Litter use

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Under litter is meant collecting fallen leaves and needles in the forest or on heaths for bedding in cowsheds. The third or fourth upbringing of meadows was also used to gain litter on poorer locations.

The use of forest litter was not very widespread before the Thirty Years War . Driven by the war, the farmers resorted to forest litter as a substitute for fertilizer and bedding. When in the middle of the 18th century cattle farming increasingly switched to stable feeding, larger amounts of litter were required. Instead of cereals, more potatoes , tobacco and hops were grown. The missing straw also had to be replaced with forest litter. From around 1750, the use of forest litter had reached a level that is difficult to imagine today. It can be explained by the fact that most of the litter was given free of charge. The aim of the governments was to support agriculture. Entire villages pulled into the woods with carts, which after the grit extraction sometimes looked like they had been swept empty.

It was not until the 19th century that forest scientists recognized the importance of forest litter for forest soils. Due to the deprivation of litter, the soil used in this way was no longer supplied with important nutrients from the rotting plant parts (especially nitrogen ). Especially with weaker soils, the natural soil fertility decreased due to podsolization ; the expert speaks of emaciation.

The "impoverishment" of the soil led to a change in tree species over a large area, as only less demanding coniferous wood such as spruce and pine could be grown instead of hardwood .

Over time, forestry tried to end litter use while farmers insisted on their rights. The rights to collect litter , some of which existed as a remnant of the old market cooperatives , especially in state and communal forests, could not be replaced until the 20th century or became void after decades of non-exercise when agriculture recovered and changes in the farms after the last war created new conditions.

It is expected that the negative after-effects of forest litter use on the soil can last around 300 to 500 years.

The pesting of heathens is related to the use of litter .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Hasel , Ekkehard Schwartz : Forest history. A floor plan for study and practice . Kessel, Remagen 2002 (pp. 204-206), ISBN 3-935638-26-4

literature