The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1909-12-10
SWISS FORESTRY SYSTEM
Most Perfect in the World and Has Been
in Operation More Than Six
Hundred Years

WV ySaio aSO WhSh tAS ANANSs OAAA
nance of Bern was issued. The Sihl-
valid of Zurich, one of the most per-
fectly managed and most profitable
forests in the world, has been handled
under a working plan since 1880. The
little Alpine republic still reports forest
progress, and the American consul
writing from St. Gall, says:
The government of Switzerland has
so carefully regulated the timber out
put that it has never been permitted
to exceed the natural growth. The
thick growth of timber on the noun
tain sides, purposely allowed to become
dense, has perceptibly lessened the
danger and frequency of avalanches
and landslides, which in former times
were so frightfully. destructive. To
control the spring floods in the rivers
and streams, massive dams, fortified by
thickly planted trees, have been erect
ed at exposed places. In the extraor-
binary attention paid to its timber
lands, the government has taken into
account also the necessity for shelter
ing and pasturing cattle, the mainte-
nance of the soil, the roads and the
natural springs, climate and the control
OF mountain streams.
The actual forest area OF Switzer-
land comprises 2,205, sos acres, being
21.48 per cent of the entire surface of
the country, 77,004 of which belong
to the state, and Q, 128,504 to the can
tons, communes, municipalities, and
private corporations. Seven hundred
and eighty-one acres of the state forest
are set aside as nursery. From this
nursery in 1908 over %, 100000 young
trees were taken and transplanted in
the various forests.
Swiss forests are classed as pro-
tected' and 'non-protected.' The for
mer are those which are situated on
mountain slopes where the imminence
of washouts, stone and ice chutes,
landslides and avalanches calls for the
constant exercise of extraordinary care
and attention. The 'non-protected'
are those on comparatively level ground
requiring only ordinary attention to
keep them in good condition. Be-
cause of the character OF the country
the great majority of the forests are
protected
THE law provides that the forest
area shall not be diminished and that
all forests shall be maintained in a
fairly dense condition. Even in pri-
vate forests close cutting or clearing up
is strictly forbidden, especially in ex-
posed places, without the consent of
the federal authorities, and then only in
small areas and when prompt reforesta-
ton is guaranteed. Trees for cutting
are carefully selected by forestry ex-
perts.
Through the forests there are ex-
cellent roads, made largely by the can
tonal authorities. The year 1908 was
marked by such activity in road con-
struction that the state, which bears a
proportion Of the expense, paid to the
cantons the sum of 1865 on their
account alone.
Spruce is the most important tree
in the Swiss forests, and then in order
of their importance come the white fir,
beech, larch, pine, cypress, and few
other varieties.
The principal revenue derived
from the Swiss forests is from the lum-
Der output, there being no manufac-
lures of resin, turpentine, or similar by
products. To Offset the cutting, there
were planted in 1908 $4,000, 225 trees,
of which 18,031,5o0 were confer and
5,064,635 deciduous, and no less than
seven tons OF seed were sown.
Statistics of the receipts and ex-
penditures of all forestry work in the
country are not available, but couple
of cases may be cited which show graf
flying returns. The total receipts from
the sale of wood in 1908 from 2421
acres of state forests in the canton of
St. Gall are given as $24,457.37 and
the expenditures as $7104.81, leaving
clear profit of $17,352.s6. In the
forests of the town of Winterthur, in
Guiding 1888 acres, the receipts were
$51,174.63, and the expenses $21,-
634.50, leaving net profit of $2o,-
540.13, or an average of $10.42 per
acre.
1t is not to be presumed that the
revenue from the entire Swiss forest
area can be Appropriated by taking as
basis the earnings of the St. Gall or