1886.] LFAYERS TO THE EDITOR. G-iO 



the year 1884, 304,880. But of State forests there are none in 

 ♦Scotland, nor for the matter of that in England either. For it is 

 impossible seriously to consider the New Forest or the Windsor 

 Woods as really State forests, although the Dean Forest may perhaps 

 have some claim to such a title. 



In each of the six arrondissements into which the Canton Vaud 

 is for administrative purposes divided, there are to be found not 

 only large extents of cantonal forests systematically worked and 

 systematically reproduced, but large extents also of communal 

 forests tended with equal care and science. A cursory glance at 

 the more important operations in each of these may repay the 

 reader. 



Cantonal Forests. — lu the year 1884 no less than 40 li kilos 

 (the kilogramme is somewliat more than two English pounds weight) 

 of seed were sown in the cantonal nurseries, the greater proportion 

 being seed of the resinous trees, pine, fir, larch, Pinus sylvestris, etc. 

 In the same year 294,970 trees were planted in the forests, the 

 greater proportion again beiug those of the pine and fir tribes. The 

 revenues received from the sale of wood for public and private pur- 

 poses — of forest trees, and of hay and other incidental products of 

 forest lands, amounted to 376,043.19 francs, while the total 

 expenditure was 220,037.30 francs only. The net product there- 

 fore of these forests in the year under review was 150,005.89 francs. 

 But while the cantonal forests are thus etficiently maintained and 

 yet yield a substantial addition to the revenue of the State, it is in 

 the carrying out of forestry under communal authority that the real 

 backbone of the system is to be found, and in which lies the real 

 secret of its success. The people generally are fully alive to the 

 maintenance of their forests, and are in this the coadjutors, not as is 

 too often the case wilful opposers, of the Government. Thus we 

 find tlie Council of State emphatically declaring that "the com- 

 munes have fulfilled their engagements with the most praiseworthy 

 zeal." And the immense importance of the work involved by these 

 engagements will be seen by the following figures. 



The Communal Forests as they now exist are divided into timber 

 forests and firewood fuel reserves. The former contain 38,494.99 

 hectares — the hectare being equal to about 2^ English acres — and the 

 latter 3829.81 hectares. Not to weary our readers with too many 

 figures, we may state roundly that in these forests combined 990 

 kilos of seed were sown, and 2,025,800 trees put out. 



The keystone of the administration of cantonal and communal 

 forests alike is a very simple and the only right one. It may be 

 comprised in a single sentence, viz. the maintenance of the equi- 

 librium between the felling and the reproduction of timber. 



