304 FEATURES OF FRENCH NATIONAL FOREST ADMINISTRATION 



re-marked by the Forest Service in collaboration with the contractor or 

 his representative. Special timber not included in the sale and used for 

 logging was to be charged for at the sale rate of 19 cents per cubic meter 

 (67 cents per thousand feet). No claim can be allowed for ground which 

 proves impracticable to log. Wood used for improvement of the roads or 

 any other logging purpose must be purchased at the regular price. The 

 contractor must within 6 months after the expiration of the sale remove 

 all machinery and furnishings; but houses, workshops, or permanent 

 betterments will become the property of the communes upon whose 

 ground they are situated. No allowances were to be made for windfalls 

 or other damages which may occur during the duration of the sale. 

 Special charges aggregating $6,214.60 were made for improvements and 

 roads used by the contractor and he had to deliver about 18 cords of 

 fuel per year to the local commune. There are certain features of this 

 sale which should be emphasized: 



(1) The stumpage price of 67 cents per thousand is far less than the 

 stumpage for similar timber in the western United States. 



(2) The methods of logging were wasteful; the French policy was that 

 the timber had been sold and the purchaser could use it or waste it as he 

 desired. Marked unmerchantable trees could l)e merely girdled. 



(3) Permanent improvements, after the sale is completed, become the 

 property of the commune. 



(4) No attempt was made to adjust the stumpage price during the sale 

 period of 14 years; the price of 67 cents held during the entire period. 

 The French felt that rise in timber values would mean proportionately 

 higher operating costs. 



(5) The contractor's profit allowed was 20 per cent as contrasted with 

 10 per cent in ordinary sales. 



Stumpage Prices.^" — The stumpage values in France under the 

 intensive management that exists are of interest to the American forester 

 because they give a rough indication of the prices that may be secured 

 in this country after the supply of cheap virgin timber is exhausted. But 



« The prices paid for manufactured lumber by the French Woods Service during 

 1918-19 were approximately as follows: 



" Exchange at 5.45 francs to $1. 

 But to secure offerings at these low prices the product had to be requisitioned for 



