FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 



277 



that if the country were divided into altitude-zones of 200 meters each (65 6 feet), the lowest 

 zone would contain 36 per cent, .of the forests, while the highest would not contain more than 

 .04 per cent, of them; the fifth zone (2,600 to 3,300 feet, would, however, on account of the 

 extensive plateaus existing, at this level, contain more than the fourth. Forests situated at 

 high altitudes do not produce so much wood, and are therefore not so profitable as those grown 

 lower down ; consequently the private owners, who have done their best to preserve their 

 woods in the plains and low hills, have, in the majority of cases, allowed the mountain forests 

 they once possessed to be destroyed by over-grazing. Hence it arises that while at altitudes 

 below 4,000 feet, the proportion of state and communal forests is comparatively small, hardly 

 any private woods are found above the level of 6,000 feet, such forests as exist there being, 

 generally speaking, maintained by the state or communes in the public interest, as a protection 

 against avalanches and the formation of torrents. The private forests are then, taken as a 

 whole, more favorably situated than those which belong to the state and the communes, both 

 as regards soil, climate, means of export, and proximity to the markets. It has been calcula- 

 ted that the distribution of the forest area by zones of altitude is thus proportioned : 



It is said that if the trees could be grouped together, so as to form a series of pure forests, 

 the proportion of the total area which would be occupied by each species would be as follows : 



Per cent. 



Oak {Q. sessilijlora and Q. pedunculata) 29 



Beech 19 



Hornbeam 12 



Silver fir ■■•.. 7 



Scotch pine 4^ 



Evergreen oak i^Q. lle:^) ; 4 



Maritime pine 3 



Spruce 3 



Larch ^ 



Other kinds : ■■ ^6% 



Total 10° 



The small number of species which enters to any important extent-into the composition of 

 the French forests is very remarkalsle. Thus it appears that oak, beech, and hornbeam occupy 

 60 per cent, of the tree-covered area, more than one-half of the remainder being taken up 

 with six other species ; but many other kinds are disseminated throughout the forests in various 

 proportions according to circumstances, As a matter , of course, however, the trees are not 

 grouped together in the above manner, and, neglecting blanks, the crop on the ground is 

 actually constituted somewhat as follows ; Per cent. 



Pure forests— Broad-leaved (oak or beech) '5 



Coniferous (silver fir, pine, spruce, or larch) 13 



28 



Mixed forests— Broad-leaved (oak, beech, and hornbeam) 52 



Broad-leaved and coniferous (beech and sliver fir, or oak and pine) 18 



Coniferous (silver fir and spruce) 2 



' 72 



■ Total 



