y 
per acre in accord with the requirements of 
a fully stocked, normal stand. The wood 
and timber from the thinnings of course form 
an important part of the annual proceeds 
from the forest. 
It is interesting to note that in former 
times the Sihlwald was not a beech forest, but 
a mixed forest of conifers and broadleaf trees. 
Beech came in to meet the demand for fuel, 
already commented on. The idea at present 
is gradually to increase the percentage of 
conifers and so eventualiy to bring the Sihl- 
wald back into being a mixed forest, because 
of the greater commercial value of the coni- 
fers. There are already some softwood 
stands. Where planting must be done, as in 
windfall areas, conifers are generally used. 
Larch is being planted on the higher slopes. 
At times there has been much trouble in 
the Sihlwald from wind throw; also from 
the breakage of trees in young stands by 
snow and ice. A surprising amount of dam- 
The area of the Sihlwald is hardly great 
enough profitably to support a local wood- 
using industry, but a small mill established 
in earlier years is still maintained and active- 
ly operated. Lumber, railroad ties, tool han- 
dles of various kinds, stakes and poles are 
the main products, together with that from 
an excelsior machine that turns out four 
grades of this material, called in Burope 
“woodwool’. Much of the woodwool from 
the Sihlwald goes to Italy for use in packing 
fruit for transportation. There is also an im- 
pregnating plant for the preservative treat- 
ment of railroad ties. Some 30 men are em- 
ployed in the mill, and about 120 more in the 
forest, so that the Sihlwald supports directly 
a comfortable little community. In connec- 
tion with the Sihlwald there is maintained in 
Zurich a city woodyard from which the peo- 
ple of this city can be supplied with fuel 
wood. At the mill in the Sihlwald bundled 
kindling wood is also prepared for sale at 
this market. 
A STAND OF 
60 YEAR OLD 
BEECH IN THE 
SIHLWALD, 
SWITZERLAND, 
THE FOREST 
FLOOR CLEAR 
OF UNDER- 
GROWTH. 
age often results in these dense stands when 
after a storm the weather suddenly changes 
and the soft, wet snow on the crowns turns 
into ice. When a forest is under highly in- 
tensive management an importance attaches 
to injuries of this sort that never would be 
deemed possible under American conditions. 
A very serious storm of this character oc- 
curred in September, 1885, when something 
over 240 acres of young beech were absolute- 
ly destroyed. 
For transporting the logs down the slope 
there has been constructed a narrow gauge 
railroad, in part with movable _ tracks, 
that seems well to serve the purpose. Log 
shoots are also in use for both timber and 
fuel wood. The smaller wood, branches and 
the like, is usually brought down on sleds 
over prepared tracks, the sleds being carried 
up the hill by the laborers. Similar sleds are 
in use in other parts of Switzerland and also 
in the Black Forest in Germany. 
The normal annual yield of the Sihlwald, 
including both the thinnings and the final cut, 
averages around 8.5 cubic meters per hectare 
(2.47 acres). With the present unsettled 
condition of prices and the high cost of labor, 
net returns in money values are of little mo- 
ment. Such data are therefore omitted from 
this letter. In general it may be said, how- 
ever, that in normal times the Sihlwald is 
an investment that yields a satisfactory rev- 
enue. The memorable thing about this for- 
est is that it has been supplying Ziirich with 
wood for over one thousand years. 
THE FOREST OF 
WINTERTHUR 
Not far from Ziirich, to the northeast is 
another city forest that, except it lacks the 
historical background of the Sihlwald, is al- 
most as interesting a place to visit. This is 
the forest of Winterthur, that city being an 
important manufacturing center where espe- 
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