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ants cannot be made until the work is entirely completed ; the contractor is 

 responsible in all respects as if he had been the purchaser of the produce, but he 

 acts under the pecuniary guarantee of the body of right-holders, who can- 

 not barter nor sell the wood made over to them, nor put it to any use other than 

 that for which it is given to them ; timber made over in satisfaction of a 

 right, but not used in a period of two years, may be reclaimed by the forest 

 department. 



No right can exist to take goats into either the State or the communal 

 forests, as the grazing of these animals is considered incompatible with the 

 maintenance of the ground under wood. The old law suppressed without com- 

 pensation to the right-holders, the practice of grazing sheep in the forests of the 

 ancient royal domain of France, and the law of 1827 suppressed it also, on pay- 

 ment of compensation, in those State forests which are of more recent origin ; 

 but the government has the power to permit sheep grazing in certain localities 

 as an exceptional and temporary measure. No right to pasture any kind of 

 animals can be exercised in any part of the forest not declared out of danger by 

 the forest department, which has also the power to limit the number of animals 

 to be admitted, and the period during which they may graze, with reference to 

 the condition of the forest and the quantity of grass in it. Right-holders 

 can only pasture animals which they keep for their own use, not those which 

 they keep for sale. 



On the first of January 1877, about one half of the total area of the State 

 forest was burdened with rights of the estimated annual value of 38,400, 

 while only three per cent of the communal forests were so burdened, the annual 

 value in their case being estimated at 6,700. The commutation and purchase of 

 rights, which was commenced in a systematic manner in 1857, is effected by the 

 officers of the ordinary service, as well as by those who are charged with the 

 framing of the working plans. As a general rule, the arrangement with the 

 right-holders is made by mutual consent, appeals to the courts being of rare 

 occurrence. The State is in no hurry to spend large sums in the purchase of 

 grazing rights which will probably disappear with the progress of agriculture ; 

 a result which has alredy been realized in the north of France, where the greater 

 portion of these rights has lapsed through failure to exercise them. 



GRAZING. 



Goats, sheep and cattle have always been the emenies of forests, and they 

 are indeed the principal agents of their destruction, especially in hot and dry 

 climates, where the vegetation is not sufficiently vigorous to resist the effects of 

 over-grazing. 



Animals are admitted to the forests under three different conditions, viz : 



(a) In virtue of a right of user. 



(b) As a means of raising revenue and of utilizing the grass. 



(c) By tolerance, as a temporary arrangement. 



Grazing by right. This has been treated of in the preceding section. 



Grazing as a means of revenue and of utilizing the grass. Neither goats 

 nor sheep are admitted into the State or communal forests with this object. In the 

 State forests it is sometimes the custom to allow cottagers living near the forest to 

 graze their cattle in exchange for a number of days' work, but this is not done to 

 any important extent. In these forests in fact very little grazing is sold, for 

 the practice can only be permitted in the imwooded portions, which are rarely 



