NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES RESERVE ROOM Filename: ^ ^6b, pd^ Item ID: **BEST COPY AVAILABLE** WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproduction of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research. If an electronic transmission of reserve material is used for purposes in excess of what constitutes "fair use", that user may be liable for copyright infringement. Course: nt&^F Instructor: ri ßfani- ___________El___________ ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY VOLUME 7 NUMBER 4 OCTOBER 2002 Articles Placing Kiivimnmcnlal 1 lislory on Display bv Jeffrey K. Sliue The Perfectionists and the Weather: The Oneida Community's Quest for Meteorological Utopia, 1S4S-1S71; byWillamli. Meyer Controlling llic Weed Nuisance in Turn-of-lhc-Centurv American Cities /jyZ'ic/i;m-/..S'./',:iH-611 I'll e Kcol''aclorv:Tlie United Stales Forest Service and the Political Construction olT'.cosvslcin Management In- liicluircl l''reeni:m GV. 'Von Should I late Young Oaks and Young Noblemen': The Knviroinncntal I lislorvofOaksin Kighlceiith-and Ninelcenth-Cenlur)' Sweden bv Per I'llinxson unci Sven C Nilssoii 6 s 9 Book Reviews 678 Bibiioscope 706 ________B________ 'You Should Hate Young Oaks and Young Noblemen' The Environmental History of Oaks in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Sweden Per Eliasson and Sven G. Nilsson The oak was especially important in the economies of preinduslrial Kurope. In many Kuropcan nations, however, oak stands declined sharply during llic eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A scholarly debate over the scarcity of wood in preinduslrial Kuropcan countries has dealt with wood as a fuel and its substitution with a fossil energy-source as coal.1 But the history of oak stands in Sweden suggests that the burning of wood was only one factor in deforestation. hi Sweden, oaks became the focus of a bitter struggle between the state and the peasantry. To understand lhal struggle, scholars need to consider ecological factors, not just llic traditional economic, social, and political forces. 1 lard and lall stands of oak were a vital resource, because oak limber was essenlial in lbe construction of naval ships.: To ensure an adequate supply of suitable limber, the state sought to protect oak trees. I'br the increasingly powerful peasants, however, oaks were obstacles to agricultural improvement. The Irees inhibited the growth of fodder for livestock, and many peasants destroyed or crippled the oaks in their fields. By the end of the eighteenth century, indeed, "oak haired" was widespread. The use of wood as a raw material and the attacks on Irees bv landowners each had dramatic effects on both the quantity and quality of Sweden's oak stands. The changes in the forest were significant not only for lbe people of Sweden, 'there is growing evidence lhal the long-term continuity of certain species of trees with particular qualities is crucial fora high level of biodiversity with many specialized species.' Fully sun-exposed old oaks with partly rotten and hollow stems are among the most important trees for biodiversity in northern KiiropeTI'he story of the decline of the oak in Sweden thus sheds light on the ecological history of the continent. Early-Modern Sweden-At the Periphery of Europe The kingdom of Sweden was formed during llic sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as an early modern state that succeeded in harnessing the country's resources in 42 00 1 18 30 660 Environmental History Figure i. Sweden conquered the shaded area in the middle of the seventeenth eei ilurv. llic service of rapid military expansion. During the Thirty-Year's War (1618-1648), Sweden became a great power. In a series of wars against Denmark in the middle of the seventeenth century, the militarized Swedish State conquered the provinces in the southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula. From the beginning, the Swedish government treated the conquered provinces as an integrated part of the country. The nation remained dominant until 1721, when the loss of a war with Russia led lo the cession of Kslonia and I .alvia on lbe Kaslcru side ol the Baltic Sea. For most ol the eighteenth century, Sweden was 011 the dclensive, and concentrated on clinging to Finland, the eastern part of the kingdom. Following the loss of Finland to Russia in 1809, during the Napoleonic Wars, and the loss of the last remnant of her old seventeenth century conquests on the continent in 1815-lhc part ol the German Baltic coast called I'omerania-Sweden acquired its current lorm. The Swedish state emerged in a peripheral area of Furope with a small population and cold climate. The two main parts ol the kingdom, Sweden and Finland, were mostly within the boreal coniferous woodland /.one, with poor moraine soils.' This woodland was to become an important natural resource, combined as il was with rich deposits of iron and copper, and with good access lo watcrpowcr. From the first, the Swedish government imposed severe rcslrietions on agrarian woodland use such as slash-and-burn cultivation, favoring instead the production of charcoal and timber for the mining industry. Swedish iron production increased dramatically during the first part of the seventeenth century, driven chiefly by British demand for Swedish iron. The use of resources was shaped by the structure ot the Swedish government. The four estates—nobles, clerics, burgesses, and peasants—since the seventeenth century Nou Should Hate Young Oaks' 661 had representation in the Swedish parliament. Swedish laws were introduced bv royal decrees but onlv after discussions in parliament where the nobles were most powerful. In the last decade, a new view of ciglileenlh-ccnturv Swedish political and social history has emerged. Scholars