of forests by European States to remind 
mv readers that with the exception of 
England, nearly all the great nations 
have carefully retained large areas in 
which the timber cut out has been re- 
placed by natural growth or by other 
trees planted to fill the empty space. 
Thus we find that in 1902 Russia had 
still 516,000,000 acres in forest, Sweden 
48,000,000 acres, Germany 34,000,000 
acres, France and Austria 24,000,000 
acres each, Hungary 22,000,000 acres, 
Norway 17,000,000 acres. It must be 
remembered that most of these coun- 
tries have long since passed the stage 
at which the domestic supply of timber 
has ceased to satisfy the demand; for as 
we have already pointed out, France and 
23 
Germany are large importers of foreign- 
timber. Between 1830 and 1880 timber 
prices in Germany rose as much as 
300 per cent.; and in Norway and Swe- 
den during the last half century they 
have risen about 200 per cent. It is 
clear that if the object of these States 
were merely temporary and immediate 
gain they could secure enormous profits 
by cuttmg out their forests at the 
utmost possible speed. But a wise and 
enlightened self-interest urges them to 
preserve and enlarge these invaluable 
natural resources instead of destroying 
them; and so we find that Austria keeps 
as much as 32 per cent. of her territorial 
area under forest, France has 17 per 
cent. of her area in forest, and Germany, 
though a heavy importer of timber for 
industrial purposes, maintains forests 
that actually cover 26 per cent of her 
total area. 
The methods adopted by various coun- 
tries for the preservation or reproduc- 
tion of their timber supplies naturally 
vary in detail. But it may be safely 
said that the forestry system adopted 
in Germany can be taken as a type of 
all the most advanced and progressive 
systems in practice to-day. I do not 
wish to trouble my readers with techni- 
cal details, but it will help them to un- 
derstand the scope of the subject if I 
describe at some length the system of 
afforestation practised in Germany, and 
the method of cutting out the mature 
trees employed both in the conserved 
and the reforested areas. 
GERMAN FORESTRY. 
The work of forest-making employs a 
large amount of capital and labour every 
year in Germany, and it is carried out on 
thoroughly scientific lines. Seedlings are 
raised in carefully sheltered spots, and 
when the shoots are three or four inches 
high, they are transplanted to more spa- 
cious beds where they grow for three or 
four years. They are now ready to fill 
the gaps in the forests where the large 
timber has been cut away. Of course a 
great deal is left to natural reproduction 
which, in a well-tended forest may sup- 
ply as much as 85 per cent of the re- 
quired new growth. “Under favourable 
circumstances,” we are told. “Nature 
needs little assistance, for a seed forest 
will practically replant itself if care be 
vaken to keep it free from noxious weeds 
and other enemies, and judicious repro- 
duction cuttings be employed.” But what- 
ever means are used to fill up the vacan- 
cies, every effort is directed toward hav- 
ing a well-developed second growth when 
the veterans are cut down. Even when 
the young trees have been transplanted 
to the chosen spot, they need constant 
care and attention, especially if the loecal- 
ity is not particularly favourable to 
their growth. On the Continent the 
most unpromising land is frequently eom- 
pelled in this way to vield a large return, 
“Land which in America would be useless 
waste,” writes Mr. Karl Geiser, in an 
article on ‘Forestry Results in Ger- 
many,” “here supports a grove worth 
thousands of dollars per acre. The same 
thrift which plants the hanging vineyards 
along the steep banks of the Rhine, 
clothes the rocky slopes of the Black 
Forest mountains with perpetua! green.” 
SCIENTIFIC CUTTING. 
The same methodical care that is dis- 
played in the cultivation of the seedlings 
and the replanting of waste spaces is ex- 
ercised in cutting out these forests. In 
