SILVICULTURAL PRACTICE IN COPPICE-UNDER- 

 STANDARD FORESTS OF EASTERN FRANCE 



By Joseph Kittredge, Jr. 

 Forest Examiner, U. S. Forest Service 



During the greater part of two years the writer had tht; opportunity, 

 as an officer of the A. E. F., to be intimately occupied with the various 

 phases of the cordwood operations of our army in the part of east cen- 

 tral France between Dijon and the battle lines, chiefly in the Depart- 

 ments of Cote d'Or and Haute Marne. At different times he was 

 concerned with the examination of various forest tracts with a view 

 to the acquisition of the wood for our use ; with the actual marking of 

 the trees ,to be reserved on one large private tract ; and with the cord- 

 wood operations from stump to car. During practically the whole time 

 the work required almost continuous co-operation on our par*: with the 

 French forest officers in securing reasonable compliance with their 

 silvicultural requirements by labor comparatively unskilled in handling 

 an ax and totally unaccustomed to forestry practice. The relations 

 established with the French officers, of the various grades, from con- 

 servateur (district forester) down to forest guard, were most amicable 

 and satisfactory, both officially and personally. The following notes 

 are therefore based on personal observation, directed and supplemented 

 by contact with local French officers who were experts qualified both 

 by training and experience. 



DESCRIPTION OE FORESTS 



Topography. — This part of France, where four of the large river 

 systems — the Seine and Marne, the Meuse, the Loire, and the Saone — 

 have their sources within a comparatively short distance of one another, 

 is one of the poorest regions economically. Physiographically, it is a 

 limestone plateau, with a general elevation of about 1,000 feet, which 

 has been largely dissected and eroded away, so that the plateau level 

 occurs only over small areas. The valleys are narrow and steep-sided, 

 with frequent rock outcrops and ledges, and thin-soiled talus slopes. 

 The valley bottoms are cut dov/n from 200 to 400 feet below the plateau 

 level. 



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