115 



It is said that if the trees could be grouped together, so as to form a series 

 of pure forest, the proportion of th 3 total area which would be occupied by each 

 species would be as follows : 



Per cent. 



Oak (Q. sessiliflora and Q. pedunculata) 29 



Beech.' 19 



Hornbeam , 12 



Silver fir ., , 7 



Scotch pine 4| 



Evergreen oak (Q. ilex) 4 



Maritime pine 3 



Spruce * 3 



Larch 2 



Other kinds 



Total 100 



The small number of species which enters to any important extent into the 

 composition of the French forests is very remarkable. Thus it appears that oak, 

 beech, and hornbeam occupy 60 per cent, of the tree covered area, more than one 

 half of the remainder being taken up with six other species ; but many other 

 kinds are disseminated throughout the forests in various proportions according to 

 circumstances. As a matter of course, however, the trees are not grouped 

 together in the above manner, and, neglecting blanks, the crop on the ground is 

 .actually constituted somewhat as follows : 



Pure forests Per cent. 



Broad-leaved (oak or beech) , 15 



Coniferous (silver fir, pine, spruce, or larch) 13 



28 



Mixed forests 



Broad-leaved (oak, beech, and hornbeam) 52 



Broad-leaved and coniferous (beech and silver fir, or 



oak and pine) 18 



Coniferous (silver fir and spruce) 2 



- 72 



Total 100 



Or separating the broad- leaved and the coniferous forests from those which con- 

 sist of a mixture of the two, we have : 



Per cent. 



Broad -leaved forests, pure and mixed 67 



Coniferous forests, pure and mixed 15 



Broad-leaved and coniferous forest 18 



The State forests show a smaller proportion of pure crops than are found in 

 those of the communes, but they also comprise a very much larger proportion of 

 forests in which the crop consists of a mixture of broad-leaved and coniferous 

 species. The first of these differences is due to the circumstance that a mixture, 

 which is always desirable from cultural considerations, has been systematically 

 maintained in the State forests from a remote period, whereas this has not always 

 been the case in the communes. The second difference is chiefly accounted for 



