SWEDISH FORESTRY.

Hokitika Guardian, 14 July 1921, Page 3

SWEDISH FORESTRY.

Information of an interesting character is contained in an article in the Swedish Export on Sweden’s forests and forest industries, of which the following is an abstract: — EXTENT AND DISTRIBUTION. Of the total area of Sweden—about 41,000,000 hectares, excluding the larger lakes and watercourses —about 22,200,000 hectares’, or 54 per cent is occupied by forest land. In 1916 the State forests proper accounted for 6,069,000 hectares, of which 3,754,000 j hectares were good forest land. Other public forests comprise a total area of 2,637,000 hectares; and thus all the public forests together cover an aggregate area of 8,706.000 hectares. In addition pi this, however, there are no loss than 5,200,000 hectares of non-de-limiled Crown lands in Lappland, but those for the most part consist of bare foils or other laud that is of no use for forest- bearing. The total amount of cutting in these State forests in 1916 ran to 4,937,000 cubic metres. The gross receipts derived from liicso same fo |, (>sL- amounted to 34,852,000 kronor, and the expenses ran to 8,825,000 kronor, leaving a surplus over working expenses of 26,027,000 kronor. The State during the last few decades has very substantially increased its forest domains, both by separating the public Crown lands from private lands in the process of delimitation in Norrland, and also by the purchase of suitably situated forest- properties, chiefly in the central and southern parts of the country. The distribution of the forests. and consequently their importance from a climatic and economic standpoint, vary considerably in different parts of tho country. While forest land in the counties of Norbolten, Yastorluirtc n and Jamtland occupies about 46 per cent of the total area, and in Yaster-Xorrland and Gavlehorg about 82 per cent, the forests in the southern nan of the country are. of comparatively slight extent and importance; the forest land in the county of Alalmohus, for instance, amounts to only 10.2 per cent of the total area of the county. FAVOUR.)BLE CONDITIONS.

All this wealth would avail nothing it 1 those conditions essential to the proper f carrying on of the timber industry were t lacking. But, these are not absent. In- 1 deed they are extremely favourable. > With regard to transport facilities, t for instance, the abundant fall of snow ( in the’ winter time, the firmly frozen i bogs aml marshes and Hie ice-covered f lakes and watercourses nfler unsurpass- * able possibilities for the conveyance of t timber, even through the most desolate | regions. When the snow and ice have , disappeared, the innumerable rivers, streams and brooks, and also the lakes, | form means of transport ot the very s gieatest importance in view Ot their , very great carrying capacity atid the ( comparatively low cost involved both -j in the arrangements of these channels . for the purposes in question and tor the actual current transport expenses. The chief and most important floating j channels are situated in Norrland, Dalarne and Yarmlaiul; and the watercourses in these counties that have been equipped for floating timber are estimated to have an aggregate length of some *J 3,000 kilometres, while the length 1 of floating channels in other parts «l 1 tiie country is estimated at about 3,000 kilometres. By way of comparison, it 1 may be noted that the total length ot 1 railways in 1915 was. 14,860 kilometres, j No exact figures are given ocncerning the quantity of timber floated down the rivers every year; but according to i statistics worked out in 1913 the timber floated in that year amounted to about 125,000,000 cubic feet, TIMBER INDUSTRY. The timber industry, which is of very ancient origin, did not attain the rank of a (rieat industry until the introduction of steam sawmills; these were *>slablished on the coasts where convenient means of communication were available with foreign countries. The raw materials taken out of the forests were floated down tho waterways. To illustrate the development of the Swedish timber industry the following figures may lie cited:—ln 1821 Sweden bad 3,033 sawmills, with an annual output of about 267,000 dozen deals and hoards, of which about 200,000 dozen were exported. In 1861 there were 59 steam sawmills ip existence, and about 5,j)00 sawmills driven by wind or watei ; and at that time the export of denis and hoards amounted to about 1,4(8,000 dozen. Fifteen years later the export was about- three times as great, and the value of both worked and unworked wood goods was more than 100,000,000 kronor per annum. The official statistics for the year 1915 give the value ot the total Swedish export of wood and wed products as 398,346,883 kronor. In addition to this there are also other forest products with a considerable value, which are not included in the foregoing figure. The Swedish iron industry, for instance, under normal conditions uses charcoal to an estimated value of about 30,000,000 kronor, of which about 20,690,099 kronor is regarded as going on charcoal used in the production of export articles. The distribution of Swedish timber amongst the various importing countries should he „f particular interest. Of some 6,880,000 cubic metres of wood goods that were exported in 1013, no less than about 2,600,000, or 38 per cent, found their way to the United Kingdom. In Ihe same year there were exported to France 950,000 cubic metres, to Denmark, including Iceland, 790,000 cubic metres, to Germany. 730,000. to Bel--190,000, and to Spain 170,000 m,lm- metres; in addition about 480,000 cubic metres went to Africa, and about 100,000 cubic metres to Australia. Besides the export trade, supplies of timber form a. highly important reserve of power to rely on when, as in the war, coal and other fuels are not available It is mainly the coniferous trees that the object of the forest industries of the country, but more and more attention has of late years begun to be paid to leaf trees, sueli as the lurch, aspen, o-,l< and beech, which were formerly far to» much neglected. “Tf they are properly managed, Swedish forests, with ' their excellent timber, their cheap and effective means of transport m the floating channels of the great rivers, and other favourable natural conditions, 1 have assuredly a brilliant prospect bel fore them; and they may be able to bestow upon the country and its industries fl . position of economic power such as i can be derived from scarcely any other of its natural resources,”