254 FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 
most of them have probably not attained the age or dimensions at 
which it was intended that they should be felled. They are also 
specially liable to attacks by insects, which often appear in large 
numbers in forests where many trees have been blown down, 
particularly in the case of the coniferous species. Even uninjured 
windfalls fetch a lower price than trees felled in the regular 
manner, because they are usually found scattered here and there, 
instead of being concentrated in one part of the forest. 
The year 1876, which is the last for which figures can be 
obtained, was a disastrous one, the amount of windfalls being ex- 
ceptionally large, probably double of that which occurs during an 
average year. ‘The number was put at 1,145,708 trees, and the 
damage caused was estimated at £10,300, or about £3, 4s. per 100 
acres in the State forests, and 12s. per 100 acres in those belonging 
to village communities. The latter being, for the most part, 
coppice under standards, suffered less than the former, while the 
proportion of windfalls in the coniferous forests was greater than 
that in those composed of broad-leaved species. The windfalls were 
sold for nearly £621,000, 
The forest officers, when arranging the annual fellings, are careful 
to provide, as far as possible, against the effect of storms, by leaving 
a protecting belt of trees standing on the side of the forest from 
which the dangerous winds blow, and in other ways; but much 
depends on natural conditions which are beyond their control, such 
as the configuration of the ground, the shelter afforded by neighbour- 
ing hills, the nature of the soil and its physical condition, the 
kinds of trees and their root development, as well as their size, age, 
and the system of treatment to which they have been subjected. 
It may be added that hailstorms often do great damage by stripping 
the trees of their foliage, and by breaking or otherwise injuring the 
young plants. 
Fires.—The Penal code provides for the punishment of persons 
who cause forest fires either intentionally or through carelessness ; 
and the forest law prohibits the lighting or carrying of fire either 
inside the forests or within 200 yards of their boundaries ; but the 
ordinary laws do not prevent proprietors from lighting fires in their 
own forests to the danger of their neighbour’s property. This is an 
important question in the Maures and Esterel,! where the bad 
practice is followed of systematically lighting fires in the forests, in 
order to burn up the heather and other shrubs which interfere with 
1 Low mountain ranges in the south of France. 
