INTENSIVE USE OF LIMITED RESOURCES IN FRANCE 15 



hauled by ox teams, in full tree lengths, for distances up to 15 or 20 miles, 

 to these little mills. In the level pineries of the south a light steam trac- 

 tor of the "locomobile" type, operating a band saw 3 or 4 inches wide, is 

 almost imiversal. These Httle mills roam about the Landes, picking up a 

 few hundred cubic meters of timber here and there, sawing it into boards, 

 and then passing on, leaving neat, triangular cribs of Ivmaber to be hauled 

 out by the two- wheeled mule carts of the region whenever it has seasoned 

 sufficiently. 



Ltxmber Manufacture Adapted to Forestry Practice. — In a word, the 

 lumber manufacturing industry has grown up on and adapted itself to 

 a system of forest management which permits but small cuttings at any 

 one place in any one year or series of years. Cases are rare when the well- 

 being and permanence of the forest are sacrificed to the requirements of a 

 manufacturing enterprise — an exact opposite of the situation so com- 

 mon in the United States where the manufacturer owns the timber and 

 has denuded one forest region after another in order to supply his large 

 stationary mills to their maximum capacity. While this relation is 

 largely a result rather than a cause of the economic status of private 

 forestry in France, it indicates the industrial adjustments which will be- 

 come necessary in America as our emphasis shifts from supplying saw- 

 mills to growing timber. 



Private Forestry On Its Own Feet. — Private forestry in France stands 

 largely upon its own merits. It is mainly a free reaction to the economic 

 requirements of the country and an expression of the thrift and habits of 

 its people. Aside from tax exemptions on plantations under 30 years of 

 age and assistance in technical practice, it receives no pubUc subsidies or 

 support. The laws against devastation have restricted the decrease of 

 forest areas in the French mountains — but elsewhere have not had an 

 important effect. It is probable that the greatest public leverage upon the 

 private owner to keep his timberland productive has been the stimulus 

 and example of the pubhcly owned forests, with their wide distribution 

 throughout France and their high standards of technical practice. 



FOREST PROBLEMS OF FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES 



Intensive Use of Limited Resources in France. — The forest problem 

 of France is totally different from that of the United States. Intensive 

 use of a limited land area to support her dense population is forced upon 

 France. Her situation would be paralleled if a third of the people in 

 the United States were crowded into an area somewhat smaller than 

 the State of Texas. At the best, France must import a large volume of 

 wood products. France has had to strike a close balance between her 

 needs for lumber and her needs for farm crops and, notwithstanding the 

 number of mouths to be fed, has had to devote a considerable acreage of 



