37« 



The National Geographic Magazine 



quantities of turpentine, lumber, and 

 charcoal. 



SWITZERLAND 



In Switzerland forestry received at- 

 tention from very early times. Nearly 

 two hundred years before the discovery 

 of America the city of Zurich began to 

 make rules for the protection and man- 

 agement of the Sihlwald, a forest which 

 it still owns, and which now yields an 

 annual return of about $8 per acre. 

 In the canton of Bern a decree of the 

 year 1592 warned the people against the 

 wasteful use of timber and provided for 

 the protection of the forest. It also 

 directed that for every tree cut down a 

 young one should be planted in its 

 place. It is curious to find this mis- 

 taken prescription for the ills of the 

 forest already in fashion more than 

 three centuries ago. To save the forest 

 every old tree must be replaced by many 

 young ones. 



The first general forest law of Bern 

 was passed as early as 1725. It em- 

 bodied the most important principles of 

 wise forest legislation as we know them 

 today. But this was only one of a long 

 series of forest laws in which, from the 

 beginning, the idea of the importance of 

 the forest to others besides its owner 

 became steadily stronger. The citizens 

 of Bern have grown ever more willing to 

 place restrictions on themselves for the 

 benefit of the commonwealth. 



There were great floods in Switzerland 

 in 1834, and they were the cause of a 

 general awakening of interest in for- 

 estry. Somewhat later a federal forest 

 commission was appointed. Since the 

 appearance of its final report, in 186 r, the 

 progress of forestry in Switzerland has 

 been steady. In 1875 a federal forest 

 inspector was appointed, and a year 

 later the first Swiss forest law was 

 passed . This law does not extend to the 

 whole of Switzerland, but only to the 

 Alps and the steeper foothills. In a 

 country of steep mountains it is of first 



importance to guard the forests on the 

 higher slopes. Consequently all the for- 

 ests on these higher lands which serve to 

 protect the lowlands against floods, ava- 

 lanches, and other similar dangers of 

 wind and weather are put in charge of 

 the Swiss federal forest service. 



' ' Our forest laws, ' ' said Elias Landolt, 

 a great and simple man, whose name 

 stands first among Swiss foresters, ' ' are 

 intended to work more thorough instruc- 

 tion, good example, and encouragement 

 than by severe regulations. This method 

 is somewhat slower than one which 

 should involve harsher measures, but the 

 results achieved are more useful and 

 lasting. When forest owners do some- 

 thing because they are convinced of its 

 usefulness it is done well and with an 

 eye to the future, but what they do 

 under compulsion is done carelessly and 

 neglected at the first opportunity. What 

 they have come to learn in this way and 

 have recognized as good will be carried 

 out, and that better and better from year 

 to year." 



BRITISH INDIA 



For many years after the British con- 

 quest forestry in India made very little 

 progress. Much time was wasted in 

 half measures, until in 1856 Dr (now Sir 

 Dietrich) Brandis was put in charge of 

 the teak forests of Pegu. He acted at 

 once upon the idea of preserving them by 

 making them pay. At first the output 

 of teak had to be somewhat restricted, 

 much against the will of the timber mer- 

 chants of Rangoon, who protested that 

 the business of their city would be 

 ruined. But after this momentary check 

 the teak trade of Rangoon grew until it 

 was far greater than ever before, and it 

 is now a chief and increasing source of 

 the prosperity of that city. 



The appointment of Dr Brandis was 

 the beginning of the Indian forest serv- 

 ice. In 1866 he was made inspector 

 general of forests, and from that time 

 progress was rapid. The Indian forest 



