280 The Farm Woodlot 



to remedy this evil. The size of houses and the number of 

 houses that could be built were regulated. The use of the 

 green bush as a tavern sign was forbidden. The use of 

 coffins was prohibited in Austria and canvas bags used to 

 save wood. No wood could be shipped from one dis- 

 trict to another and the bakers of one town were even 

 prevented from baking bread for their neighbors of another 

 town unless the customer brought his wood with him. 

 Of course these measures postponed the day when the 

 present supply would be exhausted, but only postponed it. 

 It was at this time that a few far-sighted men took warning 

 from existing conditions, foresaw the inevitable timber 

 famine and realized the temporary nature of the relief 

 obtained by restrictions which were being placed on the 

 use of wood. They knew that something must be done to 

 increase the supply, and there was evidently but one way 

 to do this, — to grow trees. 



The conception of this idea was closely followed by 

 laws aimed at the renewal of forests instead of the restric- 

 tion of consumption. These measures were at first inade- 

 quate because so little was known of the growth of trees 

 and the necessary measures of culture. It was a subject 

 which had never before received any attention and there 

 were no trained men to take charge of or direct the work. 

 Every plan tried was in the nature of an experiment. No 

 one even knew how long it would take to grow a tree. 

 Some believed in the planting of seedlings grown in nurs- 

 eries, while others argued for the use of the seedlings that 

 grow naturally under the old trees in the forest. 



The work was further hindered by the fact that the idea 

 of the forest as a hunting ground rather than a source of 



