Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IV. Forestry - 1. Forests. By Th. Örtenblad
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the produce. 177
The following calculation has been made respecting the consumption
of timber during 1913:
Exported unwrought and hewn timber ....... . . 1 344 679 cub. m
Exported sawn timber..................................4 778 911 >
Exported more or less wrought timber, exclusive of wood-palp 875 457 >
Timber employed for wood-pulp ........................4 360 528 >
Timber > > mining purposes..................6 000 UUU >
Timber > > other purposes........■ . 21000 000
Total 38 359575 cub. m
The present consumption, therefore, should exceed usable growth by about
3-36 million cubic meters annually. It should be remarked, however, that
the total growth is greater than the amount of timber that is employed,
as, in certain tracts, a part of the timber that could be felled cannot be
utilized, but has to be left to decay in the forests. For example, in the
woods of Norrbotten and Västerbotten Läns, not less than 25 % is thus
left to decay; in the other parts of Norrland and in Dalarne, the
proportion is about 15 %, while in Central and Southern Sweden, it is about
5 %. The rising prices of timber, a consequence of diminished supplies
and improved communications, are leading to the result that, in every
part of the country, the timber is turned to better account from year to
year, a circumstance which, of course, tends to diminish the excessive
felling referred to above. But on the other hand, the consumption is
continually on the increase, and it would be difficult to prophesy whether
equilibrium can be reached, so that the consumption (the amount of timber
felled) will be quite balanced by the amount of the growth. The
production of timber will probably increase in no inconsiderable degree, but the
consumption of forest-products to supply the requirements of the country
itself grows with the increase of population more rapidly, perhaps, than
that of the forest-production. If it were possible to diminish the amount of
timber employed as fuel by an increased use of — amongst other resources
— electric power obtained from the Swedish waterfalls, for the purpose of
Seating dwellings in towns and other large centres of population, it would
be an easier task to limit the excessive felling of timber.
The re-growth of the forests takes place chiefly by nature’s own efforts; even
in those places where care is taken of the forests, this must still be the case
to a very great degree, especially in the northern parts of the country, for
there the period of the year when re-planting ought to and can take place is
short, and labour is dear. Seed suitable for the district has to be gathered in the
same tract, this being a more expensive matter here than in the more southerly
parts of the country. In consequence, when the timber is being felled, suitable
seed-trees are left for the purpose of sowing the surrounding soil, and other
measures are taken to assist the growth and development of the young trees.
For this purpose, in many places, the ground is prepared by means of the wood,
or hoeing the ground to assist the natural sowing. The spruce, however, is not
left singly, as this tree is liable to be broken down by the wind; however,
it reproduces itself readily by seeding from the skirts of adjacent woods.
Re-growth by means of forest-plantations occur most generally in the southern
and central parts of the country. During the last decade, the Forest Conser-
12 — 133179. Sweden. II.
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