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FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 



On the 1st of January, 1877, about one-half of the total area of the state forests was burdened 

 with rights of the estimated annual value ^38,40°, while only 3 per cent, of the communal 

 forests were so burdened, the annual value in their case being estimated at ;^6,7oo. The 

 commutation and purchase of rights, which was commenced in a systematic manner in 1857, 

 i3 effected by the officers of the ordinary service, as well as by those who are charged with 

 the framing of the working' plans. As a general rule, the arrangement with the right-holders 

 is made by mutual consent, appeals to the courts being of rare occurrence. The state is in no 

 hurry to spend large sums in the purchase of grazing-rights, which will probably disappear 

 with the progress of agriculture ; a, result which has already been realized in the north of 

 France, where the greater portion of these rights has lapsed through failure to exercise Ihem. 



GRAZING. 



Goats, sheep, and cattle have always been the enemies of forests, and they are indeed the 

 principal agents of their destruction, especially in hot and dry climates, where the vegetation ' 

 is not sufficiently vigorous to resist the effects of over-grazing. 



Animals are admitted to the forests under three different conditions, viz. ; 



(a) In virtue of a right of user. 



(i) As a means of raising revenue and of utilizing the grass. 



(c) By tolerance, as a temporary arrangement. 



Grazing by right. — This has been treated of in the preceding section. 



Grazing as a means of revenue and of utilizing the grass. — Neither goats nor sheep are 

 admitted into the state or communal forests with this object. In the state forests it is some- 

 times the custom to allow cottagers living near the forest 'to graze their cattle in exchange for 

 a number of days' work, but this is not done to any important extent. In these forests, in fact, 

 very little grazing is sold, for the practice can only be permitted in the unwooded portions, 

 which are rarely available for the purpose, because, although they are of considerable extent 

 (about 450 square miles), they are either required as grazing grounds for the cattle of right- 

 holders or they are being planted up, and hence the revenue from this source is insignificant. 

 It was only ;^36o during the last year for which the record is available. But it is odierwise 

 in the case of the communal forests, where local custom often necessitates the maintenance as 

 pasture land of blanks, which could otherwise be most advantageously filled up; and some 

 communes derive almost their entire revenue from this source. The receipts by them amounted 

 in the same year to nearly ;^I 5,000, 



Crazing by tolerance. — It has been said that no right can exist to graze either goats or sheep 

 in the state or communal forests ; and the inhabitants of the communes are specially prohibited 

 by law from admitting their own goats and sheep into their forests ; but the government has the 

 power to sanction the grazing of sheep (not goats) in certain localities under exceptional cir- 

 cumstances. Permission to drive sheep into the state forests is, however, very rarely accorded, 

 except in seasons of extraordinary drought, when the flocks of the neighboring communes are 

 sometimes admitted for a single season. But in the case of the communal forests, such tem- 

 porary sanction is, of necessity, more freely accorded, for the forests belong to the inhabitants, 

 and even though their true interests might be better served by keeping out their sheep entirely, 

 it is not found possible to change their pastoral habits all at once; and, on this account, per- 

 mission has frequently to be granted them to graze their sheep in their forests, either for a single 

 ,year or for periods up to five years. They can, however, graze their own horned cattle, horses, 

 ponies, donkeys, and pigs there without special permission; and they usually do so on payment 

 of a fee into the communal treasury. According to the latest available record the number of 

 animals of all kinds thus admitted in a single year was as follows, viz. -. 



Horned cattle, horses, ponies, and donkeys 359,164 



Pigs -. 48,388 



Sheep (by special sanclion) 936,960 



The animals can, however, only be grazed in places which have been declared out of danger 

 by the forest officers, and their numbers can be limited with reference to the quantity of grass 



