OLR AMEincAX FiJh'J-JST J-JXaiM-JKL'S IX I'L'AXCE 



419 



(lominant si)eeies is the silver lir, witli 

 a .-prinkliuir oi l)eeeh and spruce. Even 

 American luiiiluTiiien. aeeu>ti)nuMl tn 

 the great size of ilie trees in Aineriean 

 forests, must admire llie stately silver 

 fir. for it is a ti'ee that i-eaelies dimeii- 

 sioiis rivaling our eastern white ]iine. 

 31any of the mature trees are fi-oni "i 

 to 3 feet in diameter, and proihiee from 

 12(»() to 1500 feet of hoards, and occa- 

 sionally from ;'.()()<> to 4000 firt. One 

 splendid example oct'urs in the forests 

 where the Americans are working, — a 

 tree more than 150 feet in lu'ight, ex- 

 ceeding 4 feet in diameter, with a stem 

 clear of hranches for 90 feet. 



If our ohserver should go to the vil- 

 lage near hy he would find an American 

 ])orralile sawmill manufacturing the 

 logs into lundjer for army use. He 

 would find the camp stahles for the 

 horses, the hlacksmith's shop, comfort- 

 ahle huildings for the men, and all else 

 that is necessary for logging and mill- 

 ing enterprise, — all, however, binder 

 military discipline. Further ohserva- 

 tion would show the manner in which 

 these men are doing their work, hoth in 

 the woods and at the mill. Xot only is 

 there the precision of a well-organized 

 enterprise, but the men are working 

 with a spirit not commonly seen. They 

 know that the material they are pro- 

 ducing is urgently needed by the army, 

 that the success of the fighting depends 

 on the result of their labor. Hours of 

 work mean nothing to them. It is only 

 the results that count. They them- 

 selves are an essential part of the fight- 

 ing force. Their output is a fighting- 

 output. It is this spirit that is securing 

 from mills of 10,000 board-feet ca- 

 pacity more than 30,000 feet in 24 

 liours. and is demonstrating that an 

 industrial unit under war organization 

 can produce far more than with the 

 usual peace-time effort. 



This is but an example of what is 

 occurring throughout the forests of 

 France. Similar conditions would be 

 found at the four or five other locations 



of Aiiiei-iean forestry operations in the 

 -liii-a .Mountains, and at several loca- 

 tions in the Vosges iMountaiiis. where 

 the foi'ots have much the same general 

 ehai'aeter as iu the .1 ura. 



In eeiiti'al l-"raiiee the foi'ests are 

 chietly oak and Scotch pine with a cer- 

 tain (piantity of hecch, ash, and other 

 s])eeies of less importance. Some log- 

 ging and milling units are cutting al- 

 most wholly in oak and beech, using the 

 ])roduct for railway ties, bridge mate- 

 rial, and roail plaid<. It is interesting 

 to see the a(la])tability of the American 

 woods workers to French conditions. 

 Some units maile up chielly of Pacific 

 coast luml)ermcn, accustomed to the 

 giant sugar pine or to the Douglas fir, 

 are working in hardwood forests. They 

 work u]) the logs into ties and other 

 products. Then they cut the branches 

 into fuel, and finally lund the twigs 

 into fascines for use at the front in re- 

 ])airing roads. 



Some of the oak and beech is of ex- 

 cellent size and quality. In one forest 

 an American unit is cutting oak timber 

 ahout 200 years old, with many trees 

 2Y2 feet in diameter, tall, straight and 

 as clear as any oak of the southern Ap- 

 palachians. In some other cases the 

 bulk of the oak is smaller and chiefly 

 useful for railroad ties. 



In central France, too, the French 

 foresters have encouraged the growth of 

 Scotch pine, by planting and by natural 

 reproduction. It is careful forestry 

 that has produced stands of this species, 

 which at only 60 to 80 years of age 

 carry 20,000 feet to the acre. A num- 

 ber of small mills are cutting lumber 

 from such stands, while in the younger 

 stands the forestry troojis are producing 

 hundreds of thousands of poles for tele- 

 ]ihone lines, and short pieces for trench 

 material. 



Still a ditrpi-ent condition prevails in 

 southwestern France. Xorth of the 

 Pyrenees ^Fountains stretches a great 

 ])lain largely covered with a pure forest 

 of ]\raritime ]»ino. It is. to be sure. 



