APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 95 



method of " Tire et Aire " is, that it neglected all 

 consideration of the requirements of different species, 

 as well as of their various uses. An entire forest was 

 treated as a single working circle, and the cuttings 

 followed each other on the ground rigidly in suc- 

 cessive order ; so that all trees, without distinction, 

 were felled at the same age, frequently to the detri- 

 ment of the usefulness and quality of the timber 

 produced. Moreover as thinnings were unknown, 

 the yield was relatively small. 



Lastly, no matter how precise were the regulations 

 of the Statute of 1669, the forest officers did not 

 always obey them. According to individual caprice, 

 the reserve was more or less numerous than the 

 quantity prescribed ; and even if no disadvantages 

 followed when the reserve consisted of oak, the same 

 cannot be said when the tree which they reserved 

 had a thick cover. 



I must say I cannot see that the mere existence 

 of these reserves above the underwood was a cause 

 of irregularity. The crop that resulted was not 

 homogeneous, but it was not irregular ; if this were 

 true, coppice with standards would be an irregular 

 forest. Their preservation was even perfectly 

 justifiable ; their object was not to effect natural 

 reproduction, but to produce timber of exceptional 

 size, necessary for certain uses. Their utility is so 

 great that rules are laid down to do as much when 

 making final cuttings in the method of thinnings. 

 Only in this latter case care is taken that these re- 

 serves shall consist exclusively of oak, which may be 

 cut down when they begin to decay, or as soon as 



