Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/414

400 FORESTS Denmark is one of tlie most poorly wooded countries in Europe, the percentage of woodland being now only 4 25 of the whole area. This small proportion is caused chiefly by the nakedness of the western part of Jutland, where the west winds have seconded the action of man in destroying the forests. Much of the wood which at one time covered nearly the whole of Denmark having been cut down, to make way for agriculture, and to supply fuel and timber, a vast area thus bared has become a sandy heathy desert. The chief indigenous trees of Denmark are the spruce and Scotch fir, birch, and aspen. The oak also forms valuable forests on the islands of Falster and Lolland. Beech, which was later introduced, has flourished so well as almost to monopolize the forest ground, and special protection is afforded to the oak, while a variety of conifers are being introduced as rivals to the beech; in a few places only, such as Normandy and the Carpathian mountains, are beech forests so luxuriant as in Denmark. Although laws to check the destruction of forests were enacted in the loth, IGth, and 17th centuries, they were treated as a dead letter; it is only since 1805 that effective measures have been taken to preserve the remains of Danish woodland and to create new plantations. A state forest department permits only small portions of old forests to be cleared at a time, and insists on the simultaneous planting of an equal area. The department also exercises a controlling supervision on private forests, forming plantations where necessary on private "estates at the expense of the owner. About oue- iifth of the entire area of Denmark may be described as lying waste ; some of this is unfit for the growth of trees, hut already extensive plantations have been formed, on the heaths and dunes of West Jutland, of hardy trees such as Pin-us moniana, Abies alba, A. excelsa, and A. pectinata. In some instances, the state purchases tracts of heath on v/hich to form plantations, and in others grants aid to private enterprise. The Danish forest school is at Copenhagen, and forms a branch of an agricultural college. Admittance is obtained after passing an examination similar to that required for matriculation at the uni versity. The forest education requires four examinations, and the subjects comprised are (1) mathematics, geology, natural philo sophy, chemistry, zoology, botany, and drawing ; (2) practical work, to acquire a knowledge of which the student generally ar ranges to serve for a year or two under a forest officer ; (3) an oral examination in the principles of forestry, surveying, geology, hydrology, forest zoology, and botany ; and (4) these principles applied practically, a tract of forest above 200 acres to be surveyed, and levels found for a line of 3000 or 4000 feet. The course of study extends from four to six years ; the student then becomes a "forest candidate," and may look for Government employment. Holland, on account of its formation and climate, possesses no indigenous forests. The country is so inter sected by water that it is extremely subject to fogs, and being little above the sea level it is greatly exposed to winds, those from the north-west especially being pre judicial to tree growth, while the marshy ground prevents the roots from penetrating far into the soil. There is, however, along the roads and embankments, a considerable amount of timber, consisting of beech, poplar, willow, and ash, which attain a large size, and in the management of such avenues the Dutch excel. Elms also thrive on the embankments. The extensive dunes, amounting to 140,000 acres, are planted chiefly with hardy conifers (Marsh). Belgium. The physical features of Belgium are, except in the northern part, very different from those of Holland. The chief forests are in the districts of Brabant and Flanders, and the old forest of Ardennes still extends along the south-eastern frontier. According to Siemoni, in 1872 Belgium had 18 per cent, of her soil covered with wood. Ilecent returns give the area of state forest in Belgium as nearly 75,000 acres, and of communal forests 300,000 acres, all being under Government control. Germany is in general well wooded, the forests of Prussia being estimated to cover 23 35 per cent, of the whole surface ; while Wiirtemberg has 31 22, and Baden 35-90. This wealth is partly due to the abundant natural supply, and partly to the methodical way of treating forests adopted by all the states of the empire. The winters being long and severe, an abundant supply of fuel is almost as essential as a sufficient supply of food. This necessity has led, in the absence of coal, and along with a passion for the chase, to the preservation of forests, and to the establishment of an admirable system of forest cultivation, almost as carefully conducted as field tillage. We need only enumerate a few of the principal wooded tracts bordering on the Rhine and the Elbe. The Black Forest stretches the whole length of the grand-duchy of Baden and part of the kingdom of Wiirtemberg, from the Neckar to Basel and the lake of Constance. The vegeta tion resembles that of the Yosges; forests of spruce, iScotch, and silver firs, mingled with birches, beech, and oak, are the chief woods met with. The forest of Rippoldsau, on the head waters of the Kinzig, is one of the best forests, and is managed with great care. In the grand-duchy of Hesse, the Odenwald range of mountains, stretching between the Maine and the Neckar, contains the chief supply of timber. These two large tracts of forest are favourably situated with respect to water carriage, and from them the supply of timber for exportation is mainly drawn ; it is now, however, so much diminished in passing down the llhine through populous districts, that it no longer suffices for the demands of the Dutch shipbuilders. The largest spars are called " Hollander." The floating operations down the several tributaries of the Rhine in the Black Forest are very instructive, and the timber trade may there be studied with advantage. In the duchy of Nassau there are the large wooded tracts of the Westerwald and the Taunus mountain ranges, and the forests cover a large area extending between Neuwied and Bieberich. In Rhenish Prussia the valuable forests nearly equal the arable land in extent. These lie partly in the Ardennes, on the borders of Belgium, and on the mountains overhanging the Upper Moselle, but they do not furnish such stately trees as the Schwarzwald or Black Forest and the Odenwald. The Yosges forests were ceded to Germany in 1872, after the Franco-Prussian war. The Spessartwald, near Asch- affeuburg-on-the-Maine in Bavaria, is one of the most extensive forests of middle Germany, containing large masses of fine oak with extensive plantations of coniferous trees, spruce, Scotch fir, and larch. Bavaria possesses other fine forest tracts, such as the Baierischewald on the Bohemian frontier, the Kranzbcrg near Munich, and the Frankewald in the north of the kingdom. North Germany has extensive forests on the Hartz and Thurin- gian mountains, while in East Prussia large tracts of flat ground are covered with Pinmsylvestris, Abies excelsa, and juniper. Prussia, including Hanover, contains about 20 million acres of forest land. About half of this is private property, and of the other half, managed by the state, part is com munal or ecclesiastical forest. Of the state forests, equalling 6,200,000 acres, a small proportion is moorland yet to be planted. The yield of the state woodland in 1871, a large portion of which bears Scotch fir, was 204,796,260 cubic feet, or 34 5 cubic feet per acre of the area devoted to the produce of timber. The total income for the year for timber and other forest products amounted to .2,100,000, or about six shillings an acre, little more than half of which went to working expenses, the cost of the forest academies, commutation of servitudes, and road taxes. Much has been done in Germany to preserve and develop the forest resources by establishing training