FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 403 



The Danish forester pays much attention to the earthworm, and a forest soil in his 

 estimation is not in good condition until fairly alive with earthworms. Beech forests 

 may be seen in Denmark close to the salt breezes of the North Sea on sand land blown 

 and washed up by the winds and waves. The floors of these forests are covered with 

 leaf-mould and alive with earthworms. 



For the production of leaf-mould a forest is of course necessary; but it must be the 

 proper kind of forest. It must be a forest with the proper kind of canopy and 

 affording the proper kind of litter. It must give the proper amount of shade and 

 must protect the floor from the action of wind and rain. The forest canopy and floor are 

 interdependent; they act and react upon one another. The admission of light causes 

 the humus to dry up and interferes with the processes of fermentation. An interference 

 in the formation of leaf-mould interferes with the supply of plant-food and moisture to 

 the roots of the trees. The quality of the soil is of as much importance to the European 

 forester as the quality of the wood which he produces. He has planted the beech 

 everywhere because it improves the quality of the soil to a greater extent than any 

 other species, owing to its dense foliage, even at an advanced age, and to the heavy 

 fall of leaves, which quickly disintegrate into the richest kind of leaf-mould. The beech 

 is planted on sand lands whenever the soil is in fit condition to produce it. When 

 sand soil has reached the stage where it will support beech its future fertility is easily 

 maintained. 



Sand soils are hungry, and consume immense quantities of humus because of the 

 abundance of oxygen which they contain and because of their warmth. The Danish 

 forester regards the planting of pine as a necessary evil. It is planted on sand lands 

 because it requires less moisture and plant-food than deciduous growths. Under its 

 influence the soil is slowly improved until the planting of deciduous growths is possible. 

 It paves the way — it is the pioneer. For that reason pines are common on poor soils 

 in almost all countries, even in the tropics. They grow in those regions where 

 deciduous growths fail. In regions which are not subjected to constant burning they 

 are gradually crowded out by broad-leaved species. 



It is not my intention in this connection to underrate the value of the conifers — 

 quite otherwise. Were it not for the conifers many of our sand soils would be hopeless 

 deserts of shifting sand They are a step toward that ideal stage of soil fertility in 

 which trees of any kind may be produced. After the soil has been enriched by the 

 action of broad-leaved trees, the pine will grow all the better and produce a finer 

 grade of wood. Perhaps the most productive forest of all is the coniferous forest with 

 an underwood of a good leaf-mould-forming hardwood, such as the beech. In fact, 

 our finest white pine has been produced under these conditions, the sugar maple in 

 many instances forming the underwood. In the Adirondacks the conifers have been 

 cut and the underwood is left. Young conifers should therefore be favored, and„ 



