STUDY IN EUROPE FOR AMERICAN FOREST STUDENTS. 



a system cannot be adopted as it stands, 

 it does not follow that- some modification 

 of it may not be employed where oppor- 

 tunity arises. The Spessart does not illus- 

 trate merely how Oak may be grown suc- 

 cessfully in mixture with Beech. It teaches 

 broad principles of sylviculture and proves 

 the value of close observation. It was the 

 study of these forests that induced Sir 

 Dietrich Brandis, late Inspector General 

 of Forests in India, to adopt in 1850 a 

 similar system in Burma for the raising 

 of Teak in mixture with Bamboo, the 

 Teak forming the overwood and the Bam- 

 boo the underwood ; a system which has 

 served as a source of large annual revenue 

 to the British crown. In our own northern 

 woods we find the Hemlock and Fine as- 

 sociated in the same way as are the Spes- 

 sart Beech and Oak, and in various parts 

 of the United States other species form 

 analogous cases, where nature points the 

 way towards the best means of growing 

 the local timber tree. 



The student who has completed a visit 

 to the Spessart will be within easy reach 

 of the Steigerwald and the town forest of 

 Bamberg, the one well known for its 

 mixed forests of Scotch Pine and Beech 

 and the other for the management of pure 

 Scotch Pine woods under an elaborate 

 system of clean cutting and sowing. He 

 should also see something of the ancient 

 town forest of Nuremberg, which consists 

 chiefly of woods of Scotch Pine on a soil 

 that is little more than pure sand. The 

 forest has an interesting history and is an 

 instructive example of what skill and p.it- 

 severance can do in rearing woods in *o 

 poor a locality, where frequent insect 

 ravages and long standing rights to' the 

 collection of litter go to make matters 

 harder for the forester. 



The Bayerischer Wald covers a moun- 

 tain range in southwestern Bavaria, run- 

 ning parallel with the Bohmer Wald, a 

 second range, the summit of which forms 

 the dividing line between Bavaria and Bo- 

 hemia. Here exist forest conditions mark- 

 edly in contrast to those prevailing gener- 

 ally in Germany. In this isolated and 

 sparsely settled region where lack of facil- 

 ities for the transport of timber and dis- 



tance from the market greatly lower 

 stumpage values, the form of forest man- 

 agement is peculiarly instructive for 

 Americans. 



In Saxony, where the forests are chiefly 

 pure Spruce and where natural reproduc- 

 tion has been almost entirely abandoned 

 for clean cutting and planting, the Ameri- 

 can student will see a form of manage- 

 ment impossible under our conditions. 

 He will, however, have a chance to study 

 the most striking example that Europe af- 

 fords of the dangers and advantages of a 

 purely financial forestry. In Saxony, the 

 most remunerative use of forests is the 

 grd'sVing of Spruce for paper pulp. The 

 diameter at which Spruce can be used 

 there for this purpose and its rate of 

 growth are such that it pays best to cut it 

 when it is about sixty years old. At this 

 age, however, European Spruce does not 

 bear full crops of seed, and natural repro- 

 ' duction under a rotation of sixty years is 

 impossible. It is thus that the system of 

 planting and sowing has come about, it 

 having been found financially preferable to 

 naturial reproduction and a longer rotation. 



The system is the most remunerative in 

 Europe and there are Saxon forest ranges 

 which yield a net revenue of twelve to fif- 

 teen dollars per acre per annum. On the 

 other hand, it gives rise to dangers, from 

 insects and from wind which are suffici- 

 ently serious to render its advisability an 

 open question. The one is invited by the 

 raising of pure evergreen woods of one 

 species over large areas ; the other by the 

 clean cuttings, under which trees grown 

 in closed woods become suddenly and 

 fully exposed. The measures enforced to 

 give the highest possible degree of safety 

 against these dangers are largely peculiar 

 to Saxony, particularly those which are 

 taken as a safeguard against wind. The 

 ranges are split up into a number of 

 what are called cutting series, each series 

 constituting an area which is treated sepa- 

 rately. Since the heavy winds in Saxony 

 are westerly, the object in the manage- 

 ment of these cutting series is so to lumber 

 them that the youngest woods occupy the 

 west and the oldest the east side. With 

 this in view, cuttings proceed always from 



