Part 1

Transcriber’s Notes

Small capitals in the original work have been transcribed as ALL CAPITALS; italics have been transcribed _between underscores_. A caret represents a subscript, as in 4^o.

More Transcriber’s Notes may be found at the end of this text.

A BRIEF

HISTORY OF FORESTRY.

IN EUROPE, THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER COUNTRIES

BY

Bernhard E. Fernow, LL.D.

Dean, Faculty of Forestry University of Toronto

REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION

UNIVERSITY PRESS TORONTO AND FORESTRY QUARTERLY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

COPYRIGHT, CANADA, 1911, BY B. E. FERNOW.

_To My Friend of Many Years_

_ROSSITER W. RAYMOND_

_whose warm personal interest and enthusiastic patriotism have from their beginnings inspired my labors in forwarding forestry interests in the United States._

CONTENTS.

PAGE PREFACE ix

INTRODUCTORY 1

THE FOREST OF THE ANCIENTS 8 1. Forest Conditions 9 2. Development of Forest Property 12 3. Forest Use 15 4. Literature 19

GERMANY 22

I. FROM EARLIEST TIMES TO END OF MIDDLE AGES 26 1. Development of Property Conditions 27 2. Forest Treatment 36

II. FIRST DEVELOPMENT OF FORESTRY METHODS (1500 TO 1800) 41 1. Development of Property Conditions 42 2. Forest Conditions 47 3. Methods of Restriction in Forest Use 49 4. Development of Forest Policy 52 5. Personnel 56 6. Development of Silviculture 57 7. Improvement of the Crop 67 8. Methods of Regulating Forest Management 68 9. Improvements in Methods of Mensuration 73 10. Methods of Lumbering and Utilization 77 11. Forest Administration 80 12. Forestry Schools 83 13. Forestry Literature 84

III. DEVELOPMENT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 91 1. Changes in Property Conditions 92 2. Forest Conditions 96 3. Personnel 97 4. Progress in Silviculture 102 5. Methods of Forest Organization 113 6. Forest Administration 120 7. Forest Policy 125 8. Forestry Science and Literature 131 9. Means of Advancing Forestry Science 145

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 152 1. Property Conditions 157 2. First Attempts at Forest Control 158 3. Development of Forest Policy 162 4. State Forest Administration 167 5. Progress of Forest Organization 169 6. Development of Silviculture 172 7. Education and Literature 175 HUNGARY 178

SWITZERLAND 185 1. Forest Conditions and Property Rights 188 2. Development of Forest Policy 190 3. Forestry Practice 198 4. Education and Literature 200

FRANCE 203 1. Development of Forest Property 203 2. Development of Forest Administration 213 3. Development of Modern Forest Policy 220 4. Work of Reforestation 224 5. Forestry Science and Practice 233 6. Education and Literature 241 7. Colonial Policies 248

RUSSIA AND FINLAND 253 1. Forest Conditions and Ownership 255 2. Development of Forest Policy 261 3. Education and Literature 270 4. Forestry Practice 273

FINLAND 277

THE SCANDINAVIAN STATES 285

SWEDEN 287 1. Property Conditions 290 2. Development of Forest Policy 294 3. Forest Administration and Forest Practice 301 4. Education and Literature 303

NORWAY 305

DENMARK 314

THE MEDITERRANEAN PENINSULAS 320

TURKISH AND SLAVISH TERRITORIES 321

GREECE 327 1. Forest Conditions 328 2. Development of Forest Policy 332

ITALY 335 1. Forest Conditions 336 2. Development of Forest Policy 340 3. Education and Literature 347

SPAIN 349 1. Forest Conditions 352 2. Development of Forest Policy 354

PORTUGAL 360

GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 365 1. Forest Conditions 367 2. Development of Forest Policy 370

INDIA 380 1. Forest Conditions 383 2. Property Conditions 388 3. Development of Forest Policy 391 4. Forest Organization and Administration 396 5. Forest Treatment 400 6. Education and Literature 405

