THE AROLLA, OR SWISS PINE, 



97 



THE GREATER TREES OF THE NORTHERN FOREST.— No. 3. 

 THE AROLLA, OR SWISS PINE (Pinus cembrd). 



The Arolla (sometimes called the Swiss Pine), the most beautiful and valuable 

 Pine of the high mountains of Europe, has hitherto been grown in England as 

 an "ornamental" tree, and often badly grown, being planted in an isolated 

 manner in the grass, which sucks up most of the rain that falls on the surface, 

 so that the tree is starved in dry seasons. From its high northern distribution 

 and the fine quality of its wood, and every quality that can make the Pine 

 valuable to the forest planter, this should be one of the best of all trees for the 

 bare mountains of Wales, Scotland, and any other elevated part of our islands. 

 Its growth is rather slow, as generally grown with us, but time counts so little 

 in forest planting that we ought to think more of the final result, and always 

 bear in mind that our own rapidly grown trees in Britain are poor in quality, 

 very poor compared with the slow-growing trees of the mountains. The fol- 

 lowing account of the tree in one of its most important areas is by Herr Anton 

 Woditschka, one of the Forest Inspection Commissioners to the Austrian 

 Government, and is, with the author's permission, reproduced here from the 

 Defterret(Jnfcf>en ^orfV uni) 2>agt>*3ettung. 



It is rightly called the Queen of Alpine forest trees. It has a capacity for 

 enduring storm, snow, and ice on the bleak regions of the farthest range of tree 

 vegetation which no other tree has. Its presence 

 serves as a protection against avalanches. At an alti- 

 tude of 4,500 to 6,600 feet above sea level, beyond 

 the farthest limit of alpine tree life, remains of isolated 

 Swiss Pines can yet be seen. It is, however, not 

 exactly adapted by Nature for solitary existence, as 

 these scattered specimens bear witness — for example, 

 in the Raschotz in Grodenthal. In remoter times, 

 before the destruction of alpine forests to make room 

 for pasture, the tree was much more plentiful. The 

 extent and magnitude of the Swiss Pine forests in 

 those times are proved by the immense quantities of 

 the wood which was consumed as fuel for the salt 

 pans. Old stumps and decayed roots of trees, over- 

 thrown by wind or avalanche, are still found on the 

 high mountain sides, proving how extensive was the 

 area over which this tree grew. Where the Swiss 

 Pine suffers but little from the depredations of men, as in the Rittnerhorn 

 region and the southern Tyrol, it is seen in a flourishing condition, the old 

 stems surrounded by young plants showing that, given a fair chance, a much 



SWISS PINE, 

 SHOWING FORM OF OLD TREES 



