SILVICULTURE OF EASTERN FRANCE 515 



and the gards abreast, so that each one covers a strip about 20 feet 

 wide. The one on either end is guided by the cleared Hne. This 

 method has been developed to permit and assure that the markers see 

 every tree on the area, so that no desirable tree to be reserved may be 

 overlooked and cut. The officer in charge follows a short distance 

 back of them, where he can watch the selection of trees to be reserved 

 and at the same time tally the trees as they are called off by the men. 

 They are tallied by species and by 20-centimeter circumference classes 

 (2^-inch diameter classes). All the trees 7J/2 inches in diameter and 

 under which are reserved are thrown into one class. Similarly the 

 trees to be cut are separately tallied by the same circumference classes, 

 and by principal species; for example, oak, beech, and miscellaneous 

 other species. The reserves are lightly blazed close to the ground and 

 stamped once or twice, depending on the size of the tree; trees under 

 8 inches, once; trees 8 inches to 16 inches, twice; trees over IG inches, 

 once. The reserves in coppice stems are sometimes scribed once in- 

 stead of being blazed and stamped. The trees to be cut, which are 

 over 8 inches d.b.h., are blazed at breast height, and the coppice stems 

 to be cut are let unmarked. 



Economic conditions have an important influence on the character of 

 the marking. The owner who wants the maximum immediate financial 

 return instructs his forest agent to mark heavily the larger trees which 

 have the highest value. On the other hand, a far-sighted owner with 

 a well-lined pocketbook, who wants an attractive forest hunting 

 ground and who sees that large timber, furnishing high-grade lumber, 

 will command relatively higher prices in the future than now, may de- 

 sire to have a large number of the best trees reserved, even to the 

 point of transforming his coppice under standards to high forest. Just 

 prior to the war, in that part of France, much of the charcoal wood 

 which makes up one-half to two-thirds of the product from the coppice, 

 had no sale value on the stump. This was a strong incentive to re- 

 serve heavily and get higher yields of valuable timber in subsequent 

 rotations at the expense of the coppice. During the war, cordwood in- 

 creased in value relatively more than the timber and on a given area 

 often had a higher aggregate value. This condition was temporary, 

 however, since for many years France has been self-supporting in 

 cordwood supply, while she has been obliged to import large quantities 

 of lumber products. An example brings out this interrelation of de- 

 mand and value and their effects on the marking practice. Before the 



