Government Forestry Abroad. 31 



2. To defend the soil against erosion and flooding 

 by rivers, streams or torrents. 



3. To insure the existence of springs and water- 

 courses. 



4. To protect the dunes and seashore against the 

 erosion of the sea and the encroachment of moving 

 sands. 



5. For purposes of military defense. 



6. For the public health. 



A proprietor who has cleared his forest without 

 permission is subject to a heavy fine, and may be 

 forced in addition to replant the area which he has 

 cleared. 



The area of forest in France has certainly passed 

 its lowest point. The following figures, compiled in 

 1889, will serve to illustrate this statement: 



No government forests have been sold since 1870, 

 while their area since 1872 has been increased by 

 190,462 acres. Private owners have been allowed to 

 clear an area amounting to 960,849 acres since 1828, 

 or 10,225 within the last five years, while the clear- 

 ing of communal forests since 1855 and 1885, respect- 

 ively, has been 24,826 acres and 598 acres. It should 

 be added that an unknown quantity of land has been 

 cleared without leave, and that on the other hand 

 private owners have been in the habit of getting 

 permits to clear their land as a means of enhancing 

 its selling value and then leaving it still under forest. 



Perhaps the most brilliant work of the French for- 

 esters has been accomplished in the correction of the 

 torrents in the Alps, Pyrenees and Cevennes, in the 

 course of which over 350,000 acres have been re- 

 wooded under difficulties which seem almost insur- 

 mountable. Its picturesque character, its thorough 