CANADA 409 1. Forest Conditions 414 2. Ownership 421 3. Administration of Timberlands 424 4. Development of Forest Policy 428 5. Education 435

NEWFOUNDLAND 437

OTHER BRITISH POSSESSIONS AND COLONIES 438

JAPAN 442 1. Forest Conditions and Ownership 442 2. Development of Forest Policy 446

KOREA 455

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 456 1. Forest Conditions 461 2. Early Forest History 466 3. Development of Forest Policy 479 4. Education and Literature 499

INSULAR POSSESSIONS 504

INDEX i

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

It has been a great surprise and also a great gratification to the author to see the first edition of this volume exhausted within less than two years since its appearance in complete form. The gratification has come especially because of the opportunity thus afforded of revision, improvement in style, and correction of the many inaccuracies which the first edition contained, excusable only by the manner in which (as explained in the preface of the first edition) the volume had come into existence.

Only in a few cases has it seemed desirable to expand, since the object of the book is not to be complete, but to give as briefly as possible an oversight over a rather large field. The chapter on France has, however, been entirely re-written and considerably enlarged to meet the just criticisms of reviewers; the excellent work of Huffel, full of historical data, which was not available when the first edition was printed, permitting a clearer and fuller statement to be made.

As long as history is in the making, a book of this kind can hardly be brought up to date. This should especially be kept in mind by the reader in regard to the statistics brought in. Since these are only to serve in general to show the magnitude of the interests involved, they may without damage be only approximately accurate, and even of older date.

Some of the chapters have been submitted for criticism and corrections to correspondents in the various countries to which they refer. For the kindly assistance of these friends thanks is due from the author.

TORONTO, OCTOBER, 1911.

B. E. FERNOW.

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION.

This publication is the result of a series of 25 lectures which the writer was invited to deliver before the students of forestry in Yale University as a part of their regular course of instruction during the session of 1904.

Circumstances made it desirable, in the absence of any existing textbooks on the subject, to print at once, for the sake of ready reference, the substance of the lectures while they were being delivered.

This statement of the manner in which the book came into existence will explain and, it is hoped, excuse the crudities of style, which has been also hampered by the necessity of condensation.

The main object was to bring together the information, now scattered and mostly inaccessible to English or American readers: the style has been sacrificed to brevity; it is a book of expanded lecture notes.

In the nature of the case the book does not lay claim to any originality except in the manner of presentation, being merely a compilation of facts gathered mostly from other compilations, official documents and journals.

For none of the countries discussed does a complete work on the history of forests and forestry exist, excepting in the case of Germany, which can boast of a number of comprehensive works on the subject. It was, therefore, possible to treat that country more _in extenso_. Moreover, it appeared desirable to enlarge upon the history of that country, since it is pre-eminently in the lead in forestry matters and has passed through all the stages of development of forest policies and forestry practice, which, with more or less variations must be repeated in other countries.

Especially the growth of the technical science and art of forestry, which has been developed in Germany for a longer time and to a more refined degree than in other countries, has been elaborated in the chapter relating to that country.

For some of the other countries available sources of information were quite limited. The writer believes, however, that for the purpose of this brief statement the data collected will be found sufficient.

In order to make conditions existing in the different countries and their causes more readily understood it appeared desirable to give very brief historic references to their political and economic development and also brief statements of their general physical conditions.

Present conditions of forest policy and forest administration have sometimes been enlarged upon beyond the requirements of historical treatment.

ITHACA, N.Y., May, 1907.

B. E. FERNOW.

INTRODUCTORY.

The value of studying the historical development of an economic subject or of a technical art which, like forestry, relies to a large extent upon empiricism, lies in the fact that it brings before us, in proper perspective, accumulated experience, and enables us to analyze cause and effect, whereby we may learn to appreciate the reasons for present conditions and the possibilities for rational advancement.

