FORESTRY IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 26 1 



Neither does it call for much labor, as the soil is only moderately loosened 

 by hoeing. The entire cost of manual labor is from 6 to 12 florins per hec- 

 tare. Large areas of forest can be sown in a very short time. 



But, notwithstanding all these apparent advantages, this method is 'steadily 

 on the decrease. The result of seeding is very uncertain, depending too 

 much upon the elements. Rainstorms, drought, and frost have a damaging 

 effect. In case of overseeding to growth becomes dense and does not thrive. 

 For these reasons sowing is resorted to only in rare cases, to grow pine and 

 oak. 



3 . Planting is the method now prevailing. The seedlings are raised in 

 nurseries, usually made in clearings with a good soil. Level or slightly slop- 

 ing ground is selected, so that rainstorms cannot damage the nursery or cause 

 washouts. The ground is hoed to the depth of 20 to 30 centimeters, and gen- 

 erally prepared as in gardening. Beds are made in which the seed is then 

 thinly covered with soil. The beds are covered with moss or brushwood for 

 protection against heat and birds, which protection is removed when the seed 

 begins to sprout. 



The seedlings of coniferous trees are left in the nurseries from two to four 

 years. When thick, they are thinned out and care is taken to keep the ground 

 clear from grass and weeds. Where the climate or rich grassiness of the soil 

 requires the seedlings to be four or iive years old, they must be raised in 

 nurseries and replanted when they are two years old. This method greatly 

 enhances the cost of raising seedlings, and it is carried out only in case of 

 pressing necessity. 



Within the last fifty years the raising of seedlings in nurseries has become 

 prevalent in Bohemia. The young trees from the nurseries are planted in 

 holes or in hills. Planting in hills obtains only on wet ground, or in poor, 

 shallow soil. The trees are planted in rows from i to i}^ meters apart, or in 

 squares at the same distance, and from five to eight thousand young trees are 

 needed to the hectare. In hill-planting the hills are covered up with sod or 

 stones, to prevent their drying up. When trees are planted in holes upon 

 poor ground, sod is placed under the roots to furnish better nuriment to the 

 seedlings. 



After planting the forest does not need much care. The tall-growing 

 weeds are sometimes cut down in the first summer ; the places where the 

 plants have miscarried are filled with fresh ones, and the young forest is cleaned 

 from undesirable trees and shrubs, which find room to sprout and grow among 

 the seedlings of the plantation. Afterward, in periods of five to ten years, 

 the growing forest requires thinning, which not only pays for itself but is a 

 source of considerable profit. 



SCHOOLS OF FORESTRY. 



There is in Bohemia an independent school of forestry at Weisswasser, 

 and a school of forestry connected with the agricultural college at Pisek. 



The school at Weisswasser was founded in 1856 by the association of 

 Bohemian foresters, and in 1862 it became the property of a forest school 



