FIRE PROBLEM IN FOREST OF L'ESTEREL 285 



from the northwest and northeast, but when from the northeast it is 

 often accompanied by rain. Of an average annual rainfall of 35.7 

 inches, half falls in the autumn and the remainder in the winter or in 

 the spring. There is practically no rain during the summer months. 

 Maritime pine (64 per cent of the stand) is the dominant species. The 

 trees are characteristically distributed in groups with openings caused 

 by past fires and stocked with heather. The cork oak is next in im- 

 portance (26 per cent of the stand) but is not distributed over the whole 

 forest. It is usually found in clumps generally localized at the foot 

 of the porphyry slopes or below cliffs. The holm oak (6 per cent of the 

 stand) is found on the rocky slopes and on steep escarpments along 

 ravines. The aleppo pine is found chiefly along the ocean on a narrow 

 zone of schists and on red sands, with some limestone soil in mixture. 

 The chestnuts, the sessile oak, the maple and the nettle trees comprise 

 1 per cent of the stand. 



In the first, second, third and sixth working groups, which alone are 

 cut over by regular fellings during the first cutting cycle of 16 years 

 (1903-1918), pines 10 inches in diameter and above, estimated at 204,343 

 small trees, amounting to 75,909 cubic meters (about 10,000,000 feet 

 board measure), were removed. The forest is divided into six working 

 groups, treated by the selection system, both for the felling of conifers 

 and for the collection of cork oak. During the years 1902-1911, 20,059 

 cubic meters (about 2| million feet board measure) of wood netted 

 $26,986.03; while 121,695 pounds of bark netted $41,457.56; and acces- 

 sory products, including the hunting privileges, yielded $10,921.87; a 

 total of $79,365.46 or an average annual yield in money of $7,936.55 for 

 the forested area under management. This amounts to 61 cents per 

 acre per year at 0.450 cubic meters (60 feet board measure) of wood 

 and 94 cents for 27 pounds of bark. It is unfortunately true that fuel 

 has practically no value, and consequently the yield from this source is 

 insignificant. The average value of the soil without the timber is esti- 

 mated at $15.44 per acre. The road and trail system is admirably de- 

 veloped as follows: Thirty-five miles of roads 11.48 feet in width, eighty- 

 eight miles of roads 8.20 to 9.84 feet in width, and 129 miles of trails. 

 This road system is cut by two branches of the National Highway be- 

 tween Toulon and Nice, one inside the forest and one along the ocean 

 front, often outside the forest, called "La Corniche." There are no 

 nurseries. Artificial restocking has been suspended since 1895, since it 

 would obviously be poor business to plant or sow until the fire danger 

 is better controlled. The products are sold locally and at Marseilles. 

 There is no grazing nor is litter collection allowed. The lower limit of 

 exploitability for the conifers is 13 to 15 inches in diameter depending on 

 the working group. These sizes correspond to an age of 90 to 110 years. 



