1905.] 



Forestry in Finland. 



753 



left almost untilled, and in a few years many now good estates 

 will be sadly deteriorated. It is generally only wealthy com- 

 panies who are in a position to buy up huge areas of land and 

 to introduce a rational management of their forests, felling only 

 certain trees for the saw mills, carefully protecting the young 

 growth, and leaving, at suitable places, full-grown trees for seed. 



In 1903 the timber market was relatively firm, in consequence 

 of a reduction in produce by the saw mill proprietors in Scan- 

 dinavia during the two preceding winters. Comparatively good 

 prices were obtained, and the year may be considered a pros- 

 perous one. Yet the exportation of props, which has now 

 assumed exceptionally large proportions, having more than 

 doubled in the last few years, causes much anxiety. It has risen 

 from £156,000 to £368,000 in 1903. 



The export during 1902 and 1903 has been as follows : — ■ 



1903 1902 



Standards. Standards. 



Masts, logs, &c 53,640 ... 30,630 



Props 264,655 ... 114,520 



Pulp and paper-wood ... ... ... 104,200 ... 72,134 



Square timber and sleepers... ... ... 38.300 ... 24,800 



Firewood and laths 234,000 ... 218,500 



Deals, battens and boards 517,000 ... 510,000 



Deal-ends and staves 57, 150 ... 47,800 



It has long been known that Lapland possesses great 

 wealth in its immense forests. They have stood untouched for 

 centuries, and up to the present without any careful supervision, 

 but, at the same time, free from the woodcutter's axe. In this 

 country there was only one forest inspector and a few foresters, 

 whose duty it was merely to prevent the illegal felling of trees 

 and to protect them against fire. On account of their remoteness 

 and the want of suitable rivers to float the timber southwards 

 these valuable forests have remained undisturbed. 



It has now been decided to commence a rational exploitation 

 of these vast forests, containing about 10,000,000 of large trees. 

 On account of the slow growth in this northerly region, an 

 average age for full-grown trees has been calculated at 250 years, 

 with an average height of 17 metres (about 56 English feet). 

 About 100,000 trees are now to be sold by public auction as a 

 trial, and the timber will have to be floated through the Patsjoki 

 Lake, on the Finnish frontier, to Varanger Fjord in Norway. 



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