now emphasi/.e the increasing political power of the peasants. Studies of their actions in the parliament and their local exercise of power in parish meetings have shown how a new, sell-conscious, politically mature class ol freehold peasant tanners evolved who set out lo dillerenliale themselves both from the nobles and slate officials above them and the landless below.'' The royal decree of 1789 was a milestone in this development, giving the Swedish peasant fanner the same rights lo bis land as the unhililv. In the end of lbe eighteenth century the rural Swedish economy saw signs ol an ecological crisis caused bv overuse of scarce land resources. The extension of arable fields, primarily from meadows, worsened the situation because it hampered the production of livestock winter fodder which, in turn, led to declines in livestock, shortage ol manure, and diminished crops.7 A doubling ot the population and rising political aspirations of the peasants put pressure on the Swedish stale lo abolish the last remnants of feudal land rights, which limited food production. Among those feudal remnants was the regal right to the navy's precious oak trees, mainly growing in meadows. Royal Oaks for the Royal Navy, 1558-1789 As early as 1558, oak, beech, and other so-called "fruit-bearing Irees" were declared by King (.»ustav Vasa lo be the properly of the Swedish stale. They were not lo be felled or damaged because acorns and beechnuts were important pig fodder, and therefore constituted a source of income for the state. But of far greater concern was the oak's importance as limber lor warships. In the sixteenth century, Furopcan slates began lo equip permanent naval lorecs. The need for ship-borne artillery became the determining factor in ship design, which began lo emphasi/.e durability and resistance lo enemy fire.s From the middle ol llic seventeenth ccnlurv, these slates buill large bailie Heels, commanded bv a professional officer corps and supported by an extensive bureaucracy responsible for construction and maintenance. For the burcaucracv, provision oľliinber was a central issue. Since only oak met lbe high requirements ol strength and durability, oak timber became a strategic raw material. Yet the production of oak suitable tor naval use required specific ecological conditions. Good oak could not be produced regardless. Most deciduous trees, unlike coniferous trees, become harder the faster ihcy grow, so lhal an oak growing in good soil with a favorable climate w ill be harder than one growing in poor soil and a colder climate. For Sweden, this meant thai the capture of llic southern provinces gave the navy a great advantage, as il had access to significantly larger numbers of good oaks than before. This and the provinces' proximity to Sweden's arch-enemy Denmark were telling reasons for the move south of Swedish naval headquarters in 1680 to the newly founded town of Karlskrona in one of the conquered provinces." The loss to Russia in 1721 ol the 71 11 58 61 9674 78 662 Environmental History Figure 2. Tlie number of good timber-oaks (1732-1821) unci lbe number of all oaks (1832) in five parishes in (he province of Kronoberg. former Swedish provinces of Estonia and Latvia on the other side of the Baltic Sea left the Swedish navy facing a situation that demanded a greater degree of long-term planning for the provision of timber. How had the navy's selective felling of trees affected oak stocks? An inventor)' of the hitherto unaffected regions in the southern province of Kronoberg was made from 1729 to 1732, and ils Undings furnish us with a departure point from which lo judge the changes of the eighteenth century. In the five parishes where most of the good oak was found, a comparison with later inventories gives the following results. The number of good timber-oaks in these parishes decreased dramatically between 1732 and 1795. The figures from a final survey in 1821 confirm the trend. A comparison between good oaks and all oaks present in these parishes, as reckoned al the local redemption of 1832 when the stale surrendered its ownership and the oak became the peasant's tree, underlines (he changes even further."' A comparison between larger areas included in the 1732 survey supports Ibis picture. The survey included (lie province of Kalmar, where oaks had been felled for centuries for shipbuilding. A comparison between oak stands in (he old areas of production in Kalmar and the hitherto spared woodland in southern Kronoberg demonstrates the effects of ihc long-lerm exploitation of oak forest. Oaks designated mature unci of good amlily and mature, but partly rotten were considered by the navy's officers to be fit for use. In the untouched areas, 65 percent of the trees were fit for use, compared with only 15 percent in the areas of old production." Hundreds of years of selective felling of the highest quality oaks You ShiniM H.iU'Vimo O.k pp.* Figure 3. Oak quality in the provinces of Kronoberg and Kalmar as judged in the 17:9-1732 survey. Classes were mature and ol good quality (modlia), mature.but partly rotten (aiistuckna), mature, but too rotten (odui^li^a). and misshapen oaks with loo many branches (risekar). 