If there be one philosophy more readily derivable than another from the study of the history of forestry it is that history repeats itself. The same policies and the same methods which we hear propounded to-day have at some other time been propounded and tried elsewhere: we can study the results, broadening our judgment and thereby avoid the mistakes of others.

Nowhere is the record of experience and the historic method of study of more value than in an empiric art like forestry, in which it takes decades, a lifetime, nay a century to see the final effects of operations.

Such study, if properly pursued, tends to free the mind from many foolish prejudices and particularly from an unreasonable partiality for our own country and its customs and methods merely because they are our own, substituting the proper patriotism, which applies the best knowledge, wherever found, to our own necessities.

Forestry is an art born of necessity, as opposed to arts of convenience and of pleasure. Only when a reduction in the natural supplies of forest products under the demands of civilization, necessitates a husbanding of supplies or necessitates the application of art or skill or knowledge in securing a reproduction, or when unfavorable conditions of soil or climate induced by forest destruction make themselves felt does the art of forestry make its appearance. Hence its beginnings occur in different places at different times and its development proceeds at different paces.

In the one country, owing to economic development, the need of an intensive forest management and of strict forest policies may have arrived, while in another, rough exploitation and wasteful practices are still natural and practically unavoidable. And such differences, as we shall see, may even exist in the different parts of the same country.

The origin and growth of the art, then, is dependent on economic and cultural conditions, on various economic development and on elements of environment. The development of the art can only be understood and appreciated through the knowledge of such environment, of such other developments as of agriculture, of industries, of means of transportation, of civilization generally.

Hence we find, for instance, that England, located so as to be accessible by sea from all points of the compass and with oceanic shipping well developed, can apparently dispense with serious consideration of the forest supply question.

Again, we find that more than a century ago fear of a timber famine agitated not only the dense populations of many European countries, but even the scanty population of the United States, in spite of the natural forest wealth which is still supplying us; and not without good reason, for at that time wood was the only fuel and rivers the only means of transportation; hence local scarcity was to be feared and was not unfrequently experienced when accessible forest areas had been exploited. Railroad and canal development and the use of coal for fuel changed this condition on both continents. Now, with improved means of transportation by land and by sea, the questions of wood supply and of forestry development, which at one time were of very local concern, have become world questions, and he who proposes to discuss intelligently forest conditions and forestry movement in one country must understand what is going on in other countries.

As will appear from the study of the following pages, with the exception of some parts of central Europe or of some sporadic attempts elsewhere to regulate forest use, the development of the forestry idea belongs essentially to the 19th century, and more especially to the second half, when the rapid development of railroads had narrowed the world, and the remarkable development of industries and material civilization called for increased draft on forest resources.

Yet we are still largely ignorant as to the extent of available forest area, not only in this country but elsewhere: we do not know whether it be sufficient in extent and yield to furnish a continuous supply for the needs of our civilization, or, if not, for how long a time it will suffice. We can only make very broad statements as to questions of wood supply, and very broad inferences from them as argument for the need of a closer study of forest conditions and of the practice of forestry:

1. Practically, the northern temperate zone alone produces the kinds of wood which enter most largely into our economy, namely the soft conifers and the medium hard woods; most of the woods of the tropics are very hard, fit primarily for ornamental use and hence less necessary. Possibly a change in the methods of the use of wood may also change the relative economic values, but at present the vast forests of the tropical countries are of relatively little importance in the discussion of wood supply for the world.

2. The productive forest area, of the temperate zone, in which the industrial nations are located, has continuously decreased. We shall not be far from wrong in stating this area liberally, to be at present around 2,500 million acres,[1] namely in Europe, 800 million acres; in Asia, 800 million acres; in North America, 900 million acres. How much of this acreage contains available virgin timber, how much is merely potential forest, how much growing crop, it is impossible to state.

[1] The total forest area of the world is supposed to be 3,800 million acres.

