EXAMPLE OF A LONG-TERM SALE 301 



"may leave standing parts of the felling area difficult to log" after 

 designation by a forest officer. Unmerchantable debris is burned if in 

 regeneration fellings, elsewhere it is scattered. In coppice stands "oak, 

 beech, ash, and maple seedlings over 2.5 inches in diameter must be pro- 

 tected." Here, bordering Switzerland, one-third foreign labor is allowed. 

 Cleanings are limited as follows: 



"Art. 15. The cleanings specified by Art. 52 (see Appendix) of the general ex- 

 ploitation rules only pertains to stems at least 8 inches in diameter on the stump; the 

 products of these operations shall be removed, corded, and stacked without delay at 

 the designated places; they shall be delivered to the highest bidders at the price fixed 

 by the contract, and in the absence of special stipulations at the price of 39 cents per 

 stere and 58 cents per 100 fagots." 



Such minute and specific directions for all details of forest exploitation 

 can of course be worked out only after years of experience. Specifica- 

 tions are so well known by local contractors and lumber-jacks that it 

 is hardly necessary for them to refer to written specifications which are 

 part of their trade education. 



The utilization of timber sales naturally varies with the difficulty of 

 transportation and with the local demand for by-products. In the Pyre- 

 nees, on ground difficult to log and with an expensive haul, defective 

 trees (such as would be logged in a government timber sale in the western 

 United States) are merely girdled to make room for new growth, but may 

 be left standing. Logs half or one-third merchantable are often left to 

 rot. Even in the Landes where, during the war, saw timber stumpage 

 prices rose to SI 6 to $30 per thousand feet board measure, the tops were 

 usually left in the woods, since there was no local cordwood market and 

 transport was impracticable; the same conditions prevailed during peace 

 times. In most parts of France every portion of the tree has a market. 

 For example (according to Captain Kittredge) in the Cote d'Or the market 

 is intensive: 



"The trees over about 10 inches in diameter are cut into shingle logs, full length to 

 a top diameter of 4 to 6 inches. The stems are hauled off the forest in this form. The 

 material in the coppice and in the tops from 3 to 6 or 8 inches in diameter is cut usually 

 into 52-inch lengths and piled for cordwood. The smaller stems and branches from 

 three-fourths inch to 3 inches in diameter are cut into 26-inch length sand piled. Later 

 this wood is usually converted into charcoal right on the ground or hauled to a nearby 

 hardwood distillation plant. The twigs below three-fourths-inch diameter are bound 

 into bundles with limber twigs and hauled away for local use as kindling." 



Example of a Long-term Sale. The sale of 236,000 cubic meters 

 (about 66,000,000 feet board measure) extending over a period of 14 

 years, made by the Inspection at Oloron in 1908, called for deviations 

 from the regular sales methods of France. It is typical of methods used 

 in Corsica in similar sales. Even before the timber was marked and more 

 than two years before the bidding was called for, the local inspector ad- 



