GERMAN COMMENT ON FRENCH FORESTRY 



489 



difficulties in determining the yield which have led, in Germany, to the proposing of 

 special formulas have not been prominent in France. The regulation of income and 

 the extent of the cuttings conformable to condition of the system of management being 

 employed are upon the area basis. In the forest region under consideration the greater 

 part (three-quarters) of the forested area was divided into 25 regeneration compartments 

 of 5.75 hectares (14.2 acres) each. A quarter of the entire area was excluded from 

 this classification and constituted a reserve to be included in the utilization only in case 

 of unusual demand. Such exceptional demands always occur, however, some time 

 within the course of the 25-year periods so that the establishment of such a reserve does 

 not involve a permanent change of the rotation period. 



The establishing of such reserves is a peculiarity of the French communal forests, 

 which are under the strict supervision of the State. Even Colbert ordered their forma- 

 tion: "The celebrated ordinance of 1669 commands that a fourth of all woodlands 

 belonging to the clergy, to ecclesiastical corporations, to the public, etc., be constituted 

 a reserve. The rest of the area had to be included in the regular cuttings." The 

 reserves are either permanently located in some definite place, "reserves a assiette fixe, 

 delimitee et tnarquee sur le terrairi"; or they are shifting reserves, "reserves a assiette 

 mobile," "of such a sort that instead of cutting each year the area or volume which 

 expresses the annual yield only three-fourths of this yield is left over for the meeting 

 of unforeseen necessities." 



In the hospital forest at Blois the method of fixed reserves was used; and this seems, 

 also, to be the general practice. Of 8,775.13 hectares (21,684.10 acres) of communal 

 forest which were seen here, the arrangement of permanently located reserves was 

 apphed over 7,550.68 hectares (18,658.40 acres). 



The 25-year rotation practiced in the hospital forest of Blois is somewhat below the 

 average for forests under Government administration. According to the department 

 of agriculture's statistics the figures for the coppice with standards for the entire country 

 are as follows : they are managed under a rotation period of — 



30 years and up 



In Government 



forests 



In communal 



forests 



7,071 hectares = 4.1% 

 24,605 hectares = 2.7% 



81,557 hectares = 49.9% 

 707,803 hectares = 77.5% 



75,521 hectares = 46%, 



181,949 hectares = 19. 



The rotation period for the underwood is, according to this, even longer than is 

 customary in Germany. Its choice is the result of economic considerations. The aim 

 of the management, especially in the communal forests, is directed constantly to the 

 production of better firewood (fagots). 



The most important problem of forest adjustment in the coppice with standards is 

 the regulation of the overwood which constitutes the peculiar characteristic of this 

 system of management. The overwood is classified by age classes determined on 

 the basis of the rotation periods in the underwood. They are distinguished: (1) 

 Baliveaux de I'dge (reserves), which are a rotation period older than the sprouts of the 

 underwood; (2) Modernes (standards of two rotations), which have been twice reserved; 

 and (3) Anciens (veterans), which are in the fourth rotation of the underwood. 



Eventually there is added to these yet a fourth class, la vieille ecorce (old standards). 

 According to this the age of maturity for the overwood under a 25-year rotation period 

 for the underwood would be 100 years; in the case of a 30-year rotation for the under- 



