GERMAN COMMENT ON FRENCH FORESTRY 473 



however, not to be recommended. It can be justified only by circumstances which lie 

 within the realm of practical management and which in a discussion of general technical 

 and economic principles can be left out of consideration. 



Under the favorable conditions of site in the forests which we are discussing artificial 

 regeneration of oak stands is not even considered. Cultural operations are undertaken 

 only to a very limited extent. Under the favorable conditions of site and stand found 

 in central France the oak behaves just as the beech does in the best German localities 

 where its reproduction likewise occurs to a sufficient degree without artificial aid. 

 Wounding the ground is necessary where it has become hardened as is especially hable 

 on the edges of reproduction (areas). Replanting, likewise, is only occasionally neces- 

 sary. It will, however, be necessary in small patches, especially where loggers' huts 

 and skid yards have been located. For that purpose 2-year-old nursery-grown seed- 

 lings are used. When the weak stems show poor growth they are fastened to sticks. 

 Under certain conditions — • but as far as we saw, not very frequently — the beech 

 also is used for the artificial completion of the stand. It is planted as 2-year seedlings. 

 Such plantings are the rule when cuttings of old oaks are made in pole stands such 

 as is especially necessary in stands which are in process of conversion from a former 

 coppice with standards or selection stand. Such cuttings can be very profitable finan- 

 cially. In one oak pole forest which we were shown there were cut out thirty-nine old 

 oaks with 675 cubic feet which gave a money return of .$2,641. The marking of such 

 a cutting is faciUtated by the general custom of a preliminary marking of the trees to 

 be felled. Everywhere in France there are differences of opinion as to the value of 

 the oak or beech of the same age. That this mixture has both advantages and dis- 

 advantages is a matter of common knowledge. This idea is definitely substantiated 

 by the French forests. Oaks are seen which continue to grow faster in height but 

 which, because of the influence exerted upon them by the beech, are retarded in the 

 lateral development of their crowns, and exhibit a much weaker growth than would 

 be the case otherwise. On the other hand the condition of mixed stands leaves no 

 room for doubt that the beech, in moderate mixture exercises a very favorable in- 

 fluence upon the condition of the stand as a whole. The boles grow very clear of knots 

 and the ground is rich in humus and free of weeds. Under the conditions described, 

 therefore, where the oak is readily kept in the lead the plan of even-aged mixed stands 

 is highly to be recommended. The German forest officers who formed part of our 

 party were of the opinion that in France, where the conditions for the oak are very 

 favorable, the system deserves more extensive application. 



Of other planting in general, the completing of oak stands upon poor soil with 

 planted or seeded pine is effected in a manner similar to that"" practiced on many 

 German operations. Following the development of the two species the pine either 

 persists, reduced to the role of an auxiliary species and is removed early, or it changes 

 over into the dominant portion of the forest. 



The most important question of what kind of a comparison can be made between 

 the French method of managing oak and the corresponding practice customary in 

 Germany reduces itself to a question of, in how far, relatively, natural reproduction, 

 which is there used with such excellent results, can find application under German 

 conditions. In France natural reproduction is usually regarded as universal. The 

 handbook of the Paris E.xposition begins with the words: "In France forest silvics 

 . . . has as a fundamental principle that the forest ought to reproduce itself indefi- 

 nitely through its natural resources." Artificial estabhshing of stands is undertaken 

 only in exceptional cases, notably when the object of the management is the reforesta- 

 tion of mountains, the afforesting of waste lands, to increase the timber for the agri- 

 culturist, the afforestation of clearings, the introduction of species which do not occur 



