COTFESE OF FOREST" OEQANISATION. 



Introduction. 



It is^ the- conservation- and development of the forest wealth of 

 France that forms the object of the'teaching. at th e Eorest School^. 

 Hence before commencing the^study of the course of Forest Organisa- 

 tion properly so called, it is useful to cast a coup doeil over the dis- ^ 

 tribution of the forests of France and the~wan.t5 that are to be- 

 satistied by the produce furnished by th«m. 



Alsace and the portion of Lorraine wrested from us' contain^ 

 1,260,000 acres of our best forests. What still remains, neverthe-^- 

 less, comprises nearly 22,500,000 acres, as follows : — 



Acres, 



State Forests ... — „, .„ „. 2,4l7-,895v 



Forests belonging to commerce and public foundation. 4,650,733. 



Private Forests .., ..^ ... .,. 15,432,472, 



In other words our forests together occupy more than a sixth of 

 the area of France. We^do not here include tiie ground covered by 

 solitary trees scattered here' and' there on land under agriculture or 

 pastttrage, no more than the trees growing in hedgesj along roads: 

 and canals, and in avenues- and parks. 



Nevertheless, the actual production of timber in France already falls 

 far short of present requirements, and the state of matters is growing 

 worse every year. We have to import even now more large timber 

 from abroad than we produce at home, and we pay the foreigner on 

 this account alone a tribute of £ &,000,000, This sum represents the 

 value in our ports of wrotrghtwood, i. e. beams, scantlings, boards, 

 staves, &c., obtainable from 70,634,000 cubic feet of dealwood in the 

 baulk and 17,65S,50O of oak. 



These enormous quantities of imported wood show clearly that 

 our area does not sufEoe for the production of timber. It is true 

 that besides area there are other considerations which combine to 

 produce the same result one way or the other, the chief among 

 these being time and the actual state of the growing timber. But 

 these essential elements cannot be made to work on our side in 

 forests periodically brought under the axe, except with the aid of 

 good Organisation Projects. 



