288 FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 



retains Lhe power to forbid the sale from the communal forests of any classes of produce, the 

 removal of which would, in his opinion, be detrimental from a cultural point of view. Pay- 

 ment for minor produce is often accepted, especially by the communes, in the form of days' 

 work done in the forest. 



Wood sufplied to the admiralty. — Every year a notice is sent by the forest department to 

 the admiralty, showing the localities in which trees suitable for naval purposes are to be felled ; 

 and the latter department then notifies the number and description of those which it desires to 

 have reserved in each forest. The purchaser of the timber sold from these blocks fells, barks, 

 and conveys the trees marked for the above purpose to an appointed place in the forest, where 

 they are inspected and taken over by the admiralty officials, who cut from them what they want, 

 the rest of the wood being sold by the forest department in the ordinary manner. The forest 

 officer and the marine engineer then agree upon the sum to be paid as the price of the wood 

 removed, and as compensation, to cover losses caused by the depreciation in value of that re- 

 jected, and the account is subsequently adjusted in the financial department. Up to the year 

 1837, the admiralty had the right to select trees everywhere, including the private forests; but 

 the system was not found to answer, and it was abandoned in that year. Even under existing 

 regulations, a very small proportion of the wood used by the admiralty is obtained directly from 

 the forests, the greater part of it being bought in the open market. 



Wood supplied to the war deparment. — The requirements of the war department are met 

 as far as possible from the state forests, the trees being marked and felled by the forest depart- 

 ment, and removed either directly by the military autliorities or by the forest departnfBnt at their 

 'cost. The account is adjusted in the financial department. But the amount of wood so sup- 

 plied is very small, as, except in cases where the state forests lie near the fortifications or gar- 

 rison towns, it is found more convenient and cheaper to purchase what is required in the 

 market. 



ROADS AND BUILDINGS. 



Without roads, which are required in order to render the forests accessible, and to facilitate 

 the exi^ort of produce, this form of the natural riches of a country cannot be utilized; the con- 

 struction of good export roads being one of the most important means that can be adopted for 

 raising the forest revenue. Thus, in Corsica, where before 1 850 the state forests did not pro- 

 duce more than ;^20O n year, the annual revenue derived from them was raised in 1868 to 

 ;^8,ooo, the improvement being due almost entirely to the development of the communications. 

 At the end of 1867 there were 2,440 miles of metalled and 5,380 miles of unmetalled roads 

 in the state forests, and since that year their length has been at least doubled. 



The great importance of accommodating the forest guards in suitable houses within the 

 forests is fully recognized; and out of 3,200 guards, 1,400 are lodged in 1,213 houses, the 

 remainder of them being granted allowances to lodge themselves in neighboring villages. The 

 proportion of roads and buildings in the communal forests is much less than in the state forests, 

 partly because the communes have to pay for their construction and funds are not always avail- 

 able, but partly also because the average size "of these forests being smaller, roads and guards' 

 houses within them are not needed to the same extent. 



At the end of 1867 there were 126 saw-mills in the state forests, all worked by water- 

 power. 



Timber-shdes, sledge-roads, wire-rope tramways, and such-like means of exporting the 

 wood are very little used in France. A great deal of timber is required for their construction 

 and maintenance, and considering the price that wood of all kinds can command, it is found 

 better and cheaper, even in monntainous regions, to make permanent roads suitable for timber- 

 carriages and carts. They are to be found only in a few localities where the conditions are 

 exceptional. 



Portable iron tramways have not yet come into genera! use as a means of exporting timber 

 from the forests, and it is believed that there is only one in use in France at the present time, 

 viz.: that at Baccarat at the base of the Vosges; but the advantages which the employment of 



