66 ALGERIA 



are cut 4 to 5 centimetres (1.6 to 2 inches) above the ground 

 and then hammered and bruised with the axe, to make them 

 sucker freely. 



WORKING PLANS 



There has been little real need as yet for working plans; 

 mainly for two reasons. First, because the demand for wood 

 was much less than the supply; and second, because the 

 main crop cork was really a fruit crop which had to be col- 

 lected when ripe, and could be readily gauged each year by 

 cropping areas of an equal producing capacity. By the mere 

 working of an area statistics were collected as to yield. Within 

 the past few years, however, an attempt at systematic regula- 

 tion had been made for a few cork-oak forests, and for the aleppo- 

 pine forests which are being tapped. A typical working plan 

 for each type of forest is accordingly reviewed, in order to give 

 an exact idea of how the problem of systematic management 

 has been solved. 



A Working Plan for Cork Oak. 28 The Algerian working 

 plan for cork oak follows, with some variations, the standard 

 outline used in France. It is summarized as follows: 



Part I (i) Area with portion wooded, openings, and blanks 

 (7,963.67 hectares); (2) Situation; (3) Topography and geology; 

 (4) Climate; (5) Boundaries; (6) Alienations; (7) Rights; 



(8) Kind and condition of stands (cork oak with some zeen oak, 

 especial reference to reproduction and the growth of cork); 



(9) Roads; (10) Fire lines and protection (the lines are classi- 

 fied as to whether boundary, 5 to 25 metre (5.5 to 27 yards) 

 lines, or interior, 25 to 30 metre (27 to 33 yards) lines; (n) 

 Forest houses; (12) Trespass; (13) Fires and lookout posts 

 (during the years 1881 to 1911 there were 18 conflagrations, 

 of which 2 were accidental, 13 were incendiary, and the causes 

 of 3 were unknown) ; (14) Value and price of cork (at the depots 

 it has averaged 23 francs ($4.43) per quintal (220 pounds) with 

 labor at 1.55 francs ($0.30) per day). 



Part II (i) The actual treatment (accorded the cork oak); 

 28 For the forest of Ouled-el-nadj, dated December 10, 1912. 



