422 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



broken by small farms and communi- 

 ties, but in many areas fully To per cent 

 of the land is in forest. It is this pine 

 that furnishes the French tur})entine. 

 It is here that we have the example of 

 how we should develop the turjientine 

 industry of our own southeast. 



The Maritime pine is not a large 

 tree. It is very commonly from 18 to 

 28 inches in diameter at TO years of 

 age. with a height of from TO to 80 

 feet. It is, however, furnishing a basis 

 for the operation of a number of the 

 American forestry units, yielding lum- 

 ber, piling, poles, and railroad ties. 



The scale of the American forestry 

 operations in France is a large one. 

 For the tirst half of July there were 

 produced for American needs about 

 13,000,000 board feet of lumber, 155,- 

 000 railroad ties, more than 1200 piles, 

 and a great quantity of fuel. This does 

 not include the product of one Ameri- 

 can forestry battalion working for the 

 French, and one battalion working for 

 the British. 



N"ecessity has forced the extensive 

 use of the French forests in order to 

 win the war. Every effort is being 

 made to carry on the woods operations 

 in a way that will leave the forests in a 

 good productive condition. The French 

 foresters mark the trees to be cut and 



indicate the other restrictions necessary 

 to secure good forestry. It is hoped 

 also that the forest roads will be left in 

 as good or better condition than when 

 the Americans began their work. 

 Whether the American foresters can 

 undertake any actual work of planting 

 on the areas where they have worked or 

 on the devastated areas of the war zone 

 remains a question to be settled later. 

 It is hoped that assistance can l)e given 

 on both classes of land. Back of the 

 lines the forests cut under forestry 

 principles will recover very rapidly. In 

 the zone of devastation the forests have 

 been crushed down and ruined. 



Still again one of the tragic injuries 

 to France is the destruction of many of 

 her roadside trees. All have heard of 

 the destruction of the trees in the line 

 of fire, and of the wanton felling of 

 trees by the Germans. But in many 

 places in the rear the French them- 

 selves have cut down the old poplar 

 trees lining the highways. This has 

 Ijeen done to supply local needs for 

 lumber. It is hoped that the United 

 States may be able to assist France in 

 the replacement of her forests de- 

 stroyed or injured during the war, and 

 also of her highway trees, which have 

 always furnished one of the picturesque 

 features of the French landscape. 