60% 50% 40% 30% 1 20%> 10% ■ Kronoberg G Kalmar good quality partly rotten too rotten I misshapen caused this difference. But if the navy's culling during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries changed the proportions of good timber-oaks, the impact of the peasants on the whole oak stand during lbe same period was far greater. And the peasants had good reasons for cutting so many trees. Royal Oaks in the Peasants Meadows, 1558-1789 After the nival decree of 1558, Swedish oak thus became still more important to the stale during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. But oak was equally important to the peasantry. The value of acorns as fodder and the tree as timber was significant in the agrarian economy. On the oilier hand, oaks that grew in tillage and meadows, where they reduced the production of grain and hay, were viewed with dislike. This created a deep antagonism between the slate and the peasantry, and led to a dramatic decline in the numbers of useful oaks in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. What were the ecological conditions that created this conflict over land-use? 1'roin the carlv Middle Ages, Swedish village lauds were divided into two parts. Nearest to the village's farmsteads lay the inner fields, or iiumrkeii, with a small area of tillage for grain and turnip production and a larger area of hav meadows for winter fodder production for the domestic animals. Iiimarkcti was enclosed to protect the growing crops and grasses from the grazing animals lhal were pastured on the surrounding area, or ntmarkcn, outside the village enclosure, (//marten was often, but not always, wooded, and was used collectively by the villagers as pasture. In general, utmurken was several limes the area of inmarken. 88 78 11 664 Environmental History Figure 4. The difference between the shadow east b\ an untouched oak and a branch-cut oak. Full sun means that at least so percent ol the possible sunlight reaches the plants on the ground. Full shade means that less than 10 percent ol he "round. the light reaches I MU*** }\K hwí'j: -JL At the start of the nineteenth century, various sources note that oaks seldom grew in utuiarkcn. Animal grazing had held back their growth, while the felling of older trees reduced their overall numbers. The greatest number of surviving oaks grew in the meadows. An inventory of oaks in Ostergölland in the eastern part of southern Sweden, one of the provinces richest in oaks, shows that over 80 percent of the oaks grew in enclosed meadows on iiiinurkcn.': The meadows «ere a sensitive ecological system where the variation between sunlight and shade was crucial.'! lie production of hay for winter fodder was encouraged by a certain amount of shade that could prevent the ground from drying out during «arm summers, but it also required enough light for the crop to grow and become nutritious. The amount of light could be regulated by cutting back the trees'branches to give the right balance between liglitaiid shade, and the twigs and leaves themselves could then be used as winter fodder for the livestock. Furthermore, the tree's deep roots collected nutrients from soil layers below those the grasses could reach, and those nutrients could then be released to the grasses in two ways: A number of the tree's line roots died and rotted when the tree's crown was pruned, thereby releasing nutrients into the upper layers of the soil; and the leaves that remained 011 the tree and fell in autumn were raked up and burnt every spring, and the ash spread on the soil surface." In such an ecological system the royal oaks were unwelcome guests. I -arge, lull-crowned oaks retarded the grass growth and dried out the earth round about. In order to get rid of the tree's shade, the oaks were treated to heavy-handed branch-cutting along the trunk, shredding.'' The great agrarian changes of the period merely sharpened the competition between fodder production and oaks in meadows in two ways. First, it was the better meadow soils, where the oak fared best, that came "> 011 ShouU H.uť V\i'\) 0\u> 66Ô under the plow. diminishing both oak stands and fodder production. Second, this change Irom fodder-producing meadows to tillage created a greater need tor winter luddcr Irom the remaining meadows, making their oaks still more disliked hv the peasants. In the eighteenth century the Swedish government look an equivocal position 011 branch-culling oak trees. The pollarding of oaks was in principle lorbidden. At the same time, branch-cutting was encouraged to get the tree to grow a single, main trunk. It was even decreed thai young trees should be branch-cut because the practice was seen as a way to improve growth. This ambiguity opened the way for extensive ciillingol branches I mm both voting and old tiers. I junaciis 1 idled 011 bis travels in western Sweden in 1747 that branch-culling ol oaks was common: "The meadows were splendidly ornamented with much ha/el and oak, which oaks, as their sides had been shredded, had pul oul small twigs in prolusion lbe whole length ol the trunk and all around, over which the proper limbs branched out into the crown.""" The drastic branch-culling ol oaks, with or without the stale's encouragement, had serious consequences for the oak stands, a fact that Linnaeus also noted on his travels in Ostergölland in 1741: "The oaks hereabouts arc many but are ill managed and in poor condition. The thick boughs were hacked oil a haudbreadlh Irom the trunk, bul lar loo late. Small twigs spring 01 it round the slumps ol the cut branches. Altogether loo small crown, insullicicnl lor such a tall tree, was Icll right at the top. for this reason, many oaks are quite decayed and dried up."''' By the end of the eighteenth century the damage was obvious to many observers. The forestry commission that was working on a new forest ordinance requested opinions on the problem from people with knowledge. In his answer the navy's limber surveyor drew allen t ion to the decree that young oaks should be branch-cut, but Irom the navy's own felling it was apparent that branch-cutting, and especially the culling off of larger branches from growing oaks, had introduced rol lhal spread into the trunk and destroyed the timber. The branch-culling ol oaks that was common everywhere meant that good timber was ruined. Those oaks that had been left alone gave good ship limber.1" The peasants' branch-cutting of larger oaks, to lulfill the slates request to pro-mole the growth of the trees or their own needs to reduce shade, meant that the trunks rotted and oak stocks worsened. This was the peasants impact on the whole-oak stand in their meadows. 