FORESTRY IN SWITZERLAND. 229 



of wood bound together in rafts (the above refers simply to single floating 

 logs) will, wherever the depth of water and distance from the point of de- 

 livery permit, always remain the cheapest method of bringing it out from 

 remote forests in the mountains. 



PROTECTIVE CONSTRUCTIONS. 



The topography of the country and the character of its water-courses 

 render imperatively and generally necessary in Switzerland various construc- 

 tions ; 



(a) For the prevention of land or snow slides. 



{i) For the protection of the banks of streams. 



The former consist simply in the establishment of palisade hedges, or the 

 building of walls about three feet high and of moderate length at the points 

 threatened. These are so placed that each in turn covers the gap where the 

 other ends, and when the immediate danger is over they can be moved 

 nearer together or farther apart, as may be necessary. This method has 

 hitherto proved very serviceable, while attended with comparatively trifling 

 expense. The choice between hedges or stone walls depends upon which of 

 the two materials can more easily be found at hand. Where there is no soft 

 soil, and piles or stakes cannot consequently be driven, stone must, of 

 course, be used, unless a simple terracing of the rocky slope will answer the 

 purpose ; on the other hand, where there is .a lack of stone, while stakes are 

 plentiful, palisades are, of course, to be preferred. To surveyors and fores- 

 ters are intrusted the protection and oversight of the constructions, in the 

 shape of fascines, osiers, &c., along the banks of the mountain streams. 



DAMAGES BY FROSTS AND STORMS. 



Against the devastation wrought in forests by the elements man stands 

 comparatively powerless. On the 20th of February, 1879, ^ hurricane swept 

 across France from the Bay of Biscay and vented all its fury upon the forests 

 of Switzerland, wrecking in a few hours the work of years, and involving 

 a loss of 570,967 cubic meters of wood. 



The detailed effects of this memorable tempest, as well as of two others 

 occurring June 25 and December 5 of the same year, have been collected 

 with admirable care and fidelity by the federal forestry bureau and published 

 in a pamphlet, which accompanies this report. Similar exhaustive details 

 (also inclosed herewith) have been published concerning the damage wrought 

 by frost in the severe winter of 18 79-' 80, and the late frost of May 19 and 

 20, 1880. Again, in 1885, as early as September 28, a snow-storm of un- 

 usual severity visited Zurich and the adjacent sections of Switzerland, and 

 wrought damage which undid in the neighboring Lihlwald the careful labor 

 of a century. The snow fell to a depth of nearly three inches upon the en- 

 tire forest, and resulted in a damage of about two cubic meters of wood to 

 every square acre, or a total loss of 32,000 square meters. One observation 

 resulting from this storm will prove of permanent value in forestry, namely. 



