528 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



proportion of forest land already under State owriership and manage- 

 ment. However, arrangements are being made to administer the act 

 of July 3, 1913, known as the "Audifred" law, the operation of which 

 was retarded by the war. This act has the object of "encouraging the 

 replanting and conservation of private forests." It authorizes savings 

 banks to invest up to one-tenth of their reserves in timber lands, and 

 public service corporations to make similar investments. It requires 

 these and other semi-public institutions such as hospitals, annuity com- 

 panies and mutual aid societies to submit their woodlands to the 

 "regime forestier," that is, to management by the Government Forest 

 Service on the same general terms as apply to the Communal forests, 

 most of which have long been administered in this way. It also autho- 

 rizes the submission of private forests to the "regime forestier" under 

 such contracts as may be agreed upon for each specific case between 

 the owners and the Forest Service. These contracts may provide for 

 protection against fire and trespass and inspection of cuttings only, 

 or for complete administration by Government forest officers. Their 

 exact terms are not prescribed, except that they must have a duration 

 of at least ten years. It is rather doubtful whether any great number 

 of private owners will desire to sacrifice their independence of control 

 for the advantages of Government assistance, but the encouragement 

 given to conservative forest enterprises on the part of long-lived, semi- 

 public corporations to the requirements of which such investments are 

 especially suited, seems likely to produce good results in the course of 

 time. In any case, economic conditions favor fairly rapid recuperation 

 of private forests to conditions at least as good as those prevailing 

 prior to the war. 



Aside from the big loss in the invaded region where the restoration 

 of the forests is an important but relatively small part of the necessary 

 re-establishment of normal conditions, the forest situation in France 

 is not so much worse owing to the war as might be expected. This is 

 largely due to the careful management of her woodlands exercised 

 through many years past. Her public-owned forests are in good con- 

 dition to meet the most pressing demands of the present, and while her 

 large area of private forests is badly depleted, there is a definite policy 

 of encouraging their improvement based on sound economic principles. 

 The situation is better than in England, where the war forced the 

 sacrifice of many beautiful park woodlands because there were no 

 commercial forests. There the lesson is now being applied through 