1 lere was ihe mosl important reason whv the number ol oaks the navy could find for its use shrank during Ihe eighteenth century. Struggles Over the Right to Dispose of Oak, 1789-1819 The roval decree of 1789 gave the Swedish peasant Winner ihe same rights to his land as the nobility bad before. But there was one important exception. As oak and beech were important for the naw, the decree exempted the right to dispose ol these species from the peasants' new rights. In answer, the peasantry immediately called for a nationwide survey of oak and beech to determine which trees were lit 0609 515 666 Environmental History for the navy's purposes, the remainder to be released Irom stale control. Their demands were met, and during the 1790s province after province was surveved by the navy's officers, and the good trees were marked twice with a crown stamped into the tree trunk near the root, beech trees were released Irom slate control in the new forest ordinance of 1793, hut the right to the free disposal of oak was postponed, and the peasantry's impatience grew. The idea that those trees that had not been stamped by the navy's officers were the peasants' property spread, creating a degree of uncertainly even among the authorities. The result in many provinces was that requests to fell trees were extensively sanctioned by the provincial governors. Bui, in a new forest ordinance ol 1X05, the slate went back on its promise lo release oak Irom its control. Instead, a complicated procedure for seeking permission to fell oak trees legally were introduced. This new ordinance was the start ol the last battle over the right lo the Swedish oak. The proposal to relinquish the royal oaks was first presented in the ľ'.slatc of Nobles at the parliament of 1809, but it received its greatest support in the Kslalc of Peasants. The proposal failed, but it was reintroduced in ensuing parliaments; the main argument given was the damage the trees inflicted on agriculture. In addition to the claim that oaks were destructive, the principle was brought forward that there should be private rights of possession, ľ'rcc title, il applied lo oak loresl, would mean that many "old and damaging trees" would be felled. Corruption was widespread. By paying large bribes, a peasant could get permission to fell the best, most valuable trees instead of the old, worthless trees that the forest ordinance had envisaged. The Instate of Peasants argued in parliament that this corruption was a significant reason for the decrease in numbers of good oak trees.,s To this picture of mismanagement and corruption \vc must add the impact of marking the royal oaks. The officers of the 1790s survey had stamped the best oaks with the crown stamp on the basal trunk and also higher on the trunk, indicating that they were rcscned for the navy. In the 1810s, I lie provincial governors and forest officers began to report that the royal oaks were rotting because ol damage caused by the stamp."' The matter was taken up in parliament, and several members attested to the fact that royal oaks had indeed rotted. The damage had not only ruined many oaks by leaving them vulnerable to rot, but it also had diminished what little respect the peasants had for the trees that now stood rotting in their tillage and meadows, of no use lo anyone.2" The peasantry's argument in parliament had consequences loi altitudes toward oak trees in general. At the parliament of 1815, for example, the peasant Anders Daniclsson stated that useless oaks existed only to the detriment of the landowner, and that from this stemmed such hatred against thein thai the trees were rooted up "from the very first."*' The use of word "hate" was virtually universal in describing the peasants' views not only on the trees that caused damage lo their tillage and meadows, but of all oak trees. The central authorities' answer to local resistance to their policy on oak look its time in coining. The 1790s, which saw doubt caused by the delay and then the retraction of the promise lo waive the slate's rights to royal oaks, were a turning point for the wealthier peasantry. In provincial governors' reports, navy .statements, "Hni Stunilii H.ue' able 1: The number of oaks fit tor naval use on state land and taxable land in the surveys ol the 1790s and 1S2S. arranged bv province. Province 1790s 1825 Percentage reduction lilckingc 10.26c) 4,480 5'' 73 Knstianslacl '5.9°9 4.3>2 Malmóbus V-C'7 1.621 50 K.iltil.lr and Ölalicl 65.298 5-<>74 9' 89 82 Kronobcrg Oslcrgötland 8,408 }8,<)2I 8yi 7.°3S junkoping 13.617 1.952 II.22K (r.o 91 Södcrinanland Vaslnianlaiid 5.653 496 91 98 87 95 Orcbio 6,641 142 Skaraborg Alvsborg 2.353 7.057 P5 385 Gotland ».479 M,290 I1.i1I.hh1 9.75' 7 ťŕ^ As long as timber production was pari of agrarian production, the oak was hostage lo the Swedish peasant. When llie peasants no longer accepted ,111 exploitation ol nature imposed lioni above and used their power, llie central authorities weie loreed lo give in. I his was a severe limitation lor the prc-iuduslrial Swedish >tate s access lo a strategic organic nialerial-liigh-qualily oak-limber. As a rcsull. parliament decided in 1830 to recommend thai the government surrender the royal oaks against a small redemption lee lor each lanu. lli.it should be collected and paid collectively by each parish lo the slate. Thus, in the 1S30S, the majority of oaks in Sweden were bought from the stale bv individual landowners, llie navy's Inline need loi oak limber was lo be met bv stale oak plantations established on an island in oueol Sweden's la igest lakes. )usl hclnic Oluislmas iN;i, the first 25.000 