3. The civilized wood consuming population of this territory is about 500 million, hence the per capita acreage is still 5 acres. Taking the European countries which now have to import all or part of their consumption (excess over exports), we find that their population is estimated at 180 million and that they use 30 cubic feet of wood per capita, of which 12 cubic feet is log timber; or altogether they use 2,200 million cubic feet of this latter description, of which they import in round numbers 1,000 million at a cost of about 250 million dollars; their forest acreage of 100 million acres being insufficient to produce, even under careful management as in Germany, more than two-thirds of their needs. And the wood consumption in all these nations is growing at the rate of 1½ to 2 per cent. annually.

4. The deficiency is at present supplied by the export countries, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Austria-Hungary, Canada and United States, and these countries themselves also increasing their consumption, are beginning to feel the drain on their forest resources, which are for the most part merely roughly exploited.

5. If we assume a log timber requirement by the 500 million people of 6000 million cubic feet and could secure what France annually produces, namely a little less than 9 cubic feet of such timber per acre, the area supposed to be under forest would amply suffice. But a large part of it is in fact withdrawn from _useful_ production and of the balance not more than 250 million acres at best are as yet under management for continuous production. Hence attention to forestry is an urgent necessity for every industrial nation.

* * * * *

The history of the forest in all forest countries shows the same periods of development.

First hardly recognized as of value or even as personal property, the forest appears an undesirable encumbrance of the soil, and the attitude of the settler is of necessity inimical to the forest: the need for farm and pasture leads to forest destruction.

The next stage is that of restriction in forest use and protection against cattle and fire, the stage of conservative lumbering. Then come positive efforts to secure re-growth by fostering natural regeneration or by artificial planting: the practice of silviculture begins. Finally a management for continuity--organizing existing forest areas for sustained yield--forest economy is introduced.

That the time and progress of these stages of development and the methods of their inauguration vary in different parts of the world is readily understood from the intimate relation which, as has been pointed out, this economic subject bears to all other economic as well as political developments.

At the present time we find all the European nations practicing forestry, although with a very varying degree of intensity. The greatest and most universal development of the art is for good reasons to be found in Germany and its nearest neighbors. Early attention to forest conservancy was here induced by density of population, which enforces intensity in the use of soil, and by the comparative difficulty of securing wood supplies cheaply enough from outside. On the other hand, such countries as the Mediterranean peninsulas by their advantageous situation with reference to importations, with their mild climate and less intensive industrial development, have felt this need less.

Again, the still poorly settled and originally heavily timbered countries of the Scandinavian peninsula and the vast empire of Russia are still heavy exploiters of forest products and are only just beginning to feel the drain on their forest resources; while the United States, with as much forest wealth as Russia, but with a much more intensive industrial development, has managed to reach the stage of need for a conservative forest policy in a shorter time.

From each of the European countries we learn something helpful towards inaugurating such policies, and while, owing to a different historical background and to different political and social conditions, none of their administrative methods and measures may appeal to us, the principles underlying them as well as those underlying their silvicultural methods remain the same; they are applicable everywhere, and can best be recognized and studied in the history of their development.

THE FOREST OF THE ANCIENTS.

_Waldgeschichte des Alterthums_, by AUGUST SEIDENSTICKER, 1886, 2 vols., pp. 863, is a most painstaking compilation from original sources of notes regarding the forest conditions and the knowledge of trees, forests and forestry among the ancients. Contains also a full bibliography.

_Die Waldwirthschaft der Rœmer_, by J. TRURIG, collects the knowledge, especially of arboriculture and silviculture, possessed by the Romans.

_Forstwissenschaftliche Leistungen der Altgriechen_, by Dr. CHLOROS, in Forstwissenschaftliches Centralblatt, 1885, pp. 8.

_Archeologia forestale, Dell’ antica storia e giurisprudenza forestale in Italia_, by A. DI BERENGER, 1859.