41G 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



the movemont of artillery, the millions 

 of board feet of lumber used in con- 

 structing training and rest camps, 

 hangars for aeroplanes, temporary hos- 

 pitals, emergency buildings of all kinds, 

 and for miscellaneous general use at 

 the front and in the rear ; also the poles 

 and other material used in trench con- 

 struction, the excelsior to fill the bed 

 sacks of the troops, and the thousands 

 of cords of fuel needed for cooking, for 

 heating, and for sanitation. 



The forestry troops are located at 

 many different points throughout cen- 

 tral, eastern, and southern France. In 

 several places there are as many as 750 

 to 1000 men logging for and operating 

 from three • to five sawmills. More 

 often a single compan}^ of 250 men, or 

 a detachment of from 80 to 125 men, 

 constitutes the unit. The size of the 

 unit depends on the quantity of avail- 

 al)le timber at any given point. In gen- 

 eral it has lieen the policy to scatter the 



operations. It makes less of a burden 

 ui)on transportation, since there is need 

 for inaterialat nuiny different parts of 

 the rear as- well as of the front; and 

 witli comparatively small units it is 

 l)ossible to do better work in the forest. 



The forests of France in which the 

 Americans are operating are in part 

 national, in part owned by communities 

 or institutions, and in part private. 

 Tlie cutting rights are obtained through 

 an interallied council for acquiring for- 

 ests, called C omits interallie des Bois 

 de Guerre. Through this council the 

 available resources are assigned to the 

 French, the British and Canadians, the 

 Americans, and the Belgians. Where 

 private lands are acquired the prices 

 are stabilized, thus preventing specula- 

 tion or competition between the allied 

 nations. The procedure is one of many 

 examples of the harmonious and unified 

 action Ix'tween the several Allies. 



There are in France several forest 



Phiitograph hy H. S. (frarcs 



Forests for cutting (tlie illustiatiou iliovvs young Scotch pines) are being obtained partly through 

 grants from the French Government and partly through purchase from private owners. A tour of the 

 forests in autumn brings to the eyes of the American vivid pictures of the beauty of the French land- 

 scape, with its splendid roads bordered everywhere with trees,— especially beautiful is the gold of road 

 sycamores against the green of the pine forests 



