The arboreous vegetation of the earth is remarkable for its great variety: many countries are rich in pines, others in oaks; Australia in Eucalyptus or gum trees, India in teak, California in Wellingtonia or Sequoia, and Brazil in palms. Trees, like other plants, require different degrees of heat, light, moisture, and elevation above the sea for their vigorous development, and hence various countries have their characteristic forests. The birches and pines of the North make way in the temperate zone for oaks and beeches, and in the tropics for palms and other heat-loving trees. The same trees seem to require similar climates, but the same climates do not always produce the same plants. The mountains of South India and Ceylon closely resemble the regions where the cinchona forests occur, but the genus is wanting in Asia. Again the teak is unknown in America, although parts of Brazil resemble its home in Malabar. These anomalies are explained perhaps mainly by the primitive distribution of the plants (see Distribution). It is also remarkable that some forests consist solely of one particular tree (on the Continent technically called “pure forest,” in contradistinction to mixed forests), such as the birch in Lapland, the deodar in the Himalaya, the Abies canadensis and Pinus Strobus in North America. The European forests, on the contrary, are generally composed of coniferous trees mingled with oak, elm, ash, beech, poplar, willow, alder, birch, and lime, interspersed with hornbeam, and various species of Pyrus and Prunus, the underwood being hazel, elder, buckthorn, viburnum, roses, &c. The American forests contain a still greater variety of species, a fact strikingly illustrated by Sir J. D. Hooker, in speaking of a patch of native forest a few miles from St Louis on the Missouri :—“In little more than half an hour, and less than a mile’s walk, I saw forty kinds of timber trees, including eleven of oak, two of maple, two of elm, three of ash, two of walnut, six of hickory, three of willow, and one each of plane, lime, hornbeam, hop-hornbeam, laurus, diospyros, poplar, birch, mulberry, and horse-chestnut, together with about half that number of shrubs.”

Natural forests may be divided into several classes, and in Kurz’s forest flora of British Burmah the classification adopted is as follows :— [table]

The following table, calculated by Rentzsch (Der Wald), from statistics obtained prior to 1862, shows the proportion of woodland in different European countries, as estimated at that date :— [table]

Siemoni gave in 1872 the proportion in Turkey at 24 per cent, and in United Italy 8 ’ 70 per cent For comparison, we quote from the most recent official abstract the Population, Area, and Acreage under Wood in the United Kingdom and various foreign countries, according to returns furnished by the agricultural and statistical departments of the respective countries. [table] [table] [table]

The discrepancies observable in these tables are in some cases apparent; thus the latest returns from Russia, Sweden, Norway, <fcc., are exclusive of sheets of water, whereas in the same returns the area of France, Italy, and Switzerland includes the lakes and rivers. Great Britain also now includes the Isle of Man and Channel Islands. In other cases the discrepancies are real, arising from the greater accuracy of information which has been collected through Government organizations, which did not exist when the estimate of Rentzsch was made. An entire comparison is unattainable, but it will be observed that the largest proportion of woodland is in Russia, Sweden, Germany, and Austria. The lowest occurs in Britain, Denmark, Holland, Spain, and Portugal

The physical history of every country proves incontestably that a moderate extent of forest promotes in a high degree both its agricultural and its manufacturing interests, as well as the productive resources of the country at large; and the beneficial influence of forests in a physical, economical, and hygienic aspect is now receiving more of the attention its importance deserves. The countries bordering the Mediterranean—Spain, France, Italy, and Turkey—have all suffered in a marked degree from the reckless and wholesale destruction of tho woods which covered the mountain slopes, and many springs which formerly existed under the shelter of the forest have now wholly disappeared. Though the insular position and moist climate of the British Isles save them from suffering from the want of forest in an equal degree with Continental nations, the Anglo-Saxon race has been slow to apprehend the value of the forests with which nature has so liberally clothed the earth, and the history of North America, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand bears testimony to the same improvidence and need of consideration. There can be no doubt that one of the causes of the terrible famines in India and China is the unwise denudation of mountain slopes, where the forests formerly absorbed a large portion of the rainfall which now quickly runs off to the sea (see Climate). No point has been more clearly established than the salubrious and fertilizing effect of forest clothing in the climate of India. It has been the subject of much inquiry, and has been affirmed and demonstrated in reports from many districts.

