The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-12-04
FORESTRY IN
sMIIIZEe!L AND


Oh kOfHSt pFgAS5k-lAD1 ANu W. Ftass.s
GOO years Ago when the forest cfdt
nance OF Bern WIS isiet. Tae sihI
waids Of zItich. one 81 the most pei
fectly nahSged and most profitable
f5resfs III the world, 1as been ham
tifsd Under q working plan since 1880.
The ilttis Alpine republic still reports
progress ID foreis I work. ahdsthe Amer
lean consul Rrfting frpm ST. Gall says:
-rhe goyarlmsnt Of Switzerland, has
SO carefulis regulated the timber out
put that it has never been permitted
to exceed the natura1 growth. The
thick growth OF timber on7the uohn-
tain sides, p1rposeIy allowed to be
ccfne dense, HIS pefceptibty lesssned
the danger and frequency 6f ava
iancnes and .iandslfd es,S which III for
Emer times were 50 friehtfutiy desttte-
tive. To eontr61 the spring Hoods In
the rivers and streams massive dams.
fortified By thie4iy planted trees, have
been erected 1T exposed places. In
the extracFdinarS attention paid to its
timber lands, the government has TAX
en- into account also The necessity for
shelte+ins and pastnffng cattle, tie
maintenance OF the ssss55ii. the roads and
the natural springs. citntate and CON:
troll OF rnountafn streams e z ~
1.-The actual forest area u sssit ger.
land comprises 3, 265;50s acres, 'f1.4s
per cent Of the entire surface OF the
country, 77.Oo4 Of which belong to the
tate and 2,12e.5 pf to cantons, com.
munes. municipalities and private cor,
porattons. Seven hundred and eighty
one acres Of the State forest are set
aside as 6 nursery From this nursery
IN 1908 over $4,000 600 young trees
were taken and transported in the
various forest.
'.swiss forests are classed as pro
tected' and inonlptotected.' The for
mer are those which are situated on
mountain slopes where the imminence
of washouts, stone and ice chutas,
iandsIides and valanches calls for the
constant exercise of extraordinary
care and attention. The 'non-protect-
ed are those on comparatively level
ground requiring zpny; ordinary atten-
ton to KEEP them in good condition.
Because Of the character Of the coun-
try, the great majority Of the forests
are protected
1.-THE law provides that the forest
area shall not be diminished and that
ali forests shall be maintained in
fairly dense condition. Even in pri-
late forests close cutting or clearing
up is strictly fonbidden, especiay in ex
posed ,paces' without the consent of
the federal authorities, and then only
in small areas and waen prompt re-
forestatiun is guaranteed. Trees for
cutting are carefully selected by for
estry experts.
"Through the forests there are ex-
cellent roads, made largely by the
cahtdnaI authorities. The year 1908
was marked by such activity in road
construction that the State, which
bears a proportion OF the expense,
paid to the carItons the sum of $46,-
6s.O 90 on their account alone.
Spruce is the most important tree
in the swiss,fcrests and then In order
of their Importance come the white
fir. beech, Iach, pine. cypress and a
few other varieties.
"The principal revenues derived
from the lumber output there being
no manufacture of rosiu, turpentine
and similar by.products. To offset the
cutting, there were planted in 1908,
%, O9e,225 trees, OF which 1s,031.5s0
were confer and 5.O64.GSb 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 a couple
OF cases may be cited which show
gratlfyingtretur'ns. The total receipts
from the sale of wood III 1908 from
2,421 acres Of State forests in the can
ton OF st. Gall are given as ~. 457.S7
and tie expenditures as $7,1o4.s1,
leaving clear profit OF 81. 352.5G. In
the forests OF the town Of Winterthur.
amounting to 2,s5s acres, the receipts
S5I,174.6S. mad the expenditures ST.
.GS4.5O, leaving a net profit of S2s.-
5lO.fs, or an average profit Of about
$1O.42 per acre. e ~ re
at Is not to be presumed that the