xiv INTRODUCTION 



as protection against unfavorable climatic conditions, erosion, drought, 

 frost, and hail, as well as providing a playground for the millions that will 

 flock to France during the reconstruction period. French statesmen 

 have seen France saved by her forests, and the agitation in the press 

 against overcutting during the last phases of the war was merely a re- 

 action from the excesses made necessary by war demands. When the 

 history of the defense of France is written the part played by French 

 forests should be recognized. These forests gave fuel and lumber during 

 the crisis of ocean transportation, when every available ship was required 

 for men, munitions, food, and other necessities which could not be wholly 

 supplied from local sources. Then, too, the large forested areas in the 

 line of actual fighting proved a point of defense which apparently could 

 not have been spared. It is impossible to determine what would have 

 occurred without the forests of Compiegne and Villers-Cotterets. Had 

 France wasted her forest resources in the past (like Spain and Italy) the 

 war might have been a draw or a defeat, instead of a victory. 



In the past French forests have suffered from abuse. Much of the 

 damage in the Alps, Pyrenees, Central Plateau, Landes, and Gironde 

 occurred during or before the Middle Ages, and a part of the damage at 

 least resulted either directly or indirectly from war. The two great 

 achievements of French forestry are the repair of this damage and the 

 reforestation of eroded soils in the mountains as well as the reclamation 

 of the sand dunes along the Gulf of Gascogne and Pas-de-Calais. The 

 leaders responsible for these two achievements, Demontzey and Bremon- 

 tier, will long live in the history of France. Who will successfully re- 

 forest and rehabilitate the land damaged by the war of 1914? There 

 are more than a million acres to be restored to productivity, as well as 

 innumerable forests whose growing stocks must be enriched by economy 

 at a time when the economic demands for wood products will be at least 

 double the normal consumption. 



There are certain features of French forest administration and manage- 

 ment that deserve emphasis: the State, Communal, and Institutional 

 forests are almost invariably managed on longer rotations than are 

 private forests of the same species and situation. It is evident from 

 what is taught at Nancy, that, in a narrow sense, the rotations in State 

 forests are clearly not financial : (1) In protection forests the trees should, 

 in theory, be left standing until they decline in vigor; the product will 

 then have but small value. (2) In a great country like France commerce 

 requires wood of large size. To obtain this it must be cut at an advanced 

 age. This leads to retaining a considerable unnecessary capital, and de- 

 creases the interest returns to a figure that is too small for the private 

 owner. These two considerations justify the State ownership of a 

 certain number of forests, which alone can logically accept this situation 



