REPORT ON FORESTS. 315 
which the walls are made is not, I believe, positively known. 
The cattle stand knee-deep in a mass of heath-litter and dung. 
In order to supply this litter an area at least five times the area 
of the cultivated fields is robbed of its cover. ‘The removal of 
marl and turf and continuous cropping without rotation have 
produced a degree of poverty which is often pitiful. 
The heath, in fact, is the land of the ‘little man,” that is, the 
man of small pursuits. Birch and heath twigs are converted 
into brooms and brushes. Berries are sent to Bremen and 
Hamburg and are used in the manufacture of wine. Edible 
mushrooms are assiduously collected and juniper berries are 
picked for the manufacture of gin. Even the fine roots of the 
pine are woven into baskets. 
According to Salfeld old chronicles and documents give 
assurance that the geest lands of Northwest Germany were 
once tichly wooded. There are instances of remnants of old 
and extensive forests. ‘‘ The extent of the forest was meas- 
ured,” says Salfeld, “by the length of time a squirrel could pass 
through it by leaping from tree to tree.” These forests were of 
deciduous trees. They have been supplanted by the pine, 
owing to the gradual impoverishment of the soil. Storms, fire 
and insects played havoc in these coniferous woods, and swine- 
herds and shepherds wandered at will with their flocks. 
There was great eagerness to clear the land for fields and mead- 
ows. ‘The end has been reached, and now begins the long, 
tedious and expensive work of reforestation, which is the only 
salvation for abused and depleted sand-lands. 
All this illustrates well the fact that unless the forest plays a 
part in the rotation of crops on sandy land it is only a question 
of time before the soil becomes absolutely sterile. 
This land is being reclaimed first by deep ploughing,* which 
thoroughly loosens the soil and brings the richer subsoil to the 
surface. 
The second step is in planting a leguminous crop for green 
manure. For this purpose the yellow lupine, what is called in 
Brandenburg “the gold of the desert” is used. This does not 
* The work of reclaiming the Luneburger Heath did not beginin earnest until 1870. It will be many 
years before the plantations will become remunerative. The growth is slow and the cost of reclamation 
high. Of late years steam ploughs have been extensively used in order to thoroughly loosen the soil, 
