TREATMENT OF SCENIC FORESTS 91 



and the uncut strip, which was thinned, was about 65 feet wide. In 

 the same locaUty in the forest of Ban de Puy-Saint Pierre the selection 

 system was used because it did not interrupt the local grazing. The 

 local inspector stated that if there had been no provisions in the working 

 plan (by BroilUard, December 31, 1855), he would have used the shelter- 

 wood method on the lower gentle slopes and a conservative selection 

 system higher up where the slopes were steep. According to page 13 

 of the original working plan the secondary fellings are not necessary, 

 "The regeneration felUngs fall into a seed felhng and a final felhng." 



The trees reserved after the seed felling should be at least twenty 

 per acre. Grazing should be forbidden in each division when it comes 

 to be regenerated, and the extraction of underbrush should be made 

 at the time of seed felhng. When the natural reseeding is less than 

 half completed, say 7 years after the seed felling, the ground still un- 

 stocked should be cultivated in horizontal strips 20 inches wide, spaced 

 3.3 feet. Moreover, any openings still remaining at the final felhng 

 should be planted. The final cutting will take place when the reseeding 

 is completed, and the seed fellings shall not be started again until after 

 the ground is fully stocked. The rotation is 200 years. 



Treatment of Scenic Forests. — Forests retained as semi-parks for 

 recreation are always high forests and are usually free from working- 

 plan regulation so far as the specific amount to be cut is concerned. A 

 selection system is usually appHed but in reality it is a light improvement 

 cutting, removing only the dead and dying trees. The young stands 

 are often thinned. For example, in the working plan for the forest 

 of St. Antoine in the Vosges (for the years 1908-1939), special provi- 

 sion is made for the scenic working group designed to protect a gorge 

 with waterfalls and precipitous slopes. In the selection system used 

 the fine, big trees are favored and are retained as long as possible for 

 their natural beauty. According to the working plan : 



"The aim of this scenic working group is to form and to keep a stand of beautiful 

 trees without striving for regularity and without a necessity for economic exploitation. 

 Each year after having marked the windfall and dead trees and having subtracted their 

 volume, the remainder of the yield should be cut from the entire compartment . . ' . 

 by selection . . . see to it not only that the stand is not opened up, but also that 

 it is maintained sufficiently dense. In the young stands remove only the trees wholly 

 dominated and the stems too dense which will certainly become valueless. In the high 

 forest . . . remove only the overmature or wholly defective trees . . . the 

 greatest prudence will always be the maxim. The selection feUings will be extended 

 over a large area in order to cover the working group one and one-half times during the 

 cutting period." 



In all forests under working plans famous trees are always reserved 

 from cutting. 



