328 PRIVATE FORESTRY IN FRANCE 



the "Waters and Forests Service, stationed at Paris. The domain formed 

 part of the royal forests until 1761, when it was given to the Duke of 

 Choiseul by Louis XV; in 1784 it was purchased by the Duke of Pen- 

 thievre. After suffering confiscation at the French Revolution it be- 

 came the property of Louis XVIII, who gave it to the Duchess of Orleans, 

 who later became Queen Marie Amelie. When Louis Philippe divided his 

 possessions the forest of Amboise fell to Princess Louise, the Queen of 

 Belgium. After the revolution of 1848 some 4,942 acres were con- 

 fiscated and sold so that at the restoration in 1872 but 10,378 acres 

 remained. In 1874 the remnant was ceded to the Princess Clementine 

 and the Duke of Wartenberg; it finally was acquired by the Prince of 

 Bulgaria and the Duke of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha. 



The forest is situated 15 miles east of Tours, between the Cher and the 

 Loire rivers. The historic town of Amboise is directly north and Blere 

 is to the south. The forest contains 10,691 acres and varies from 0.62 

 to 3 miles in width and is 10 miles long. The soil is a deep clay, often 

 sandy in character, quite compact, and yet the roots penetrate quite 

 easily. Usually there is a good humus. The chmate is mild in winter 

 and quite hot in summer; the snow remains only a few days at a time. 

 The annual rainfall varies from 20 to 24 inches. The stand is almost pure 

 oak, half sessile and half pedunculate, with scattering beech, hornbeam, 

 birch, chestnut, acacia, and aspen, with Scotch pine and maritime pine 

 which have been introduced artificially. The regeneration of the oak is 

 very easy because of its aljundant seed crops; its quality is first class. 

 The conifers have not as yet proved especially successful. There are no 

 rights or servitudes, the boundaries are well established, and a fairly 

 complete system of main and secondary roads already exists. The local 

 force in 1912 comprised a ranger ($232), two head guards ($174), and six 

 guards and one road guard ($135 each). The force is lodged and has the 

 privilege of a 2^-acre garden, 2h cords of fuel, and 100 fagot bundles per 

 year. 



Treatment. — The forest is divided into seventeen working groups 

 varying in size from 376 to 791 acres, with the exception of the section, 

 ''Les Bertherelles " which has only 113 acres. Two working groups, 

 903 acres, have not been regularly cut since 1883, but 153 acres (Scotch 

 pine) were burned over in 1893; with the exception of 113 acres under 

 high forest the remainder is under compound coppice. There are no 

 blanks of any size and the whole forest is in good condition. The Waters 

 and Forests Service, which administered the forest from 1851 to 1873, 

 began a conversion to high forest and this accounts for the high forest on 

 113 acres. The present owner has accordingly changed three working 

 groups with 20-year rotations to two working groups with 30-year rota- 

 tions. In addition he has an extra working group for remnants. He 



