290 FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 



obtained from high-forest, and the lowest from simple coppice, while coppice under standards 

 occupied an intermediate place. It was also found that in the case of high-forest, the area 

 under coniferous trees yielded a much higher revenue than those under broad-leaved species, 

 chiefly on account of the form of their stems, which enables a very large proportion of sawn 

 timber to be obtained from them, but partly also from the greater value of the thinnings taken 

 from them during the early stages of their growth — in the form, for example, of telegraph and 

 hop-poles, &c. The revenue from forests composed of coniferous and broad-leaved trees mixed 

 together lay between these two. But, of course, this is not an universal rule ; for a high-forest 

 of beech might yield a better return than a coppice with oak standards, and a similar com- 

 parison might be made between forests stocked with other trees of different relative values, 

 and managed under various systems. The following figures, showing the results of sales in 

 the Nancy conservatorship, will serve to illustrate what has beetl said^ 



Simple coppice yielded... 



Coppice under standards do... , 



High-forest of broad-leaved species do 



High-fore.st of coniferous and broad-leaved species i do 



High-forest of coniferous species do 



Looking, then, at the larger proportion of the communal forests which is under coppice, 

 and at the relatively_greater proportion of firewood and timber of small size that they. conse- 

 quently produce, the smaller gross revenue per acre that they were able to yield is no longer 

 surprising. Taking the state and the communal forests together, it was found that their gross 

 revenue was 22 per cent, per acre higher than th&t of the private forests notwithstanding that 

 these latter are, as a rule, on better soil, and are frequently grown under other more favorable 

 natural conditions. 



The average all-round rate actually realized in the state forests per load of wood of all sorts, 

 including tanning bark, was 14s. 5d.; while that obtained in the communal forests was only 9s. 

 8d. The corresponding rate for the whole of the French forests, including those belonging to 

 private proprietors, was los. 7d.; so that the rate of the state forests exceeded'the general 

 average by 37 per cent., while that in the communal forests fell to 9 per cent, below it. The 

 revenue obtained by the sale of minor produce was derived principally from shooting leases 

 and permits. 



It is not an easy matter to determine the capital value of a forest, but in 1873 ^n estimate 

 was made, which put that of the state forests at nearly fifty and one-half million pounds ster- 

 ling, which is equivalent to a Uttle over ;^so per acre. The gross revenue derived from them 

 in that year represented a return of 3.15 per cent., but the net profit did not much exceed 2 

 per cent, on the estimated value. The capital value on the communal forests is certainly less 

 per acre than that of the state forests, on account of the younger age at which the trees are, 

 generally speaking, cut ; and, notwithstanding that their revenue is smaller, it is probable that 

 they pay a higher rate of interest than the state forests. 



It has been estimated that the relative rates of interest on their capital value paid by for- 

 ests in which the main crop is removed at various ages, is something like the following, viz.; 



Per cent. Per cent. 



-5 years 4 60 years 2 



3oye.irs 3j^ 100 years i 



40 years 3 200 years U 



These ligures arc intended to give a general idea of the manner in which, notwithstanding 

 the increased value of the produce, the relative rate of interest declines as the age to which 

 the trees are left standing is prolonged. They have no claim to absolute accuracy, even as 

 representing the average of French forests, and still less can they be assumed to apply to the 

 forests of other countries. They serve, however, to explain what has been previously said, 

 viz., that on account of the higher rate of interest which coppice, generally speaking, yields, 

 as well as for other reasons, it is a more suitable system for communes than high-forest ; and 

 this remark applies with equal and even greater force to private forests. 



