160 DAMAGES FROM FOREST- FIRES. 



for prevention. The wooded surface exposed to these fires, araonnted 

 to 111,331 hectares, mostly in the department of Var, of which 88,978 

 belonged to private owners, 21,402 to communes, and 7,951 to the 

 {State. The commission appointed for these iuquiries sought to study 

 the circumstances, discover the causes, and devise the remedies. 



As the conditions were not unlike those that may be met with in this 

 country, this matter becomes one of practical interest. The region 

 possessed a rich soil, was exposed to an ardent sun, and was watered 

 by abundant rains at a season most proper for giving exceptional vigor 

 to forest vegetation, and, as a consequence, an abundant accumulation 

 of litter. But it was also at certain seasons liable to jjrotracted droughts, 

 and then the least careless spark would start a fire which, in a strong 

 wind, nothing could stop until the tinder upon the ground was burnt 

 off. The forests were of the most valuable kinds — chestnut, cork-oak, 

 and maritime pine — and suffered severely in these running fires.^ 



In studying the causes, the commission ascribed the least to malevo- 

 lence ; next, carelessness of hunters and smokers ; and most to want of 

 sufficient care in the use of fires set under the forms of '■'■taillades,^^ 

 ''Hssarts,^^^ and ^^ecobuages.^'* These practices belong to the traditions 

 of an age of ignorance rather than to the precepts of enlightened for- 

 estry, which might be difficult to wholly prevent, but should be kept 

 within the limits of safe control. Such rubbish must at times be dis- 

 posed of, and the chief difficulty was to do it safely. 



«The remedies proposed consisted, first, in a modification of the code, 

 imposing severe regulations in the use of fires, which were to be set only 

 when licensed by the prefect upon the advice of proper authorities ; next, 

 in the construction of a net- work of roads and trenches, running through 

 the forests in such a manner a,s to prevent the spreading of fires and to 

 afford effectual lines of defense. These were to be kept at all times clear 

 of combustible materials. The roads were to be from 20 to 50 meters 

 wide, and boundary-lines between adjacent owners were to be thus kept 

 open, half on each side of the line, and at their joint expense. A grant 

 of G00,000 was made from the contingent fund of the ministry of 

 finances, this being half the cost of constructing the net-work of cleared 

 spaces through the forests, the remainder being paid by the owners. 

 This special law was limited in its operation to twenty years, and was 

 promulgated on the 27th of July, 1870.^ 



The French forest-code contains the following articles with respect to 



1 From 1838 to 1848, 40,000 hectares were burnt over, causing 4,000,0'JO francs loes. 

 From 1848 to 1868, 25,0U0 hectares were ravaged, at a lo&s of 5,000,000 francs. 



2 The Taillade is a running fire set in a piece of land that has been wholly cut off, and 

 the valuable woods removed. It much resembles the rude primitive way of clearing 

 forest-lauds in our own country, except that the wood worth taking is removed, leav- 

 ing nothing but brush and rubi)ish on the ground. It was found so dangerous in the 

 districts above mentioned that it had been mostly abandoned by the inhabitants. 



8 The Tssart is a fire set in thin forests of old timber to burn the brush, brambles, and 

 rubbish, which are first drawn away from the trees, arranged in lines, and parity cov- 

 ered with soil. 



■♦ Ecohnage is the practice of burning mosees, herbs, brambles, brush, and rubbish in 

 rude kilns of earth, hero and there in the woods. The object is partly to destroy the 

 insects that harbor in this rubbish. The calcined dirt and ashes are then mixed and 

 scattered over the surface. 



''The motives of this law and reports made officially concerning it are given in the 

 Bevue den Eaux et Eorcts, 1870, pp. 345-374. See also Etiquette sur ies incendieii dea far- 

 Sts dans la region dea Alaures et de VEst6rel. Paris, 1869. Imperial Press. 



