6 CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY 



assessor inexpensively determines with sufficient accuracy what 

 the annual production will amount to. It is parallel to the Amer- 

 ican forester in New England, who takes, as his criterion in cop- 

 pice, a yield of a cord per acre per year and then deducts accord- 

 ing to the quahty of the soil, when estimating the annual growth. 

 Another difference between the methods in France and Algeria 

 is in the sale of cork. In France practically all timber is sold 

 on the stump after it has been marked and the lumbering is 

 entirely at the risk and cost of the purchaser, subject to stringent 

 cutting regulations. In Algerian cork-oak forests the lumbering 

 is done by the government and the cork is not placed on sale 

 until it has been collected at local depots. There is much the 

 same forestation policy that is found in Tunisia. It is believed 

 that the prevention of the destruction of forests is far better 

 than the cure — reforestation. Winter sowing or planting after 

 the rains have commenced is almost universal. The sowing is 

 usually in carefully prepared seed spots in preference to planting, 

 unless the conditions are so unfavorable that the success of 

 sowing would be problematical. They favor local rather than 

 central nurseries which require the expensive and deleterious 

 shipment of planting stock. When difficult planting must be 

 attempted, ball plants are frequently used, notwithstanding the 

 increased initial cost. Contrary to expectations, planting in 

 brush-covered areas was very unsuccessful if part of the growing 

 brush was left standing as a protection against the sun and wind. 

 Success was only secured after practically brushing out the whole 

 area to be planted since, otherwise, intense radiation, extreme 

 heat, lack of air currents, and increased damage from rodents 

 prevented the growth of more than a small percentage of the 

 stock. According to Boutilly, who has charge of the forestation 

 around Algiers, the only method of reducing rodent damage was 

 to thoroughly brush out and clear the land to be sown instead of 

 being content simply to brush out seed spots or strips. With 

 complete clearing " the rodents have no clumps to hide in and 

 almost all leave the area, and the damage is reduced accordingly. 

 Moreover, I have noticed that the young cork-oak plants which 

 are quite tender during youth, . . . especially at the end 



