58 ALGERIA 



nets is better each year. From these facts the prediction is 

 freely made that a revenue two or three times greater than at 

 present will accrue to the Forest Service before many years. 



On the 250,000 odd hectares ^^ (617,750 acres) of cork oak 

 the state has about four-fifths in full production (494,200 acres), 

 and an average ^ield of 75 kilos (165 pounds) per hectare 

 (2.5 acres) is low, considering the capacity of the forest. In 

 1903 the revenue from cork was about 2.5 million francs 

 ($482,500). Wood, tannin, charcoal, chiefly from zeen oak, holm 

 oak, and cedar returned about 625,00 francs ($120,625) in 1903, 

 about five times the amount sold in 1890 ($24,125). The 

 minor products of the forests, such as hunting, grass, pasturage, 

 etc., are yielding about 120,000 francs ($23,160) annually.-^ 



Taking into consideration the fuel, timber, and grazing given 

 away each year this means a production of about 2 francs ($0,386) 

 per hectare (2.5 acres), and it is hoped that this average will 

 reach 6 or 7 francs ($1.16 or $1.35) per hectare within 10 to 20 

 years. These are totals; the cork-oak areas now produce at 

 least 10 francs ($1.93) per hectare (2.5 acres) per year and 

 showed an increase of double the former figures within 10 or 

 15 years. The cost of forest administration in Algeria was 1.74 

 francs ($0.34) per hectare (2.5 acres) per year in 1903 and 

 approximately the same rate of expenditure is still maintained. 



FOREST MANAGEMENT 



Objects of Forest Management. — Granting as a basic 

 principle that the forests of Algeria should be preserved, it 

 naturally follows that the management must be conservative 

 especially in the case of those forests which show danger of 

 disappearing. The cork-oak forests hardly come under this 

 category, because of the more favorable climatic conditions. 

 In these forests a purely financial gain is sought and the ad- 



" Commission d'Etudes Forestieres, p. 14. 



2" The development of minor industries is encouraged; the grubbing of heather 

 roots (bruyere) for pipes has become quite an industry and a company pays about 

 I franc ($0,193) per hectare (2.5 acres) per year for large area concessions from 

 which heather roots can be grubbed. 



