FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 229 
relating to State forests are, generally speaking, but with certain 
exceptions, applicable to them ; they cannot be alienated or cleared 
without the express and special sanction of Government in each 
case ; they cannot be divided up among the members of the com- 
munity; the annual sales of produce are effected by the State 
forest officers, and the money realised is paid directly by the pur- 
chasers into the communal treasury ; before the sales take place, 
the quantity of timber and firewood required by the inhabitants for 
their own use, is made over to them, usually standing in the forest, 
and it is subsequently worked out by a responsible contractor ; 
three-quarters only of the total annual yield is available for dis- 
tribution or sale, the remaining quarter being left to accumulate, and 
thus to form a reserve fund or stock of timber from which excep- 
tional necessities either in the way of wood or money can be met ; 
the distribution of firewood is made according to the number of 
heads of families having a real and fixed domicile in the commune ; 
the entry of goats into the forest is absolutely prohibited, while the 
grazing of sheep is only permitted temporarily, and under excep- 
tional circumstances, with the special sanction of Government in 
each case ; no grazing of any kind can be carried on in the forests, 
except in places declared out of danger by the forest officers, who 
have the power to limit the extent to which it can be practised with 
reference to the quantity of grass available; the forest guards are 
chosen by the communal authorities, subject to the approval of the 
forest officer, who delivers to them their warrants; the State 
defrays all expenses of management, including the officers’ salaries, 
the marking of trees, notifying of sales, office charges, and the pro- 
secution of offences ; the State is reimbursed by the payment from 
the communal treasury of a sum equal to 5 per cent. on the sales of 
principal produce, including the value of the wood made over to the 
inhabitants ; but this payment, which forms a first charge on the 
forest revenue, can never exceed the rate of one franc per hectare 
(about 4d. an acre) of the total area thus managed ; the communes 
pay the guards’ salaries, the taxes, and all charges for the mainten- 
ance and improvement of the forest, including planting, sowing, 
and road-making, as well as those for extraordinary works, such as 
demarcation, survey, and the preparation of working plans. In all 
this the forest officers are bound, by law, to act on the principle 
that they are managing the property for the benefit of its owners, 
who must be consulted through their representatives, the Mayor 
and the municipal council, in all matters affecting their interests, 
