260 FEATURES OF FRENCH NATIONAL FOREST ADMINISTRATION 



Art. 224. (Law of June 18, 1859.) There are excepted from the regulations of 

 Art. 219: 



(1) Young timber during the 20 years following its sowing or planting, except in 



case provided for in the preceding article. 



(2) Parks or fenced gardens, or gardens adjoining houses. 



(3) Open timber of less than 10 hectares area (24.7 acres) when not part of another 



forest, the whole of which aggregates an area of 10 hectares, or when not lo- 

 cated on the top or on the slopes of a mountain. Forestry Code 219, 223. 



New Article 224 (Forestry Code) corresponds to the old Article 223. It only modi- 

 fies it by : (1) Substituting the figure of 10 hectares for 4 hectares for the area of timber 

 which may be cleared without fulfilling formalities determined by Article 219 (Forestry 

 Code). (2) Substituting the expression "fenced gardens or gardens adjoining houses" 

 for the words "fenced gardens and gardens adjoining houses," concerning trees forming 

 part of parks or gardens exempted by the application of Article 219. 



Art. 225. (Law of June 18, 1859.) Court actions concerning clearings made in 

 violation with Article 219 are outlawed after lapse of two years from the date when the 

 clearing took place. Forestry Code 185, 187, 221. 



New Article 225 is the reproduction of previous Article 224. 



Art. 226. (Law of June 18, 1859.) The sowings and plantings of timber on the 

 top or on the slopes of mountains, on dunes, or in the waste lands will be exempted 

 from taxes for 30 years. Forestry Code 194, 195, 219 s. 



New Article 226 reproduces the terms of Article 225, except two changes. 



Law of March 29, 1897. Fixing the general budget of expenses and receipts of 

 exercise, 1897 (Renueil Pe"riodique Dallez, 97.4.33). 



Art. S. Article 116 of the Law of the 3 Frimaire, an VII, regarding the repartition 

 and the situation of the land-tax is modified as follows: "The revenue taxable on any 

 cleared soil which shall be afterwards planted or sown with timber will be reduced by 

 three-fourths during the first 30 years after planting or sowing, whatever may have 

 been the state of cultivation of the soil prior to the clearing. 



1. The ministerial decision which refuses an owner of timber the authorization of 

 clearing is not limited in its duration; it is final and lasts with all its effects so long as 

 unmodified or not recalled by the minister who rendered it. Cr. c., March 15, 1884. 

 D. P., 84.5.281. 



2. The prohibition of clearing pronounced under these conditions has the character 

 of a true legal servitude burdening directly the timber itself, and as long as this inter- 

 dict has not been recalled, it keeps all its force in regard to the owner who has made 

 the declaration requesting clearing as well as toward his assigns "a titre gratuit" or 

 "a titre on6reux." Then, if the said owner or his assigns thinks proper to provoke a 

 new investigation in order to be authorized to clear all or part of the timber on which 

 the ministerial decision has been made, he should not proceed in accordance with the 

 terms prescribed in Art. 219 (Forestry Code), but should address directly the minister 

 who has made the decision in order to obtain from him the modification or cancellation 

 of his decision. Same decree. 



3. Par. 2 of Article 214 (Forestry Code) which excepts from the prohibition of 

 clearing "the parks or fenced gardens adjoining houses," must be understood in this 

 sense, that the exception exists only in favor of parks or gardens which are actually 

 both fenced and adjoining habitations. Riom, June 11, 1883, D. P., 84.5.283. 



4. Especially one cannot consider as a park in the meaning of Article 224 (Forestry 

 Code) a body of timber around a chateau but not fenced; it makes little difference if 

 this timber combines certain conditions of management for the satisfaction and interest 

 of the owner. Same decree. 



