FOREST ADMINISTRATION IN THE CANTON VAUD, SWITZERLAND, 85 



concerned, a duty more onerous than remunerative. But that 

 it is appreciated is evidenced by the fact that the demand, espe- 

 cially for beech plants, augments from year to year. The number 

 of saplings bought by the communes from the State nurseries 

 for the year 1886 is stated at 598,230. And it may further 

 interest those readers who are fond of statistics, to know that in 

 the same year 2,000,760 forest plants were put out in the com- 

 munal forests, and 1855 pounds of seed sown in the communal 

 nurseries. To compare these figures with the total extent of 

 forest land in the canton under the control of the communes, we 

 may mention that this consists of 3,838,895 hectares of forest 

 trees, and 381,697 hectai-es of firewood trees — the hectare being 

 equal to about 2J acres English measurement. 



OF THE CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF ROADS, DAMS, ETC. 



The construction of all roads giving access and egress to the 

 various forests is a matter of arrangement with those communes 

 that are interested, and which bear their proportion of the expense. 

 In pi-actical working, few real difficulties lie in the way of agree- 

 ment, the general rule being that all who benefit by the roads — 

 be they State, Communes, or private individuals — share in the 

 expense of making and of maintenance. The same rule applies to 

 dams, embankments, sluices, and all works necessary for the 

 floating of wood down the rivers, which form an important means 

 of communication in the canton. 



OF DAMAGES TO THE FORESTS. 



Heavy falls of snow are the main cause of the damage annually 

 done to the forests, and it has been found, as the result of ex- 

 perience, that the minimum of distance between trees of the 

 resinous species should be 1*20 m. — say 4 feet. Other enemies 

 are the influence of the frost in the nurseries, and of the lightning 

 on the higher slopes. But the amount of wilful damage done 

 by either man or the animal creation is wonderfully small — an 

 additional fact, which may be taken as evidencing the general 

 acquiescence of the people in the forest administration. 



OF SHOOTING AND FISHING. 



The two minor departments of shooting (" Chasse ") and fish- 

 ing ("Peche") have from last year (1886) been entrusted to the 

 care of the forest inspectors, under the general heading of Agricul- 



