Abstract
AN interesting historical study by Lars Tirén of forestry conditions in the Degerfors district of othe province of Västerbotten has recently been published (Rep. Swedish Inst. Exp. Forestry, No. 30. Centraltryckeriet, Esselte A.-B., Stockholm). The foundation upon which the paper is based is drawn from the work of the Forestry Research Institute in the Kulbäcksliden research forest situated in the above-mentioned region in the north of Sweden at an altitude of 160–320 metres. The history of the forest area has been traced back to the coming of human beings into north Sweden in the form of a Nordic stone age people who immigrated soon after the inland ice had receded from Vasterbotten 8,000 years ago. This race had, as fishermen and hunters, already spread widely in the region by about 2,000 years B.C. The progress in development of the people is traced, and with this development the inevitable effect on the forests of the region. The influence on the forest of fires, especially the great fire of 1694, is traced, and the contrast made between the area affected bythis great fire and the forest which escaped. Not the least informative parts of the paper are those dealing with tar production and potash manufacture. The production of tar in Sweden goes back to very olden times. It was known in Viking days, and tar was exported in the thirteenth century. In the seventeenth century for long periods the export amounted to 70,000-80,000 barrels annually. In the region here specially dealt with, tar production was an important article of export. Hardwoods are used inpotash manufacture, and here again the industry is a very old Swedish one in which the peasantry take a prominent part.
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Forestry in Sweden. Nature 141, 680 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/141680b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/141680b0