STATISTICS OF REFORESTATION 145 



With this brief sketch (translated and digested from official sources) 

 of the development of reforestation legislation it must be clear what a 

 task it has been to secure the legislative authority for the reclamation of 

 these devastated areas. 



Statistics of Reforestation. The figures which follow show the ex- 

 penditures and acreage as of January 1, 1909. The areas comprise the 

 land within the boundaries of the projects acquired under the terms of 

 the budget for reforestation and often include the remains of ruined 

 forests which require improvement. Land of this nature has been in- 

 cluded under the term "land restocked." The land impossible of forest- 

 ation includes the rocky areas of shifting soils, or areas at too great an 

 altitude. Land of the last two classes perhaps can some day be in part 

 reforested. Discrepancies exist between the area of the land belonging 

 to the State and the area reforested partly because the State has of its 

 own volition decided not to expropriate land where the conditions have 

 become more favorable, and partly because, in some places, the neces- 

 sary nurseries and paths could not be constructed. Moreover where 

 the compartments are of considerable extent the area to be forested is 

 naturally limited by the local labor supply, for it appears to be good policy 

 to employ the local mountaineers, so that they can receive in salaries an 

 equivalent of the revenue which they lose through loss of grazing ground. 

 This delay is not disadvantageous, for it gives the soil an excellent rest. 

 The expense does not stop with the restoration work, for the maintenance 

 cost is becoming greater from year to year, and a comparison of the re- 

 sults on January 1, 1893, and on January 1, 1909, sixteen years later, is 

 of interest. During 32 years .1860 to 1891 248,863 acres were 

 purchased and 16,951 acres were reforested. During the period from 

 1893 to 1909 16 years the area purchased was 263,740 acres and the 

 area forested was 194,236 acres. These figures show that during the 

 latter period the work progressed twice as rapidly as at the start. The 

 Alpes contain about 65^ per cent of the eroded areas of France, with 23| 

 per cent in the Cevennes and Central Plateau and 11 per cent in the 

 Pyrenees. In 1894 Demontzey reported that there were 1,462 distinct 

 torrents in France, divided as follows: Alpes, 1,138; Cevennes and Central 

 Plateau, 206; and Pyrenees, 118. Huffel says that "two-thirds of the 

 torrents of Europe are in France." 



For the three main forestation divisions (1) the Alpes, (2) the Cevennes 

 and the Central Plateau, and (3) the Pyrenees the official summary of 

 the work undertaken is given in Table 14. 



During the period from 1860 to 1909 the work executed by the com- 

 munes (see Table 15) amounted to 21.6 per cent, by the departments 

 23.4 per cent, and by the State 54.9 per cent of the total expenditures 

 of $1,433,994.59 to reforest 134,064 acres. The contribution of the 



