the Sihlwald. This is in large part due to the 
tact that so much is known of the exact his- 
tory of that forest through the comprehen- 
sive book by the late Ulrich Meister, for 
Many years Stadtforsmeister von AZitirich. 
This work, in German, “Die Stadtwaldungen 
von Ziirich’’, is indispensable to one who 
wishes really to study this forest. It was 
published in 1883. A second, enlarged edi- 
tion, with many illustrations, came out in 
1903, just after one of the 20 year grand re- 
visions of the working plan, not long before 
Forstmeister Meister’s death. (The book is 
now out of print and is not easy to secure 
from the regular booksellers. But it may be 
obtained from the editor, Albert Miller, 
Sonnenquai 18, Ziirich, who still has a limited 
number. The price is 12 francs.) 
The Sihlwald is a forest of 2580 acres 
(1044.8 hectares) in area, situated on the east 
slope of a range of hills, known as the Ziir- 
ichberg, that runs south from Ziirich. The 
highest point is Albishorn (2974 feet). The 
forest lies in the valley of the Sihl river. It 
is 14 kilometers by rail from Ziirich, by the 
small line that runs up the Sihl valley. If 
they are on the lookout, travelers from Zitir- 
ich to Zug and Lucerne can caich a momen- 
tary glimpse of the Sihlwald as their train 
dashes out of one tunnel and into another, 
across the narrow valley. 
The history of the Sihlwald as a forest 
supplying the needs of Ztirich, runs back to 
the year 853, when the German king, Ludwig, 
gave it, with other lands, to his daughter 
Hildegarde, the first abbess of the nunnery 
at Ztirich. During the succeeding centuries 
it continued to supply construction timber 
and other wood required by the people of the 
city. In 1524, with the political changes in- 
cident to the Reformation, the Sihlwald be- 
came the property of the city of Ztirich, in 
whose ownership it has since remained. 
The old chronicles record various ordi- 
nances in regard to the use of the Sihlwald 
and indicate that there was a more or less 
definite plan of management, at any rate 
from about the beginning of the sixteenth 
century. The appointment of two foresters 
was definitely authorized in 1460, and there 
are many other indications that the forest 
was carefully looked after. Modern working 
plans for the Sihlwald date from 1834, the 
years of grand revisions being 1860, 1880, 
1900 and 1920. There are periodic revisions 
every 10 years. The occasion of Forstmeister 
Meister’s book was the grand revision of 
1880. 
It was interesting, at the headquarters of 
the forester on the Sihlwald, to see the manu- 
script copy of this working plan with its sub- 
sequent revisions. One point of especial val- 
ue that this particular plan has is an appen- 
dix in which is recorded the reasons why cer- 
tain pieces of work were done on the forest. 
By this means subsequent foresters have the 
opportunity to check up more accurately the 
projects initiated by their predecessors. Es- 
THIS STAND OF SPRUCE IN THE WINTER- 
THUR IS 80-90 YEARS OLD. NOTE THE 
DENSE GROWTH OF THRIFTY 
YOUNG TREES 
pecially is this true if the project was some- 
what experimental in character and turned 
out badly; knowing all the facts in the case, 
that particular mistake is not likely to be 
repeated. It would be well if more forest 
working plans were as completely supple- 
mented by progress reports. 
The forest of the Sihlwald is predominant- 
ly beech, managed on a rotation of 100 years. 
The silvicultural method is shelterwood, 
where the final crop is removed in a series of 
cuttings, so spaced as to years, as to induce 
natural reproduction of the new crop. The 
preparatory cuttings open up the crown cano- 
py and let in light that favors the production 
of seed and also enables the seedlings to be- 
come established. After a complete stand of 
seedling trees has been secured, the remaind- 
er of the mature crop is removed. But prior 
to the preparatory cut, there is made a se- 
ries of thinnings while the stand is between 
the ages of 30 and 80 years, that aim to bet- 
ter the quality of the forest and as nearly as 
may be always to keep the number of trees 
(65) 
