Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/413

 FORESTS 399 with facility from America, northern Europe, and the nu merous British colonies. Owing to the nature of the climate of the British Islands, with its abundance of atmospheric moisture and freedom from such extremes of heat and cold as are prevalent in continental Europe, a great variety of trees are successfully cultivated. In England and Ireland oak and beech are on the whole the most plentiful trees in the low and fertile parts ; in the south of Scotland the beech and ash arc perhaps most common, while the Scotch fir and birch are characteristic of the arboreous vegetation in the Highlands. Although few extensive forests now exist, woods of small area, belts of planting, clumps of trees, coppice, and hedge rows are generally distributed over the country, constituting a mass of wood of considerable importance, giving a clothed appearance in many parts, and affording illustrations of skilled arboriculture not to be found in any other country. The principal state forests in England are Windsor Park, 14,000 acres, the New Forest, &c., in Hamp shire, 70,000 acres, and the Dean Forest in Gloucester shire, 22,500 acres. The total extent of crown forests is about 125,000 acres, and the timber growing upon them is valued at between two and three millions of pounds. A large proportion of the crown forests, having been formed with the object of supplying timber for the navy, consists of fine oak, These wooded tracts are under careful man agement. The total receipts from the royal forests exclu sive of Windsor amounted in 1876-77 to 33,129. The largest forests in Scotland are in Perthshire, Inverness- shire, and Aberdeenshirc. Of these the most notable are the earl of Mansfield s near Scone (8000 acres), the duke of Atholl s larch plantations near Dunkeld (10,000 acres), and in Strathspey a large extent of Scotch fir, partly native, partly planted, belonging to the earl of Seafield. The last-named forest has been regularly planted in such a gradation as to cut 1000 acres annually on a rotation of sixty years. In the forests of Mar and Invercauld, the native pine attains a very great size, and there are also large tracts of indigenous birch in various districts. The total area under wood in Scotland is less than it was in 1812 by 200,000 acres. Ireland was at one time richly clothed with wood ; this is proved by the abundant re mains of fallen trees in the bogs which still occupy a large surface of the island. In addition to the causes above alluded to as tending to disafforest England, the long un settled state of the country also conduced to the diminish ing of the waodlands. At present indigenous timber is exceedingly scarce, the proportion of woodland being only l G2. The abundance of peat compensates in some mea sure for the want of wood as fuel. The following acreages of land and woodland in the United Kingdom are taken from the agricultural returns of 1877 : Total Area, including Water. England 32,597,393 Wales 4,721,823 Scotland 19,496,132 Ireland 20,819,8-&amp;gt;9 Woods, Coppices, and Plantations. 1,325,765 126,823 734,490 825,173 2,512,251 In England, the woods, except the crown forests, being generally on a small scale and private property, there has been no legislative interference with their management. No uniform system of education has been adopted, and a school of forestry is much required. Meanwhile the High land and Agricultural Society of Scotland grants certifi cates for proficiency in the theory and practice of forestry tested by examination. Excellent instruction in surveying, botany, chemistry, geology, and collateral subjects is given in Edinburgh, at the Royal Agricultural College, Ciren- cester, at Glasnevin, Dublin, and in other places. Norway and Sweden. The peninsula formed by the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden is abundantly wooded. The principal trees are Scotch fir (Pimis sylvestris), spruce fir (Abies excelsa), and birch (Betula alba). These grow to a large size, and the birch extends almost as far as the North Cape, only giving place at high altitudes to low, bushy willows. In the southern districts only is there any variety of hardwood. The forests are principally situated in the east of Norway. The western parts have been denuded, and the wants of the sea-coast are supplied from the inland districts. Of the vast area of waste land returned as forest in Norway, about one-ninth belongs to the state or to various state institutions. In the greater part of the forests the population have a long established right for grazing, timber, and firewood ; and even in tracts in which land owners or the state have a part ownership, the rights of the population, if they have any, take precedence of all other claims. Communal forests are managed by men chosen from among those who jointly own them. From the 16th century various laws attempted to regulate the private forests, but these were found vexatious, and were repealed in 1836. The forest department for the control of state forests consists of 27 officers, with a very large staff of men employed in felling and timber transport. The export of timber from Norway is chiefly from the Skeen Fiord, and the various ports between Cape Lindesnaes and the Swedish border. TLe annual export amounts to about 80,000,000 cubic feet, more than half being sent to Great Britain and Ireland, while the average annual value is estimated at &quot;2,400,000. Some idea of the great timber resources of Norway may also be gathered from the fact that in the census of 1865 there were 4937 men entered as working in the forests, and 17,549 described themselves as employed in woodwork, saw-mills, tar-preparing, &c. In a Norwegian administration report it is stated that &quot; the pre sent destruction of forests has reached the limit of the per missible, probably even exceeded it.&quot; Of the 100,500,000 acres in the kingdom of Sweden, 88,800,000 were officially reported in 1875 as forest waste land, 12 millions being public, and 76 millions private property. Only about half of this, however, is really covered with wood, including plantations formed in recent years. Of the public for ests only 4 million acres are under direct state management ; about an equal aiea remains to be demarcated, while the rest belongs to other public insti tutions, is attached to state residences, or is temporarily alienated. The trees in Sweden are the same as those of Norway, but oak, elm, lime, alder, and beech grow more extensively in the south. Birch-wood is chiefly used as fuel, and the wood of the aspen is largely employed in the manufacture of matches. Forest management in Sweden is in course of progres sive development, and the administration is conducted with energy. The department consists of a director and 700 men of different administrative and executive grades. Much labour is required to bring the timber to market from remote forests in the western part of the kingdom ; in winter sledges on ice and snow are used for transport, and in floating down the rivers logs often take four and five years to reach the timber depot. Besides the control of the state and other public forests, -the department is entrusted with the surveillance of private forests. In 1875 the total revenue of the state forests was 56,807. Tho actual expenditure was 35,787. The profits were therefore 21,020. The shipments of timber are annually increasing, and were in 1874 325,061 loads, and 704,741 standards. A Government forest school at Stockholm, which in 1875 had 13 students, supplies recruits for the higher grades of forest service, while there are six provincial schools for training men for the subordinate posts. Be sides these, there is a private forest school receiving a grant in aid from Government.