Canadian Forestry Journal, December, 1919 



497 



FORESTRY'S BIRTHDAY 1000 YEARS AGO 



Proj. Filiberi Roth. 



According to Fernow's History of Forestry, 

 and others, France appears to have taken a lead 

 in real forestry when Charlemange, the first 

 great king of the Franks, more than a thousand 

 years ago began the protection of forests and 

 the regulation of their uses. As early as 1291 

 there were regular laws applying at least to 

 parts of the forests and regular official fores- 

 ters. In 1402 a general law was promulgated 

 by the king. In 1669, after eight years of 

 labor by a commission of twenty-one exper- 

 ienced and informed rnen, the Minister Colbert, 

 of Louis XIV, promulgated the famous forest 

 low, "I'Ordonances des Eaux et Forets," which 

 at that time was the most complete forest law 

 in existence. This law provided a very full 

 machine for its enforcement; every important 

 cut of timber had to be marked out by state 

 officials; it prescribed the minimum age at 

 which to cut timber, set forth officially the seed 

 tree method, "methode a tire et aire," etc. 



In practice this law became irksome tyranny; 

 it made grafters and bad men instead of inter- 

 ested foresters; it led good people to use brib- 

 ery and other low means to escape its action. 

 It hindered forestry in its development. 



The motive was excellent, the organization, 

 on paper, was perfect, the law did much good 

 as well as harm, and its failure lay in ignoring 

 justice and freedom of action, and in disre- 

 garding the initiative of the owners of the land 

 and the peculiarities of the business. The com- 

 mission failed to see that the details of handling 

 a forest can no more be prescribed by law than 

 the running of an ordinary mixed farm. In 

 1791 all was thrown overboard by the revolu- 

 tionary government. But in 1803 Napoleon 

 re-established the old regime, much modified, 

 to be sure, but included a definite clause which 

 forbade all forest clearing without permit. 



In 1827, after things in France came to rest, 

 a new law was established. This law of 1827, 

 revised in 1859, practically re-established the 

 law of 1669; left out the unwise prescriptions 

 as to silviculture, but kept the order of 1803, 

 so that to this day the old law of 1669 holds 

 and the forests of cities, towns, and all jiublic 

 bodies are under the state authorities; private 

 forest may not be cleared without permit and 



may not be devastated, but any area cut-over 

 must be restocked within three years. 



Germany has gone through about the same 

 experiences, but since it never was a single 

 state, but remained in its more or less feudal 

 form of a loose union of many states in which 

 every lord and prince, every bishop, and every 

 city or town had its own authority, there never 

 was a single uniform forest law for Germany. 

 In most states, and with most large forest own- 

 ers, city or prince, the first regulations or orders 

 forbade clearing the forest and forest devasta- 

 tion. Later on these were amplified by each 

 owner for his particular locality. In some 

 states the French revolution brought radical 

 changes, as in Prussia where all private owner.'? 

 of forests were allowed by the law of 181 1 full 

 freedom to cut and clear and handle their pro- 

 perty as they saw fit, while in other states, like 

 Bavaria and Wurttemberg, the older laws, dat- 

 ing back to about 1500, were retained and are 

 practically those in force today. 



BRITAIN MAY BUILD WOODEN HOUSES 



A special cable despatch from the London. 

 England, correspondent of the Montreal 

 Cazelie, states that the probabilities are that 

 Great Britain will adopt wooden houses as a 

 solution of the acute housing problem in that 

 country. The cable further states that F. C. 

 Wade, agent general for British Columbia, has 

 offered to have 500 wooden houses delivered in 

 Great Britain and ready for occupation by 

 Christmas. While there is a certain amount of 

 opposition in certain quarters to wooden houses, 

 it is significant thai the by-laws prohibiting the 

 erection of wooden structures are bein>^ amend- 

 ed. If wooden houses are finally adopted by 

 Great Britain it will moan an immense boom 

 for North American lumber. 



— Southern Luntberman. 



