16 iNTEoDxrcTror.. 



this forest is in the hands of private owners, and yields at' thfs dfay 

 only small wood. On the contrary the' steep- slopes which surrounff 

 the lakes of the GF^rardraer Valley, are' clothed with 15;000 acres of 

 rich silver fir forests belonging tothe State ; aud these bare rocks,- 

 that would have been utterly barren if denuded, produce every year' 

 from 883,000' to 1,060,000' cubic feet of tim^ber.^) 



Buro-undy and' the neighbouring provinces of Fl-anche-Cbmte and' 

 Nivernais, form together a rugged' region, the principal and centra! 

 portion of which is the valley of the Seine. In the lowlying parts of 

 this valley, the chief cultivated crop; as in the level country of the 

 Garonne, is Indian Corn. The valley also produces fine oak. la- 

 the east of this region, the range of the Jura bears silver fir forests, 

 ■which are the most celebrated we possess^ if not for their extent, afc 

 least for the size and excellence of their timber. In the west the- 

 table land of the Cote-d'Or and the Morvan range of mountains are- 

 covered with copses throughout more than' half their area. The- 

 reo-ioa is thus well wooded, as it ought to be near the source of 

 laro-e rivers. But the 3,50O;000' acres of its forests, representing one- 

 fourth of its entire area, are- distribtrted between- the State, Com- 

 munes and private owners, the rE^spective shares being' the largest 

 f(>r the last class of proprietors, and the least for the States the exact 

 reverse of what the topography and general interests req-uire. Thus, 

 although the oroductive capaibilities of the soil- are admirable, yet Ifc 

 is the exception to find these forests in a satisfactory state; 



The Alps and Provence, enriched by arborescent cultivation' and 

 impoverished by migratory flocks of goats, comprise the six depart- 

 ments lying to the east of the Rhone. It contains the highest 

 mountains to be found in France;,, grouped together to* form a huge 

 range. Originally, in the course of nature, forest growth clothed 

 the mountain sides up to the limit of woody vegetation, viz., fromi 

 about 6,600 to &.200 feet. Owing to absence of lines of export, the- 

 forests possessed no market value. They were destroyed. Scat- 

 tered trees more than five centuries old, dead stools,^almost] inde- 

 structible in the climate of the Alps, these are^standing witnesses of 

 the fact in many a denuded canton. The destruction of the forests 



(1) Alsace-Lorraine, one-third of whoa& extent is wooded, contains 375,000 acres o£ 

 State and 500,000 acres of communal forests, being 23 per cent, of the total area. 

 It has besides 250,000 acres of private woods. These forests occupy all the moun- 

 tain country and are well distributed in the level portions of the double province. 

 They supplied the wants of a population numbering 260 souls per scLuare mile, and 

 exported besides excellent timber to Paris. This portion of France was thus at one 

 aud the same time one of the best wooded aud most thickly peopled. 



