106 MODERN FOREST ECONOMY. 



erections, and the construction of ships, and to meet the 

 demands of the export trade ; and the consumption having 

 been found to be greatly in excess of the production, a 

 calculation has been made of how long it will take to 

 bring upon the Empire the fate dreaded by Colbert for his 

 country, if the production and destruction be not speedily 

 equalised. Similar calculations have been made in America 

 and elsewhere ; and the voice of warning has been heard 

 here and there and everywhere. Well will it be for those 

 who hear to take warning ! 



Precautions against the destruction of forests by cattle 

 generally take the form of an absolute prohibition of the 

 depasturing of cattle, more especially of sheep, and still 

 more especially of goats, in the forest when the trees are 

 young, and of the goats at all times of the fencing in of the 

 forests, and the fencing of roads through the forests, along 

 which flocks or herds may have to go to localities in which 

 it may be less dangerous and be deemed desirable that 

 they should be pastured and of the imposition of heavy 

 penalties upon both the herdsmen and the owners of cattle 

 found trespassing. 



For the preservation of forests against destruction by 

 depredations the means employed resolve themselves into 

 strict surveillance, and severe punishment of transgressions, 

 and the extinction, by legitimate and equitable arrange- 

 ment, of existing servitudes and rights of usage. 



As precautions against the destruction of forests by fire, 

 there are enforced strict prohibition or careful regulation 

 of the use of fire in every form within the precincts of the 

 forest, and within prescribed distances from its perirnetor ; 

 the creation of cleared spaces around forests, and 

 traversing them as lanes in different directions, with a 

 view to arresting the spread of fire from without, and of 

 fire advancing within their bounds ; and the instruction of 

 the adjacent population in means to be employed in the 

 extinction of fires in a woodland, and the enforced requi- 

 sition of their attendance and help in such work when 

 fires occur. 