We propose in this article to indicate briefly the principal wooded tracts of the earth, so far as known, and to describe the systems of conservancy adopted or the preliminary measures taken for the better management of state forests. Timber trees and forest produce will be briefly enumerated, but for the distinctive flora the reader is referred to the separate article on each country.

Forest science constitutes a separate branch of education in various countries of Europe. The first technical instruction was given in the Hartz forest, and Germany has taken the lead in developing a wise forest administration. France, Italy, Sweden, and Russia have successively established forest academies, and now the conservation of woodland occupies the legislature of almost all civilized lands.

The general systems of forest management in Britain and on the Continent are essentially different. Beautiful enclosures and plantations are seen in almost every part of England and Scotland. With the exception, however, of coppice wood and a limited extent of natural forest in the Highlands of Scotland, the system generally followed is to cut down the mature crop and to plant again. But on the Continent natural reproduction is the rule, not of wood coppice only, but also of high forest. In France the term of maturity for cutting a forest is determined with great care by a committee of skilled officers, and is usually divided into periods of so many years each; the term for an oak forest, for example, say 1Õ0 years, is divided into five periods of thirty years. Each series of years represents so many blocks or portions of forest, and the yearly cuttings are arranged so as to cover a certain extent of ground, and when one block has been felled another reaches maturity. France has a state department for the administration of the forests, and a very detailed code of forest laws (Code Forestier). The relation of woods to the regular drainage of the soil, and especially to the permanence of the configuration of the terrestrial surface has been thoroughly investigated. The methods of resisting the encroachment of sands or dunes have also received special attention. In Germany forestry is eagerly followed as a profession, and forest academies are numerous and well organized. The examination of candidates is very strict, and the result of the system has been most beneficial. In forest science Germany is far advanced, and the literature is specially rich. Every tract is carefully surveyed and treated on a working plan made with great exactness as to actual details and expected growth; care is always taken that in high forest there is a good stock of self-sown trees before the old crop is entirely removed. Systematic observation and experiments are made as to the rate of growth, and the best soil for each description of tree.

In Italy, where the French and German systems have been tested, the principles of sylviculture adopted by Hartig, Cotta, &c., are not always applicable in the drier climate of the south. On the arid slopes of the Apennines pasture is more profitable, and there is as yet little sympathy with skilled conservation of woods Europe. Great Britain and Ireland.— The British Isles were formerly much more extensively wooded than at present. The rapid increase of population has led to the disafforesting of woodland; the climate requires the maintenance of household fires during a great part of the year, and there has been an increasing demand for arable land; these along with the extension of manufacturing industries have been the chief causes of the diminution of wood. The proportion of forest is now very small, and yields but a fraction of the required annual supply of timber which is imported with facility from America, northern Europe, and the numerous 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 are 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 hedgerows 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 Hampshire, 76,000 acres, and the Dean Forest in Gloucestershire, 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 management. The total receipts from the royal forests exclusive of Windsor amounted in 1876-77 to £33,129. The largest forests in Scotland are in Perthshire, Inverness-shire, and Aberdeenshire. Of these the most notable are the earl of Mansfield’s near Scone (8000 acres), the duke of AtholΓs 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 remains 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 unsettled state of the country also conduced to the diminishing of the woodlands. At present indigenous timber is exceedingly scarce, the proportion of woodland being only 1’62. The abundance of peat compensates in some measure 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 :— [table]

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 Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland grants certificates 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, Cirencester, 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 (Pinus 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 landowners 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. The 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 £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 “the present destruction of forests has reached the limit of the permissible, probably even exceeded it.”

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 foιests 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 progressive 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. The 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. Besides these, there is a private forest school receiving a grant in aid from Government.

Denmark is one of the 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 15th, lβth, 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 Restates at the expense of the owner. About one-fifth 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 Pinus montana, Abies alba, A. excelsa, and A. pectinata. In some instances, the state purchases tracts of heath on which 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 university. The forest education requires four examinations, and the subjects comprised are—(1) mathematics, geology, natural philosophy, chemistry, zoology, botany, and drawing; (2) practical work, to acquire a knowledge of which the student generally arranges 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 intersected 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 prejudicial 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...