PERIODICAL LITERATURE. 



FOREST GEOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION. 



France is to a large extent in coppice, but 



Richest in the Jura mountains she has still mag- 



Forest nificent stands of fir, namely near the 



in Swiss border in the arondissement of 



France. Pontarliers. One of these fir forests, of 



6 to 7,000 acres extent, is that of Levier, 



which is described in greatest detail in a pamphlet by Mongenot, 



the once manager of the same, copious extracts from the volume 



being given by the Revue. Here firs of 200 to 260 and even 300 



years of age persist, with diameters of 10 to 12 and even 13 feet 



and heights of 130 feet. 



The history of the forest from the year 1674, when it became 

 the property of the State, is given. 



Ninety per cent, is fir, 10 per cent, spruce, by way of intro- 

 duction planted in clearings. The fir is, of course, all the result of 

 natural regeneration which here in a mild moist climate at eleva- 

 tions of 2,000 to 2,800 feet and seed years every two years, is 

 prolific. Here stems are still squared, and logging is done by 

 oxen, 8 to 10 to the log skidding. The logging costs only i to 2 

 cents per cubic foot, but the transport to the salt mines at Salins 

 as much as 4 to 5 cents. 



The exploitation until the first quarter of the 19th century was 

 by unregulated selection, although 100 years earlier an attempt 

 of regulation was made, namely making four feet diameter the 

 exploitable size and removing in 20 to 25 year return periods 

 1.5 tree per hectare. In 1819 to 1820 Lorenz, well known after- 

 wards as director of the forest school at Nancy, pupil of Hartig, 

 introduced a silvicultural program leading to a regular shelter- 

 wood system, removing the old timber over young stands wher- 

 ever a good reproduction existed. The result is beautiful stands 

 from 60 to 100 years of age. 



In 1844 again the budget was determined as 100 cubic feet per 

 acre. In 1861 the forest was divided into 8 felling series, and 

 each of these in 4 to 5 coupes, the first coupe was to furnish the 



