254 THE RESKBVED FOUEfHS. 



mise for the Commune resources which could be utilised in extra- 

 ordinary emergencies ; and, as an actual fact, the greater portion qI 

 these Eeseryed Fourths is subjected to the same Regime as the con- 

 tiguous Working Circle composed of the ordinary coupes. 



Under the authority of sections 16 and 90 of the Forest Code, 

 the exploitation of, the Reserved Fourths is classed under the head 

 of extraordinary cuttings, which, we know, cannot under any circum- 

 stance be made without the special order of the Chi«f of the 'State- 

 Thus, however important and extensive the Reserved Fourths may 

 be, thair exploitation cannot be regulated in advance, that is to say, 

 it cannot be rendered amenable to any Organisation Project. 



The Royal Edict, under the authority of which the Forest Code 

 was promulgated, clearly defines the object of the Reserved Fourths 

 by fixing the term of their exploitability. On this subject Section 

 140 of that Edict runs textually thus : — 



" Save in the case of death, permission to fell among the Re- 

 served Fourths shall not he granted except under well-proved neces- 

 sity and in the absence of other means of pi oviding against it." 



The preceding rule discovers great wisdom and foresight, found- 

 ed on a perfect acquaintance wiih the circumstances^ and needs of 

 our Communes. The procedure to follow in applying this Section 

 is obvious. An application for an extraordinary felling having been 

 made by the proprietary Commune, only two fundamental questions 

 require to be answered, the first by the Forest Department, " Are 

 the trees, permission to cut which is solicited, in a dying state ? 

 The other by the Civil Authorities, '' Has the necessity for such a 

 cutting been well proven, and is there no other way of meetinc^ 

 this necessity ?" 



The disadvantages arising from such a state of affairs are 

 numerous ; but they sink Into insignificance before the advantacres 

 offered by the reservation of a fourth of the total area of the com- 

 munal woods, which henceforth forms a constant provision against 

 distress, a necessary guarantee for the conservation of the whole of 

 such forests. 



