592 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



The Frankenwald in northern Bavaria is famous for its spruce and 

 fir. The forests of this region are regenerated from self-sown seeds 

 and the system which is carried out with signal regularity is simple to 

 understand and easy to work. It may be said in passing that it pro- 

 duces a marvelously beautiful landscape, one that can not fail to appeal 

 to every lover of nature. The system permits of no clear cutting, so 

 that the harvesting and the growing of trees go hand in hand. Frank- 

 enwald is a rugged region, and the hills with their steep acclivities are 

 cut out, or cut over in strips about 300 feet wide. The strips run with 

 the contour, and the logging is started at the top of the hills and thence 

 proceeds downward to the valleys. Thus the second growth is situated 

 above the old growth, and is not further damaged by the continuance 

 of the logging operations. The rotation is 120 years, and at this age 

 the trees average about 15 inches in diameter, and usually cut four logs 

 to the tree. The logs are sent down dirt chutes known as "Lassen." 

 The valleys of the Frankenwald visited are drained by three main 

 creeks, uniting near the old town of Kronach. These creeks are used 

 for transportation, and drives of logs, as w^ell as small rafts, have come 

 down them for hundreds of years. I was fortunate enough to witness 

 the driving and splashing operations, and followed the logs to the mills 

 located along the river. 



Another of the large state forests of Bavaria is that of the Spessart 

 Mountains, near Eohrbrun. This is one of the regions where the 

 Bavarian kings and other royal sportsmen are wont to hunt the wild 

 boar. The white oak of this particular forest, which appears to be 

 identical with the English white oak, is justly famous throughout the 

 world. So fine and even is its texture that it yields oak veneer logs of 

 the highest value. Although there is a large amount of this timber, 

 the owner, which in this case is the state of Bavaria, or the whole 

 people, absolutely refuses to sell more than a small annual percentage 

 of the entire stumpage. In this way what appears to be phenomenal 

 prices are secured. For illustration, the price of prime oak logs in 

 the woods, twelve to eighteen miles from a railway, has now reached an 

 average figure of $280 per thousand feet, board measure. Please note 

 • that this is the average. The very best logs are selling at $585 per 

 thousand feet board measure. As one who has a hearty love for trees, 

 and one who appreciates the quiet, persistent, marvelous forces of 

 nature set in operation by their growth and development, I felt like 

 taking off my hat when I saw specimens of these oak trees that had 

 individually a cash value in the market of more than a thousand dollars. 

 Under these conditions it is readily understood why the state is eager 

 to reproduce this oak by all means at its command. As 1911 hap- 

 pened to be an unusually good so-called "oak mast year," the writer 

 had the good fortune to see something of the energetic activities of the 