voung oaks were planted, and almost 150 years later, the head ol the Swedish slate forests linallv reported to the navv that llie lirsl oaks were readv lor delivery. The navv refused the offer politely bul linuly.:S Ecological Consequences-Changes in Landscape What changes lo the landscape caused the long struggle between the peasantry and the slate over the rights over oak trees? Information from the eighteenth and beginning of llie nineteenth centuries lor a number ol parishes in llie province of Kronobcrg shows a sleep decline in the number of trees fit for naval use. This was linked dirccllv to the improvements in transport in the region. Once llie admiralty had opened up the rivers for navigation, the felling of the best trees lor the navy could begin. Much as in the ninclccnlh ccnlurv in North America and Scandinavia, where one can see a "timber Ironlier" where telling lollowed the watercourses, so one can talk of an "oak frontier" in eighleenlh-ceiitury Sweden. Selective felling affected the composition of the oak woodland, as is shown it one uses the 1729-1732 survey locouipai e the older areas ol production near I he coast with the new inland areas. Older trees thai were loo decayed lo be used as ship limber and gnarled trees dominated in the older areas, and rot resulting from widespread branch-culling and llie stamping ol the best trees was com n 1011. The number ol older, rotten oaks was probably significantly greater in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in southern Sweden than in today's Swedish forests, furthermore, llicv w ere concentrated in the meadows nearest to llie villages which, like the belter soil of iiliiKirkcn, came under cultivation in the population explosion ol the century. This meant thai il was the older, rollen trees that disappeared when the state gave up its rights, and the peasantry could linallv tree their land Irom the haled tree. The grcal decline in good oak fit for llie navy's purposes between 1790 and 182s also was connected lo the extensive, legal telling lo meet the peasants' needs that began after 1805. During the 1810s an average ol 70,000 oaks per annum were felled legally, and between 1806 and 1833 more than one and hall million oak trees were cut altogether.:,/ The navy's officers judged lhal al the same time al leasl as nianv were felled illegally. Widespread corruption, which was itself the subject of much comment, seems to have ensured that il was the best, and not the worst, trees that 09 15 7575 670 Environmental History were felled. In the province of Kalmar, where legal felling was greatest, surviving evidence from llic local redemption of oaks in 18-51 shows lhal around hall ol Ihc remaining trees were small and gnarled. Onlv 5 percent were deemed "good and massive" yet unfit for navy use, and the rest were either whollv or partly rotten.5" This change in the landscape, firsl with the selective Idling of the largest, best trees and then with the successive decline in the trees'dimensions and quality, was mirrored in the boreal woodlands in northern Sweden a hundred years later. Ihc extensive felling from the 1830s onwards look the large, old trees first, turning later to those of increasingly small dimensions."'' Consequences for Biodiversity The dramatic changes in landscape had an impact on biodiversity. In southern Sweden, the highest level of biodiversity is associated with iiimnrkcn-lUc old inner fields, the extensive hay meadows, and the enclosed pastures near ihc villages-all forms of land use that today have nearly vanished. The transformation of Ihc oak stands, with a rapid decline in density during the eighteenth century and a subsequent increase in old, hollow, and rotten oaks, had its effeel 011 biodiversilv. The opening up of ihc forests in the central region ol southern Sweden during ihc Middle Ages increased the richness of the vascular plant flora.;: With the enclosure of lire woodlands in ihc last hundred years, Ihc diversity oflhe vascular plant flora has returned lo a lower level. But it would be wrong to equate vascular plant diversity with total diversity. First, vascular plants constitute only a small percentage of the total number of macro organisms." Second, in ihc case of Sweden, several thousand species arc dependent on dead wood, and their presence cannot be inferred from pollen analysis. Very old living and large dead trees are crucial for ihc diversify of species-rich groups such as insects and fungi.*'The most important component lor a high level of biodiversity in northern Europe is hollow, ancient oaks. Some of the most demanding species need large concentrations of such trees." Furthermore, most species dependent on old oaks fare best in open woodland w here the oaks grow in lull sun.,fi Twice as many beetle species dependent on dead, deciduous trees are favored by well-lit substrates than by shaded substrates.'7 Thus, it can be argued thai Ihc opening up of the landscape and ihc presence ol large numbers of oaks with rotten trunks between 1700 and 1850 probably resulted in high biodiversity in southern Sweden. Two detailed beetle inventories that were rediscovered as manuscripts in Museum of Natural I lislory in Gothenburg and the Museum of Natural History in Stockholm give support to this hypothesis.,s Many rare species that are usuallv taken to have been relicts from virgin forests, including some now extinct in Sweden, were found in Ihc cultural landscapes of southwest Sweden between 1770 and 1840.''' When the felling of ancient oaks accelerated between 1810 and 18150, the total biodiversilv oflhe cultural landscape may have declined markedly. Indeed, il is possible that we now are witnessing the same \ou Si'vuiJ h.i:-' ''.'..