CHAPTER I. 
PRIMITIVE TREATMENT OF FORESTS IN FINLAND. 
Dr Ienatius speaks of the practice of setting fire to the 
trees in order to clear the ground. This may be considered 
the primitive treatment of forests in Finland. It is not 
unknown elsewhere, as I shall afterwards show at some 
length. But Finland is the only country in Europe in 
which it is still practised extensively, supplying an oppor- 
tunity of studying it in detail. As intimated by Dr 
Ignatius, free use has been made of the forests of Finland, 
as have been made of forests elsewhere, to supply fencing, 
building material, and fuel, and thus much wood has been 
consumed; but it is to the practice known as Sartage 
that the destruction of forests is mainly attributable. And 
this being retained here while from other countries of 
Europe in which it may have been practised extensively, 
but is now only seen occasionally, it gives a special char- 
acter to the forestry of the country. But while it has 
been retained it is being restricted, and the most 
advanced forest science of the day is being applied to 
the management of the Crown forests. We see in this 
the forest treatment of the future, and in that the forest 
treatment of the past, which, though practised extensively, 
and defended on intelligible grounds, may be reckoned 
amongst the things which decay and wax old, and are 
ready to vanish away. 
‘SECTION A.— DETAILS OF THE PRACTICE OF “SARTAGE” 
IN FINLAND AND ADJACENT LANDS. 
The designation Sartage, is that given to the practice in 
the Forest Science of France. In Finland I have generally 
heard it spoken of as Svedanje, 
