80 ANNUAL REPORT OF 



geria, Tunis, Madagascar, Indo-China, Reunion. In Al- 

 geria the organization is exactly similar to that of France, 

 and calls for an annual expenditure for salaries and works 

 of 1 600, ooo. 



HESSE-DARMSTADT. 



STATE FORESTS. 

 \ 



The state forests of the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darm- 

 stadt occupy 165,000 acres, and are situated in the Rhine 

 valley (on alluvial sand), in the Vogelsberg mountains (on 

 basalt and red sandstone), and in the Odenwald moun- 

 tains (on granite, syenite and red sandstone). The pre- 

 vailing species are beech, occupying 40 per cent, Scotch 

 pine, occupying 34 per cent, and oak, occupying 16 per 

 cent of the area under forest; whilst the remaining 10 per 

 cent consist of spruce, fir, larch, alder and birch forest. 

 It is a noteworthy fact, proved from the writings of Caesar, 

 Tacitus and of early German authors, that there were no 

 coniferous trees present in their time except yew. Pine 

 was introduced only from the i5th century on. The av- 

 erage value per acre is about $100; but there are great 

 differences according to quality of soil, transportation fa- 

 cilities and density of population. The annual aggregate 

 expense of administration is $148,500; and the annual ag- 

 gregate revenue is $561,000. There are planted annually 

 to forest 750 acres, the planting extending over the entire 

 surface of the ground. On 2,500 acres, according as 

 ''blanks" in natural regenerations are stocked, partial 

 planting takes place. There are used on an average per 

 annum: 1 10,000 pounds of seeds of broad leaved species; 

 4,000 pounds of seeds of coniferous species; 5,000,000 

 broad leaved seedlings; 5,000,000 coniferous seedlings. 

 The annual expense for starting new generations of trees 



