INTRODUCTION TO COURSE OF FORESTRY LECTURES. « 183 
the succession laws of France, which tend to form very small 
properties ; but there are still many large properties with valu- 
able forests upon them ; and the explanation of the abstention of 
private proprietors from any attempt to avail themselves of the 
means of instruction in Forestry which are afforded to them and 
to their wood-managers is said to be that, as the State forests 
and the officials in charge of them are scattered about the country, 
the art of forest management is more or less popularly known ; 
that private owners have before them the State forests, which 
serve as models for the management of their own timber estates ; 
and that they can get a certain amount of advice and assistance 
from State officials, who are occasionally permitted to render aid 
in this way. But in many localities the private woods are too 
distant from State or parish forests to permit of their owners 
obtaining any assistance from the government officials ; and they 
are then thrown entirely on their own resources, with the result 
that although, speaking generally, the principal private forests 
are well managed, mistakes, and grave ones, are frequently 
made, 
I may perhaps here mention that in France private proprietors 
cannot clear any wooded area without notifying their intention to 
do so at least four months beforehand; and the government 
officials can, with certain exceptions, successfully oppose the clear- 
ance, if the continued maintenance of the wood is considered 
advisable on any of the following grounds, viz. :— 
1. To protect mountain slopes. 
2. To protect the soil from erosion, and to hinder encroach- 
ments by rivers, streams, or torrents. 
G2 
To preserve springs and watercourses. 
4. To protect coasts against erosion by the sea, and against 
the encroachments of moving sand. 
5. For the defence of the national frontier, 
6. For sanitary reasons, 
But although private proprietors in our country are not subjected 
to any such interference with the disposal of their property, they 
have none of the advantages which the existence of extensive State 
forests, and the presence among them of State forest officials, gives 
to private proprietors in France ; and in these islands the science 
of Forestry is almost unknown outside a small circle of professional 
men, who, to their credit be it spoken, have acquired the valuable 
