City, Town and Communal Forests 
A Phase of European Forestry that Has Particular Significance 
for the United States 
A characteristic and striking feature of 
European forestry is the number of commun- 
al, town and city forests tbat one sees in 
each of the several countries. Indeed this 
class of forest land plays a large part in serv- 
ing the needs of very many persons who oth- 
erwise would be hard put to it to obtain the 
supplies of wood that they absolutely require. 
It is a phase of forestry that should be of in- 
terest to Americans, for it holds. lessons that 
could well be taken to heart by many com- 
munities in the United States. The purpose 
of this letter is to give some account of this 
system, with especial reference to ceriain for- 
ests that are recognized as being classic ex- 
amples of this class of publicly owned forest 
land. ; 
The history of-many of the communal for- 
ests runs back to very early days. 
Some are 
the remnants of the land that in pre-feudal 
times was held for the common use of all the 
people of the tribe or community in a given 
locality. More have their origin in prescrip- 
tive rights that were secured by the common 
people during the Middle Ages, under the 
feudal system. Others, of more recent date, 
have been obtained through gift, or purchase, 
or as the result of land adjustments made at 
the conclusion of a war. But, however they 
came into being, forests of this class are now 
distinctly a factor to be reckoned with in all 
the European countries. 
Mention has been made, in an earlier let- 
ter in this series, of the servitudes, or rights 
of user, that have so much bothered the Eu- 
ropean foresters in times past, especially 
during the middle of the nineteenth century, 
when by purchase or compromise most of 
FOREST ROAD THROUGH A_ BEECH 
STAND IN THE SIHLWALD, SWITZER- 
LAND; CITY FOREST OF 
ZORICH 
MATURE SPRUCE AND SILVER FIR IN 
WINTERTHUR FOREST, SWITZERLAND. 
TREES 120-140 YEARS OLD, 125 FEET 
TALL, DIAMETER 24-26 INCHES 
(63) 