■■•■-i ^.is> ť'1 process of extinction, since there is evidence that some species are experiencing delayed local extinctions.1 A Comparative Perspective on Oaks in Europe Was lllis bailie over rights lo trees a particulailv Swedish phenomenon, 01 docs it help explain the changes in landscape experienced in other European countries during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries? In France, Ihc slricl control ol oak Irees embodied in Golbcrl's loresl ordinance of 1669 could not prevent a decline in the amount ol limber available lor Ihc navy's use during the eighteenth ccnlury. The timber cycle in the royal forests in the seventeenth century was from one lo two hundred years in ihc eighteenth ccnlury. mirroring the French slate's ever deepening financial crisis, the lime between culs dropped lo twcniv-five lo sixty years, giving a significantly belter economic rclum. The extensive sale ofroval loresls and land clearance lor agriculture also had their effect on the oaks. The result was noticeable as early as lire start ol the eighteenth ccnlury, when ihc Mediterranean Heel's dockyards in Marseilles and'loulon began to import Italian and Balkan oak lo mcel the demand lor new construction and repairs. Those areas in ihc south and east ol France thai hitherto had been the mam source no longer could produce limber of ihc right quality, and toward the end of ihc eighteenth ccnlurv imports were significantly greater llian domestic production. Likewise, Ihc lack of curved oak, so-called compass limber, lor the dockyards along the Atlantic coast had become a problem by the end of the eighteenth century, when the import of oak from the Bailie area began.4' England had no equivalent lo ihc royal ordinances thai in France gave the stale ihc right to oak limber. The navy's provision of limber came from the open market where il was above all the gentry who traded oak limber. Robert Albion's classic study oflhe British navy's limber supply asserts that, Iroin the cud ol Ihc eighteenth ccnlury, the lack of larger oaks and compass timber was a serious problem. Charcoal burning, the growth oflhe merchant fleet, the effect ol enclosures—where large hedges with iheir bowed oaks were ripped oul —and industry's need for limber for construction contributed to the reduction in the navy's timber assets. Surveys of oak in the roval forests showed that their numbers shrank from the beginning ol the seventeenth ccnlury to the end oflhe eighteenth by more than ihrce-quarlcrs. I his forced Britain in the second half of the eighteenth century lo begin to import oak limber. During ihc Napoleonic Wars, the British navy became dependent on oak limber imports from the Bailie region, which led to a crisis when the Continental Blockade began in 1807. Salvation came in the form of Canadian oak timber which met 40 percent of the navy's needs bv 1812. For lire remainder of the wooden ship era, until the middle oflhe ninclecnlh ccnlury, imports were essential, and at last British oak was sufficient lo meet only a quarter of the uaw's needs.42 Albion's picture ol ihc accelerating decline of British oak in the eighteenth and ninclecnlh centuries is both continued and elaborated on by laler research. A. ). 1 lolland has pointed to the attempt to spare limber by using new construction 0855 39 86 60264221 71 5694 55 672 Environmental History methods and replacing oak with other kinds ol limber and with iron." Cyril I larl documents the reduced supply of oak caused by the conflict of interests between different users of the forest of Dean during the sevenleenlh cciilurv. Coppice owners were keen lhal no large timber trees should shade Ihcir delibcralch stunted trees or compete for space. In litis way Iradilional rights to the underwood enjoved bv certain inhabitants of the forest prevented the growth of larger oaks.44 Charles Watkinsdescribes developments in eighteenth century Sherwood Forest in a way (hat not only reflects quantitative but also qualitative changes. The traditional rights to pasture in the royal forests prevented the grow lit of young oaks, while the older trees were often of poor quality. I ol larding and damage meant that most trees were loo rollen lo pass muster as timber, 'lb litis problem was added both lite forestry officials' habit of boring healthy trees lo establish the timber quality and the procedure of stamping lite trunk of good trees with a crown, number, and forest's name. 'Ibis stamping method was later replaced with a marking on the outer bark that was less damaging. In a parliamentary report of 1790, the remaining oaks were described as hollowed, willtered, decaved, misshapen, or seared.1' In Denmark, oak constituted a large pari ot lite so-called oict.sAoi, the large limber trees that grew on the main farms and were owned bv the estates themselves. Ho Fril/.böger has shown that lite number of larger limber trees shrank during the sixleenlii and sevenleenlh centuries, and that oak was replaced by beech as a resull of the overuse of timber. Here the navy's demand for limber plavcd an important role when taken in conjunction wilh other significant users such as the building trade. This did not mean thai lite woodland shrank; rather il changed character. The total forested area in Denmark was almost constant between 1660 and 1760, but the forest's composition altered dramatically. The overskov, with its mature, large oaks, dwindled as the forested area wen! over lo uiulvrskov, low-growing young woodland of oak and beech.'''The cause was llie felling of timber trees and the competition posed by the peasants' need for wood from the uiulcrshn. To obtain wood, the peasants branch-cut the limber trees: lite larger ones because they otherwise shaded and held back the wulcrskox; the smaller ones so that they would never grow into full, standard trees/17 The result of this change in forest composition meant that the Danish stale began lohave problems in obtaining