FOREST DEVASTATION. 213 
the fiords firs grow commonly at 1000 feet above the sea 
level, and in very sheltered spots, even so high as 2,500 or 
2,800 feet, but all these are smalland stunted. Trees grow 
best at about 300 feet above the sea level, where the soil 
seems to be best. All over the district it is very sandy. 
‘Coniferous forests are exclusively formed of fir, and are 
very unequally divided among the three bailiwicks, being 
in inverse proportion to the mountainous formation. The 
higher the mountains the smaller the woods, until they 
vanish altogether. 
‘*While in Nordmore there is a good deal of wood, 
sufficient for home wants, with a small surplus for exporta- 
tion, in Romsdal there is much less, and in Soud- 
more the fir is seldom seen, and, with the exception of 
some good forests of foliage trees, there is a great scarcity 
of timber, which must either be brought from a distance 
or bought at a ruinous price on the spot. Turf is known 
and used, but not so extensively as might be expected, the 
people preferring to destroy the last remnants of the forests 
rather than adopt anything new. In all-the three baili- 
wicks the forests have deteriorated for the last ten or 
twenty years on account of the increasing population and 
the high price given for timber. 
‘The fir woods are badly managed, being thinned in the 
usual way, and consequently there are many trees stunted 
for want of light and room at an early period of their 
growth. The fellingsare made without judgment, and too 
frequently. It is only lately that small timber was needed 
for various purposes, and now the trees have no chance of 
growing to any size, and are already vanishing in a very 
sad manner, fortunately heath burning, so destructive in 
other places, is here unknown, 
‘There seem to be no communal forests in this county, 
although in the public archives I found notices of some in 
Surendalen and Surrdalen, but I had not time to make 
inquiries. In the first district I rather think they have 
been allotted to private individuals, although there may 
still exist one or two of small extent. 
