THE ORGANIZATION OF A COMMUNAL DO.\LUN IX SICILY I39 



The municipal council and its executive committee have the manage- 

 ment of the forest, under the chief supervision of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, Industry and Commerce. 



There is, further, a special commission occupying itself with the state 

 and conditions of the forest. It gives its opinion on aU matters connected 

 theremth. It is composed of the Mayor of Caltagirone, who is its president, 

 and four members, two of them appointed by the Communal Council and 

 one by the prefect; the fourth, also nominated, is the director of the local 

 Royal Practical School of Agriculture. 



The forest staff consists of a technical manager, 8 communal forest 

 guards, 4 plantation guards and 6 workmen in charge of the fire belt. They 

 are lodged in barracks with large rooms for dormitories, an oilmill, 

 a room for the Red Cross men engaged in fighting malaria, a rural school 

 for the children of the staff etc. The improvements carried out in connec- 

 tion with direct cultivation, under the guidance of the technical manager, 

 have also necessited the building of many metayers' houses for workmen, the 

 regulation of the streams etc. The problem of roads stiU remains to be solved. 

 At present there are only two : a provincial road crossing the whole forest 

 with a length of 14 kms. and another of only 5 kms. A third wiU shortly 

 be made, but others still will be required to facilitate the transport of the 

 produce, which is sold at auction. 



In order definitely to decide what system is to be applied to the forest 

 the commune has instructed the technical management to draft a plan for 

 the purpose to serve as a basis for the operations in connection with it. 

 This plan will consist of two parts, the first of which refers to utihsation 

 and the other to improvements. We shall deal with them briefly. 



(a) Utilisation — The San Pietro domain is a wood yielding utilisable 

 agricultural forestry produce, such as cork, olives, pasture, timber and 

 underwood. 



The chief product is cork. Up to the present it has been stripped every 

 seven years. In future the period will be extended to eight years, and the 

 bark will be removed every 3^ear from the trees in one of the eight divisions. 

 Thus there will be constant production, to the advantage of the industry 

 of the town. 



A regular inventory has been taken of the cork oaks and they have 

 been distinguished according to their diameters and vitality, while ac- 

 count was taken of their estimated production. There are about 100,000. 

 The cork is sold on the trees, in lots of entire parcels of the forest, 

 with very severe rules as regards the precautions to be taken in order 

 not to injure the trees. 



Next, it must be remembered that there are also olive trees, about 

 50,000 in number. 



Grazing is a considerable source of revenue. And, in fact, the climate 

 of the district is mild and the herds like to come down from the mountain 

 to the forest to pass the severest months of winter there with their livestock. 

 They pay 5.50 francs a month per head of horned cattle or per horse and 

 60 centimes per goat or sheep and i fr. per pig. About April the dry period 