oak limber for the construction and maintenance of its naw.tS A decline in the number of oak trees was noticeable in France, England, and Denmark during llie eighteenth and beginning of llie nineteenth centuries. An important cause of this decline in France and Denmark was the transition from woodland with mixed underwood and limber trees lo woodland where underwood predominated. The competition between underwood and limber trees also was important in the British royal forests. In Sweden, there were no coppices with fixed cycles as in England or France.4'' What distinguished Sweden above all else from the other countries was that lite need for winter fodder for animals was significantly greater because winter pasture was only to be found in the southernmost and westernmost areas of the country. Winter fodder was produced in the meadows 011 ininnrkcn where most oaks grew. Wood for tools and fuel often could be got from trees 011 utnuirkcii, outside the enclosure. This meant that the antagonism in Swc- s.on ShO'.iU H;,::> s. c.itig i\iVs' 673 den was not one of timber trees versus underwood, but rather limber trees versus winter fodder. Front lliis perspective. Swedish developments tall into a larger l'.uto-pe.in patient, with the same ullimale cause. The competition was over sunlight reaching the ground. Conclusions The battle in Sweden between the navy and peasantry over oak trees was not only a mallei of ownership lights and limber values, hut also the oak's ecological role in damaging crops in the village tillage and meadows. The struggle led lo extensive branch-culling to reduce leaf mass, and to an oak-haired embodied in the deliberate destruction of roval oaks. The resull was first a rapid reduction in the number of trees fit for the navy's use, and in the end a professional, stale-run, oak forestry system, separate from agrarian production. Branch-cutting, oak-haired, and the navy's own stamps ruined lite limber trees. The navy's selective felling of belter trees and the extensive, legal telling for clearance al the start of the nineteenth century contributed further to a landscape that was dolled with large numbers of dead, decaying, and hollow trees. These landscape changes initially were positive lor biodiversity, because they maintained habitats for species-rich groups such as insects and fungi. I lowevcr, later cutting ol more than a million old oaks destroyed much habitat. Bv rephrasing the problem of deforestation more exaelly asa lack ol limber ol a particular quality, it becomes possible to reflect on prc-industrial society's multiple uses for wood. Energy resources were a severe limitation in some regions.;" But the dependency on wood as a material was a severe limitation as well. Because ol lite long growing lime and the difficult)' in obtaining big dimensions and certain shapes, high quality wood for building materials in reality was a renewable resource to a lesser degree titan wood for fuel. This became obvious in Sweden in the beginning of llie nineteenth century when llie competition for land between an increasing population's demand for food, fodder for animals and the state's de- 1 mand for high quality timber intensified. The solution was to separate agrarian and , silvicultural production. The debate over this separation spurred the introduction of forestry in Sweden. The supervisor of the first oak plantation and chief forester Israel afSlröni executed, between 18:15 and 1S52, the separation ol the Swedish stale forests from traditional use-rights, in the same way as were done in other European countries al the same lime. The resull was thai a third, or 215 000 hectare, of the royal forests were reserved only for limber-production for the stale's own needs ol oaks and other trees.5' In Sweden, slate forestry has its roots, not in the industrial deforestation of the late nineteenth century, but in a prc-induslrial society's effort lo escape llie limitations of nature. In the same way as agriculture replaces gathering ol looil where il can be found, silviculture replaces the gathering ol wood where it can be found. Thus, we can speak of a silvicultural revolution." And in Sweden it started with the oak. 0690 59 42 0170 674 Environmen1.il History Per ElteSSon(per.cliasson 6 4. T. Palm. "Hie I lol/.-und Rinden-käler der Süd-und Mittelschwedischcn Ijiibbáumc." Opiiseula f'nlomologiea Suppleiuenlum\\'\ (n>;i)i. 1-3-4;'ľ. Ranius and N. |.iuv>on. ■"l'be lunuence of forest Regrou lb. Original Canupv Cover and Tree Si/eon Sapiuwlic Beetles Associated with Old Oaks." Biological Consenation 9s Coool. 85-94. P- '■ I lardingaud K. Rose, Pasture-Woodlands in Lowland Britain: A Reviewol Their Importance for Wildlife Conservation (1 luutiiigdon: Institute for 'lerreslrial Kcologv. 1986). 5. Dominating tree species aic spruce t'icca allies, pine I'inns svlwsliis and biiehes lietula pubesceiis and B. pendula. 6. P. Aronsson. "Swedish Rural Society and Political Culture: 7 he Eighteenth- and Kinc-Iveutli-C'enluiv lixpcricncc." Rural History 3. (1992). 41-57- 7. C-J C.uld. Den agiara revolulioneii t-oo-iSjo (Boras: Nairn och kiillui/LI's Ic'iilag. 2000). 235-239. 8. J. Oleic. Navies and Nations. 2 vols, (fdsbruk: Akadcmitryck AB, 1993) 1.35-38. 9. Siinilarlv, il also was nearer lbe oilier important source ol oak. the German province ol Poiuerania 011 the Baltic coast. Poincrania bad been occupied by Sweden in 1630, and from 1641 onward a permanent workforce was based there to supply oak to the Swedish 1 law. Poincrania was a part of the Swedish kingdom lioiu i6.