386 



Forestry in Norway. 



[AUG., 



Storre of the Forest Service, saw examples of the work that is 

 being carried on in widely separated districts. 



The forest areas of Norway and the United Kingdom 

 compare as follows : — * 



Norway. United Kingdom. 



Area under Forests ... 26,945 sq. miles 4,800 sq. miles 



Percentage of Total Area ■ 21*4 per cent. 3*9 per cent. 



Of the total area of Norwegian forests about 17 million 

 acres are productive, and of these the State owns 2 million 

 acres and has partial control over 440,000 acres. 



The annual output of timber from Norway can be shown to 

 have increased annually for as many years as figures are 

 available. In 1906 the production of unmanufactured timber 

 was worth 2 \ millions sterling, while manufactured timber and 

 wood-pulp contributed 2 million pounds. The total for all 

 classes showed an increase of over one million pounds on the 

 figure for 1901 ; the rise being equally distributed between 

 manufactured and unmanufactured timber. 



Conditions of Forestry. — Of the forest trees of Norway the 

 Scots Pine (P. sylvestris) is the most abundant. Next, 

 perhaps, comes the Birch, and lastly the Spruce (P. excelsa). 

 The Oak, Ash, Elm, and Beech are found in favoured places, 

 while the Alder, Aspen, and Rowan are distributed pretty 

 generally.! The two commercial timbers of the country are 

 undoubtedly the Scots Pine and the Spruce, the latter having 

 attained greater importance since the introduction of the 

 paper pulp trade. t It is fortunate, therefore, that the natural 

 habitat of the Spruce is at a lower altitude than the Pine, 

 and, generally speaking, at a more southern latitude. 



The Rev. T. B. Willson says: "The elevation has, of 

 course, much to do with the growth of the trees ; the snow-line 

 in Norway being at about 4,000 feet, and getting lower the 

 further north you go. In the country south of Trondhjem 

 the Pine, as a rule, ceases at about 2,600 feet above the sea- 

 level, where it is replaced by the Birch, which will grow upi 

 to about 3,500 feet ; above that elevation only dwarf Birch! 

 and Willow will be found." 



* According to Dr. Max Endre r s Handbuch der Forst Politik and the Norwegian 

 State Statistics. The Bulletin of the International Institute of Agriculture quotes : 

 Norway, 26,723 sq. miles ; United Kingdom, 4,850 sq. miles. 



+ Of the State woods, 69 per cent, are evergreen, 31 per cent, deciduous. 



X In the manufacture of wood pulp or cellulose, Spruce is the staple timber used. 

 About 15 per cent, of Pine can be added without causing deterioration in colour. 



