FORESTRY IN ITALY. 1 79 



Various results are attributed to the disappearance of the wood land. An 

 undoubted one is the appreciation in the price of firewood, as is shown ' in 

 the following table of the price of firewood at Milan for the decades from 

 1800 to 1880 in francs (go. 193), per quintal (220.548 lbs.): 



Francs. Francs 



1800-1810 2.76 



1810-1820 2.91 



1820-1830 3.10 



183O-184O 3.69 



1840-1850 4.20 



1850-1860 3.87 



1860-1870 3.90 



1870-1880 : 4.55 



1881 4.46 



1882 5.28 



1883 S.25 



Landslides have become more frequent, highways imperilled, and water 

 courses damaged. Many attribute to the same cause the unusually cold 

 weather of late years ; the late springs, winds, hail, the lack of water in the 

 streams ; with what justice it is difficult to determine. 



RECLAMATION OF WASTE PLACES BY TREE PLANTING. 



'The method adopted for reclaiming waste places, especially tracks of 

 sand on the sides of mountains, exposed by torrents, landslides and the like, 

 is, in brief, as follows: The first thing is to prevent further slides, and to 

 give the place some stability by means of stakes and branches and twigs 

 intertwined in the manner of wickerwork. Then a small amount of earth, or 

 humus, is brought in order to give the vegetation a start, and the hardiest 

 forms of vegetation, heather, briars and the like are planted or protected in 

 their growth. When these have once begun to grow the problem is regarded 

 as well on the way to a solution. Gradually higher forms are introduced, 

 such as the mountain elder, dwarf pine, locust and the like. Above all 

 every form of pasture must be prohibited. The trees are not allowed to grow 

 to any great height, but the place is kept covered with brushwood, and the 

 trees are cut frequently near the ground so as to allow the roots to send up 

 new slloots. The great object is to secure an interlacing of the roots 

 throughout the whole extent, and thus assure the stability of the soil. In 

 the course of time the soil enriches itself with the fallen leaves and other 

 vegetable matter, and the desired object has thus gradually been attained. 



SOURCES OF LUMBER SUPPLY. 



The chief source of pine and larch lumber for Lombardy is Austria-Hun- 

 gary and, to a smaller extent, Switzerland. The best quality comes from 

 Tyrol. For the last six or eight years the consumption of Georgia pine, 

 shipped from Pensacola, Fla. , has been increasing steadily, and it would seem 

 as if other lumber might be exported profitably from the United States to 

 Italy. Oak lumber comes from the districts of Umbria, the Marches, Tus- 

 cany, and Southern Italy. It grows also in smaller quantities in Lombardy, 

 Venetia, and Piedmont. The best quality comes from the mountain range of 

 the Appenines. It is also imported from Austria-Hungary, but this latter is 

 not so compact, nor of so long duration. 



