Restrictions in the use of woods were not entirely absent, but with the
exception of reserving ship timber in the State forests, they refer only
to special classes of forest.
In the frontier forests reserved for defensive purposes, timber cutting
was forbidden. And in the holy groves set aside by private or public
declaration no wood could be cut thereafter, being in the latter case
considered nobody’s property but sanctified and dedicated to religious
use (_res sacra_), and whoever removed any wood from them was considered
a “patricide,” except the cutting be done for purposes of improvement
(thinnings) and after a prescribed sacrifice.
With the extension of Christendom the holy trees and groves became the
property of the emperors, who sometimes substituted Christian holiness
for the pagan, and retained the restrictions which had preserved them.
Thus the cutting and selling of cypress and other trees in the holy
grove near Antioch, and of _Persea_ trees in Egypt generally (which had
been deemed holy under the Pharaos) was prohibited under penalty of five
pounds gold, unless a special permit had been obtained.
In Attica as well as in Rome the theory that the State cannot
satisfactorily carry on any business was well established. Hence, the
State forests were rented out under a system of time rent or a perpetual
license, the renters after exploiting the timber usually subletting the
culled woods merely for the pasture, except where coppice could be
profitably utilized. The officials, with titles referring to their
connection with the woods, as the Roman _saltuarii_ or the Greek
_hyloroi_ (forestguards) and _villici silvarum_, the overseers, both
grades taken from the slaves, had hardly even police functions.
_Forest management_ proper, _i.e._, regulated use for continuity, except
in coppice, seems nowhere to have been practiced by the ancients,
although _arboriculture_ in artificial plantations was well established
and occasionally even attempts at replacement in forest fashion seem to
have been made deliberately. Not only were many arboricultural practices
of to-day well known to them, but also a number of the still unsettled
controversies in this field were then already subjects of discussion.
The culling system of taking only the most desirable kinds, trees and
cuts, which until recently has characterized our American lumbering
methods was naturally the one under which the mixed forest was
utilized. Fire used in the pasture woods for the same purposes as with
us effectively prevented reproduction in these, and destroyed gradually
the remnants of old trees.
Only where for park and hunting purposes some care was bestowed upon the
woodland, was reproduction purposely attempted, as, for instance, when
in a hunting park an underwood was to be established for game cover.
The treatment of the coppice and methods of sowing and planting were
well understood in spite of the lack of natural sciences. Whatever
forestry practice existed was based merely on empirical observations and
was taught in the books on agriculture as a part of farm practice.
Silviculture was mainly developed in connection with the coppice, which
was systematically practiced for the purpose of growing vineyard stakes,
especially with chestnut (_castanetum_), oak (_quercetum_), and willow
(_salicetum_), while the _arbustum_ denoted the plantings of trees for
the support of grapes, and incidentally for the foliage used as cattle
feed, still in vogue in modern Italy.
This planting of vine supports was done with saplings of elm, poplar and
some other species; by pollarding and by a well devised system of
pruning, these were gradually prepared and maintained in proper form for
their purpose.
The coppice seems to have been systematically managed in Attica as well
as in Italy in regular fellings; the mild climate producing sprouts and
root suckers readily without requiring much care, even conifers
(cypress and fir) reproducing in this manner.
The oak coppice was managed in 7 year rotation, the chestnut in 5 year,
and the willow in 3 year rotation.
Yield and profitableness are discussed, and the practice of thinnings is
known, but only for the purpose of removing and using the dead material.
Forest protection was poorly developed: of insects little, of fungi no
knowledge existed. Hand-picking was applied against caterpillars, also
ditches into which the beetles were driven and then covered; the use of
hogs in fighting insects was also known. That goats were undesirable in
the woods had been observed. Some remarkable precocious physiological
knowledge or rather philosophy existed: it was recognized that frost
produces drought and that a remedy is to loosen the soil, aerating the
roots, to drain or water as the case might require, and to prune; but
also sap letting was prescribed. Against hail, dead owls were to be hung
up; against ants, which were deemed injurious, ashes with vinegar were
to be applied, or else an ass’s heart.
Curiosities in wood technology were rife and many contradictions among
the wood sharps existed, as in our times. Only four elements, earth,
water, fire, air, composed all bodies; the more fire in the composition
of a wood, the more readily would it decay. Spruce, being composed of
less earth and water but more fire and air, is therefore lighter than
oak which, mostly composed of earth, is therefore so durable; but the
latter warps and develops season splits because on account of its
density it cannot take up readily and resists the penetration of
moisture.
Wood impregnation, supposed to be a modern invention, was already
practiced; cedrium (cedar oil) being used as well as a tar coating or
immersion in seawater for one year, to secure greater durability.