FIRE INSURANCE IN FRANCE 289 



to the acre. These classes would be established according to the size of the trees either 

 by circumference or diameter. 



"3. For the establishment of stands. To value the capital to be insured by the 

 amount necessary to restock the area forested, supposedly entirely destroyed, by means 

 of plantations. This would include the purchase, transport and planting of the stock 

 as well as the necessary accessory costs. 



"4. For the humus and dead cover. To value the capital to be insured by 

 the sum necessary to replace the quantity of fertilizing material lost by means 

 of manure appropriate to the nature of the soil. In this amount would be included 

 the purchase, transport and spreading of the manure as well as all supplementary 

 expense." 



The companies demand, for coppice and coppice-under-standards, 

 a rate of 70 cents per $100 applicable to all the insured risks. They 

 require besides a special tax of 10 cents per $100 for the risk of lightning. 

 The French forester would prefer a variable scale of charges according 

 to the risks and local conditions, depending on the vicinity of railroads 

 or public roads, absence or presence of fire lines or brooks, existence of 

 green vegetation, as well as danger from local industries such as char- 

 coal burning. They hold that the risk should start at 50 cents per $100 

 with increases of 5, 10, or 15 cents according to the supplementary risk 

 of fire. They would also take into account the fire statistics based on 

 the percentage of fires in the neighboring forests managed or not man- 

 aged by the Federal foresters. Companies should charge, as they do 

 not, the same rates for various risks. A special lightning risk should be 

 eliminated in order to simplify the calculations. 



According to present practice the companies value the fire damage in 

 the case of coppice by a simple proportion based on the actual age as 

 compared with the usual age at the time of felling. Moreover they 

 diminish the amount arrived at by 4 per cent for each year remaining 

 up to the usual age of felling . Finally they subtract the amount of wood 

 salvaged after the fire; for the reserves according to their value at their 

 average age at time of felling, diminished by depreciation from this age 

 at the time of the fire, and further diminished by 4 per cent remaining 

 before the usual age of exploitation ; for f orestation by the amount neces- 

 sary to plant two plants per tree destroyed without the cost of remov- 

 ing the stumps. French foresters hold that: (a) The coppice burned 

 should be estimated at its actual age calculated according to the amount 

 grown without any deduction made for salvage. (6) The reserves burned 

 should be valued individually according to their value by classes with 

 deductions for salvage, (c) The damage caused to growth should be 

 calculated by the acre according to the amount insured, (d) The damage 

 caused to the litter and humus should be calculated by the acre accord- 

 ing to the amount agreed upon, (e) It is absolutely essential to establish 

 in advance the rate of interest to be used in calculations, and the exploita- 



