FORESTS AXD EMPLOYMENT IX GERMANY 



11 



being left to rot in the woods. This means that all of the timber 

 that grows is utilized and creates employment opportunities. 



Except in some of the small farm woods, where timber is sold on 

 the stump, logging is almost always done by employees of the forest 

 owner, whether private or public. In Austria some timber in the 

 State forests is sold on the stump and logged by the purchaser. Unlike 

 the United States, relatively few forests in central Europe are owned 

 by sawmill operators or by wood-using industries, so the logging 

 industry and the lumber industry are quite distinct. Of 823,136 

 forest units of less than 247 acres each in Germany in 1925, only about 

 900, or slightly more than 0.1 percent, were connected with sawmills 

 and 80, or less than 0.01 percent, with pulp mills. Of 10,491 units 

 of 248 to 2,470 acres each, about 180 (1.8 percent) were owned by 

 sawmill owners and 4 (0.04 percent) by pulp mills. Of the forests 

 larger than 2,470 acres, about 3 percent were connected with sawmills 

 and only one forest with a pulp plant {32). 



In the lowland forests the owners' employees generally haul the 

 firewood, pulpwood, mine timbers, and other small material to the 

 roadside and stack it there. The larger logs are generally left in the 

 woods for the purchaser to take out, unless it is necessary to remove 

 them in order to plant the area or do other cultural work. Only when 

 the local markets are slow or lacking does the seller haul the timber 

 to the railroad or other shipping point, except in case of unusually 

 large operations resulting from insect depredation or other calamity. 

 In the mountains, special facilities are often required for getting out 

 timber, so this is commonly done by the forest employees. In the 

 Bavarian Alps, for example, logs are usually taken out to the valley 

 bottoms and sold there. 



In most parts of Germany the timber is hauled out by wagons or 

 trucks, hence good roads are exceedingly important if good prices 

 are to be received. The work-relief programs of the last few years 

 have been going in for a great deal of road construction and improve- 

 ment, including straightening, widening, reducing grades and sur- 

 facing, and strengthening of bridges. 



PERIODS OF EMPLOYMENT 



For a few States, figures have been compiled in some detail showing 

 the number of days a year that various classes of workers are em- 

 ployed. Table 8 shows the number of workers in the Prussian State 

 forests in 1924, classified according to the number pf days they worked. 

 Of the 128,000 persons employed, approximately 16,000 were classed 

 as permanent (standig) and 45,000 as regular (regelmassig) workers. 



Table 8. — Percent distribution of laborers in the State forests of Prussia in 1924-, 

 according to number of days employed l 



Class of laborer 



250+ 

 days 



201-250 

 days 



151-200 

 days 



101-150 

 days 



51-100 

 days 



26-50 

 days 



0-25 

 days 



Labor- 

 ers em- 

 ployed 



Aver- 

 age 



period 



em- 

 ployed 



Mea._ . . 



Percent 

 4.8 



Percent 

 7.8 



Percent 

 10.0 



Percent 

 20.7 



Percent 

 29.3 

 8.9 



Percent 

 12.2 

 23.7 

 19.2 



Percent 

 15.2 

 67.4 

 80.8 



Number 

 75,800 

 45, 700 

 6,700 



Days 

 97 



Women 



24 



Children under 16 











21 

















Based on Treitsehke (38). 