|S to lSiq. 10. Krigsarkivct (Stale war archive, Stockholm) Ainiralilctskollegiuins arkiv old series 110.10; Riksarkivel (Stale archive. Sloekhohu. hereafter RA) Skogsslyrelsciis arkiv V ll:ba vol.6: Rj\ Krigsex])editionciis arkiv f 1 vol.4; Vadslcna Landsarkiv (Slate regional archive, Vadstena, hereafter Val.a) Kronobergslansslyiel.se Laiulskonlorel II II vol.3. Thesearcilv is not a result of higher demands on quality or dimensions Iroin the navy. On Ihc contrary the surviving primary material reveals an increasing scarcity of timber, wilh lowered requirements for dimensions. Ihc iuliiidiiclioii of substitutes lor oak limber such as iron and spruce, and new lorms of warship construction designed to spare limber. Sec K. af Chapman, Diinensioncr pá wirke och jaru til fem sorter linie-skepp sami llingd och storlck pá master och rundliult. salningar och csellmfvun til saníma skepp (Carlskrona: Kongl. Ainiralilelels Boklryckciicr, 1796), B. 11. There were in total 126.236 oaks in Kalmar and 50,494 in Kronoberg. Sec "Suunuaiiskl extract af de iukoinne och ncdannainiidc iihr forraltadc Gcneralskougs-besiklningsinslnuiicnlcr uli undeibciualle 1,'ilm." I'Vihelslida ulskollsliaiidliugar R 2627. 731-735. RA. 12. "Samiiiandrag af den uti Öslergöllaud ar 1813 lörnyadc bciallclsc elter löregängeu uudcrsökniug oni f.kcskogariic a Krono- och Krono Skallegrund." Kiigscxpcdilioncn fl:i. RA. 13. O. Bergcndorff and U. f.manuclsson, "1 listorv and Traces of Coppicing and Pollarding in Scania, South Sweden," in II. Slottc and II. Göranssou, eds.. Lövtäkt och sliibbskottslmik: niäniiiskans förändring av landskapet-boskapssköhel och ákerbriik med lijiilp av skog 2 vols. (Stockholm: Kungliga Skogs- och Lanlliriiksakademien. 1996). 2:235-304. 14. Tcriuinologv about different forms and purposes of branch-culling is complicated. We will here follow the terminology used by Oliver Backhaul: Ancient Woodland: Its History \egetalion and Uses in England (Norwich: Kdward Arnold. 1980), 1-5. 15. C. Linnens, Vaslgöla resa ár i~j6 (1747; new edition, Sloekhohu: Wablslröni &• Widstrand, 1978) 78; compare S.-O. Borgcgárd, "Kxposé over lövtäkt i Iryckta dokument frän 1700-talcts mill till modern tid," in Slottc and Göranssou, Lövtäkt. 1,132. 16. C. Linnens, Öländska och Colliindska resa ár 174; (1745; new edition, Stockholm: Wablslröni &- Widstrand, 1975), 26. 17. "Nils l'ahreus to Skogscoinniissioncn 9.2.1802." ÁK 741 vol 1. RA. 74 8909 29 5 676 Environmental History 18. 1815 Swedish Parliament Appendix 4.1:74. 19. "Lindshovdiiiganiasiappoilci lill KM:I till löljdavciikuläiskiivclsc 17/1: i8i6övciläinn.idc till kommittcradc for regiering av flollornas á'rcudcn oeb deras skrivclsc lill KM:I 6/2 1819". Krigscxpcdilioncn ľ' hi. IxA. 20.1812 Swcdisli Parliament Appendix 2:1079. 21. 1815 Swedish Parliament, ßondcslaiidcls prolokoll 3: 454. 22. I.. Nordslröm, "Skogsskölscllcoiicr och skogslagslillning", in G. Aipi ed.. .Vit;/i,'c.s skogar 100 Ír, (Sloekholm: Kiingl. Doin;insl\ reisen, 1951;), 249. 23. "Conimillcradc till rcglering aľ ľ'lollornes árciidcr 27 mars 1819." Krigscxpcdilioncn I1' hi. RA 24. "af Bnincman to Ihe King," 1822. Krigsexpedilionen I' hi. RA. 25. 1823 Swedish Parliament Appendix 4:4:780. 26. A. de Tocqucvillc, UAncicn Regime el la Revolution (Paris: 1856), 292. 27. As Guha and Martincz-Alicr have put it: "In field or factor)1, ghetto or grazing ground, struggles over resources, even when they have tangible material origins, have always also been struggles over meaning." R. Cuba and J. Marline/.-Alier: \arieties ot Environ-111c11t.1li.su). (Guildford and Kings l,vnn; Karlhscan Publications. 1997), u-13. 28. A similar project was at the same lime in progress in I'lorida with Ihe establishment of live-oak plantations on the Santa Rosa Peninsula with the support of the Adams administration. But the project did not survive the political conflicts when Jackson administration look ovcr.V. S. Wood, Live (hiking: Southern 'limber lor I'M Ships. (Boston: Northeastern University Press. 1981), 50-54. 29. Skogsstyrclscn V Ihbb vols.1-18. RA. 30. Kalmar lansstyrclsc laudskontorcl G XI 1:476. Val .a. 31. Ostlund, "Exploitation and Structural Changes." 32. M. I.indbladh, "Ixxig Term Dynamics and Human Influence in the ľorest Landscape of Southern .SVcaggc med 1 d iklullu editing. \( .'n iicv/uiis oI). i.\<) 45. G. Watkins, "A Solemn and Giooinv Umbrage: Ghangiug lulerprelations ol the Au-cicul Oaks ol Sherwood ľ'orcsl," in G. Watkins. ed.. European Woods and forests: Studies in (cultural ///.sron'(Gainbridgc: GAB International, 1998), 93-111. 46.B. I'rilzhöger, "Dánske skove 1500-1800" (Ph.D. diss., Odense University, 1992), 220-222, 284-292. 47. B. I'Vil/.hiiger, "A Silvicullural Revolution: Ihe Dissolution ol Traditional Agro-forestry in Denmark, AD 1730-1820," in G. Björn, ed.. llic Agricultural Re\olulion Reconsidered {Oúcmc: Landbohistorisk Selskab, 1998), 8. Kurl Mantel has argued lhal main contemporary descriptions of woodland reveal a similar development in Germany during the eighteenth century. Timber Irees, particularly oak, were lelled in Ihe miltelwald for sale to I lolland. See K. Mantel. "Wald nud ľ'orsl in der Geschichte" (Alleld-1 lauuovcr: Verlag M.cvil. Schappcr, 1985) 192. 48. P. G. Nielsen, "Skibels krav lil skoven," Handels- och Sölarlsinusecls á r bog 1060 (I Iclsingöriu/kO, 174. 49. More irregular coppicing however was common in Skäne in the southern-most pari ot Sweden. See Bergendorlf and Kinanuclssoii, "History and Traces ofGoppicing," 235-304. 50. See, for example, V. Smil, Encrgv in World I lislon (Boulder, Goto.: Westview Press. 1994). 51. P. I'.liasson. M«», makt oeb tnanniskor. I'.n miljöliisloiia 0111 svensk skoi; iSno-i,S-q. (Ph. D. diss. Stockholm: Kungliga Skogs-och Lanlbiuksakadeniieii. 2002). In Ihe end not more than 400 hectares were cultivated with oak. Ihe costs were high and the labor used until 1857 has been estimated lo 400 000 days of work. See I,. Kardell. Skogshislorieu pä \'isingsö (Jönköpiiig: Svcriges I «uilbruksunivcisitcl. 19971,67-75. 52. We bono« this phrase from B. ľ'ritzbogcr. 62 70 82 54 05 2740 9642 2334