64 



FORESTS, FOREST LANDS AND FOREST PRODUCTS. 



ship by the governments was not at all necessary for the practice 

 of forestry in these countries, and there is more forest land under 

 systematic management in Europe owned by private parties than 

 by the governments. 



In some of the private forests, as those of the Tyrol, cuttings 

 are. restricted and are superintended by trained government for- 

 esters, because from the situation of the lands in hilly or mountain- 

 ous districts the sudden removal of all timber from over a large 

 area might cause the land to wash, so that reforestation could only 

 be accomplished under serious difficulties. The clearing of large 

 areas and their remaining in a state of denudation causes in hilly 

 countries, where the soil washes easily, great floods in the rivers 

 which are filled with detritus washed down from the hills. Such 

 Hoods endanger the life and property along the streams, while the 

 deposit of the soil washed down seriously affects arable lands and 

 the channels of the streams. The control of such lands as these 

 is not undertaken by the governments with a view of influencing 

 in any way the owners' profit, but as a measure to protect other 

 citizens whose interests might be much affected by any carelessness 

 or greed of a timber owner. 



In Germany, which country probably leads the world in the 

 thoroughness of its forest management, there are about 43,000 

 square miles of forest.* The government owns about 13,300 

 square miles of it, various local organizations, towns and small 

 principalities own 6,700 square miles, while the rest, about 21,700 

 square miles, belongs to individuals, and its management is entirely 

 free from all governmental interference, except so far as the cut- 

 ting of one person's timber will damage lands or property belong- 

 ing to another, in which case an injunction to prevent cutting can 

 be obtained from the courts. 



THE NECESSITY FOR FORESTS IN THE FUTURE. 



The question is asked. Will there be any use, fifty years from 

 now, for a forest grown on this waste land when so large a part of 

 the State and country will be timbered by a second growth of pines 



*Paul Pary's Yahrbuch, 1890. I^andwirtschaftliche Statistik, 1889. 



