38 FOREST REGIONS AND IMPORTANT SPECIES 



This region was only ceded by Italy in 1860, and prior to that date the 

 forests had been overcut and damaged, the prices were low, and there was 

 a large amount of overmature diseased timber. A. Schaeffer, for many 

 years chief of working plans, with headquarters at Grenoble, has studied 

 the rotation, cutting period, stand per hectare, increment, and financial 

 yield before and after past working plan revisions, and has proved that 

 the conservative management introduced by the French is successful. 

 These forests, classed according to yield production, may be grouped in 

 four classes: 



1. Those forests with a yield of over 6 cubic meters (211.9 cubic feet) 

 per hectare (2.5 acres) per year. These are found on the sandstones, 

 schists, warm calcareous soils, and alluvial soils near the lakes of Geneva, 

 Annecy, and Bourget. Such yields are almost comparable with the 

 famous Jura and Vosges. 



2. The second- and third-class forests are yields between 4 and 6 

 meters (141.3 and 211.9 cubic feet) and between 3, 4, and 2 meters (141.3 

 and 70.6 cubic feet) respectively. Here, either the soil or the climatic 

 conditions are naturally poor producers. Sometimes this intermediate 

 yield is due to the mediocre combination of both climate and soil. 



4. The fourth class of forests is where the production is less than 2 

 cubic meters (70.6 cubic feet) per hectare (2.5 acres) per year. These are 

 located in the high valleys or rocky slopes where the climate is severe or 

 relatively dry. (See Fig. 4, a and 6.) 



Pyrenees. The forests of the Pyrenees may be differentiated in two 

 ways, by geographical location or by zones of altitude. The geographical 

 differentiation has already been described. On account of their impor- 

 tance and interest to the American forester, it is well worth while to add 

 the altitude zones in order to make the regional distribution complete. 



In the first altitude zone, above 3,280 feet, fir and beech are found pure 

 and in mixture. Fir predominates in the central and beech in the eastern 

 and western Pyrenees. Mountain pine and Scotch pine predominate 

 near Mont-Louis. The limit of tree growth is 7,530 feet for mountain 

 pine, 6,890 feet for fir, 6,230 feet for beech; usually typical grazing forests 

 begin at an altitude of from 5,580 to 5,740 feet; sessile oak reaches 5,085 

 feet in the eastern and pedunculate oak 4,593 feet in the western Pyrenees. 



The second zone, 1,640 to 3,280 feet, has beech as the chief species with 

 fir and oak as secondary. 



In the third zone, 1,640 to 560 feet, there is oak with beech and chestnut, 

 sessile oak in the eastern and pedunculate in the western and central 

 Pyrenees. 



The fourth zone, below 660 feet, has the same species as the third zone 

 with the addition of holm oak and maritime pine. 



