FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 21 



The cutting of timber on private property is free and unrestricted to pro- 

 prietors in valleys and on low lands. In high woodlands that cover slopes 

 which, if denuded, might be cut and washed by heavy' rains, the government, 

 through its forestry corps, carefully regulates the cutting of timber. No 

 tree can be lawfully felled on such property without special permission. No 

 bounties are now paid for tree planting. In former years the bounty system 

 was practiced, but it failed to stimulate forest culture to the desired degree 

 and was replaced by the present system, under which the government supplies 

 tree plants and seeds to land owners at pnly the cost of packing and trans- 

 portation, and encourages them by the advice and suggestions of forestry oiiS- 

 cers to retimber their lands. For the same reason there are in this district 

 no private dealers in the seeds and shoots used in forest culture. The Frepch 

 Government is, however, extremely generous and obliging to representatives 

 of other countries who wish to profit by its facilities and experience in this 

 respect. 



In a treatise published in 1882 by Mr. Demontzey, then conservateur of 

 forests in the Bouches du Rhone, the following are given as the cost prices of 

 gathering and cleaning in readiness for planting the seeds of trees which are 

 mostly used in the forest culture of this district : 



Cost per cental of 220 pounds. 



Live oak $2 70 



Cork oak 3 00 



Gall-bearing oak {^c/iMe rouvre) 2 30 



Carob tree 2 31 



Chestnut 2 89 



Beech 3 47 



Elm 4 82 



White ash 7 72 



Linden 9 63 



Seeds of the various species of pine which, to become marketable are re- 

 quired to be picked from the cones, are much more expensive and bear the 

 following prices : 



Per kilogram of 2^ pounds. 



Aleppo pine $0 43 



JMaritime pine 25 



"Pin pinier" 25 



Sylvan pine i 20 



Corsican pine I 27 



Black (laricio) Austrian pine 75 



Hook-leaved pine (/". uncinata) i 12 



Pitch pine (abies excelsa) ._ 31 



Pinus cembra 16 



Fir [abies pecturatd) 17 



Larch [larix Eurofed) S° 



Cedar S^ 



There are no sand dunes of any extent in this district, and they are not, 

 therefore the object of any special effort at reclamation by means of tree plant- 

 ing. 



