming to a common boundry, 
but local conditions make it desirable that 
they be treated in different ways. It was on 
Schonmiinzwald that I saw the area of vir- 
gin forest and the road construction, referred 
to above. ‘This forest is in the state of Wiirt- 
temberg. 
Herrenwies forest lies a few miles to the 
northwest of those just described, the village 
of Herrenwies being rather more easily 
reached from the city of Baden-Baden, if one 
travels by automobile. Some of the logs from 
this forest also go out that way down the val- 
ley of the Buhl; the rest finding their outlet 
down the Murg. The working plan for the 
forest of Herrenwies dates from 1843, per- 
haps the most striking feature being the 
steadily rising yield per hectare in the pass- 
ing decades. There is considerable trouble at 
Herrenwies because of windthrow. The meth- 
od of reproduction is to obtain the new crop 
through natural seeding through an extended 
period of regeneration. To the forester Her- 
renwies is also a most' interesting place to 
visit. 
Apart from the technical aspect these three 
forests make a special appeal to professional 
foresters because to them on their periodic 
excursions, it was the custom in éarlier years 
to bring the students from the British For- 
est School, Cooper’s Hill. These excursions 
were led by Sir William Schlich, now profes- 
sor of forestry, emeritus, at Oxford univer- 
sity, or by Sir Dietrich Brandis, the forester 
of German birth to whom is due so much of 
the credit of establishing the forest service of 
British India. Certain group pictures from 
that time, 20 to 40 years ago, remind the 
visitor that he is following in the footsteps of 
many foresters who have gone out to all parts 
of the world in the practice of their profes- 
sion. 
My trip also included a visit to the city for- 
est of Heidelberg, an excellent example of a 
forest that is being transformed from coppice, 
or sprout growth, into stands of high forest 
(trees that have been grown from seed). Cop- 
pice forests serve a useful purpose but for 
timber production and quality one must have 
high forest. The Heidelberg city forest is 
divided into two parts. One lies on the stcep 
hills back of the town, above the old castle, 
from the forest roads beautiful views are to 
be had up and down the Neckar valley; the 
other part is across the river from the city 
on lower ground. Space does not permit of 
a more extended account of this forest, but it 
should be mentioned that there are here an 
interesting series of sample plots in which va- 
rious exotic trees, among them species from 
the western United States, are being observed 
and tried out. Experiments of this type often 
yield data of great value when systematically 
continued over a long series of years. 
CONCLUSION— 
THE LESSON 
No attempt has been made in this letter to 
give statistics, or to elaborate the details of 
technical management. Rather the idea has 
been to tell something in an informal way of 
visits to some of the German forests that are 
most noted in the annals of forestry, forests 
that stand out as typical examples of forest 
management under economic and physical 
conditions that warrant a highly intensive 
treatment. It is of interest to know that even. 
in these forests, that have so long been under 
Management, and where the _ silvicultural 
methods are probably as fully developed as 
anywhere in the world, there is still room for 
individual initiative on the part of the fores- 
ter; further, that his job requires him not 
merely to follow the rules of a textbook but 
continually to adapt his plan to constantly 
changing local conditions. From a study of 
such forests as these we Americans who are 
interested in the future of our own timber 
supply can learn much, even though we adopt 
not a single one of the German methods. 
(43) 
