FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 309 



fires at certain seasons, while they are compelled to cut fire-lines round all woods which are 

 not completely cleared of inflammable shrubs. The manner in which the laws relating to the 

 consolidation of mountain slopes and the planting of the dunes affect private owners has also 

 been briefly explained in a previous chapter. 



Wliat has already been said regarding the systems of culture generally adopted for the 

 state and communal forests respectively will lead to the correct conclusion that those belong- 

 ing lo private owners are, as a rule, treated as simple coppice, or coppice under standards, 

 private high-forest being usually composed of coniferous trees, and situated in mountainous 

 regions. But many of the forests that have been planted in the plains of the Landes, 

 Salogne and Champagne are stocked with coniferous species, which are frequently more 

 suited to the local conditions, under which they yield a better revenue than could be derived 

 from other kinds of trees. Notwithstanding that tlie private forests are, as a rule, more 

 favorably situated than those owned by the state or by communes, the gross revenue per 

 acre derived from them is considerably less ; because the trees, being cut down at a young 

 age, yield a large proportion of timber of a small size and firewood. On the other hand their 

 capital value is less, and when they are properly managed they should give a- higher rate of 

 interest. 



But, unfortunately, although there are exceptions to the general rule, and some of the 

 private forests are maintained in an excellent condition, it cannot be said that, generally speak- 

 ing, they are so ; for while coppice, and particularly simple coppice, is exhausting to the soil, 

 from the young age at which the crop is cut and removed, and, in consequence of the com- 

 parative frequency with which the ground is denuded, tends to its physical deterioration, work- 

 ing plans are rarely prepared, and there is consequently no guarantee that the cuttings are 

 confined within proper limits. The fellings are, in fact, too frequently regulated according to 

 the financial requirements of the owner, rather than by the considerations which ought to 

 govern such operations ; and hence it follows that the condition of the private forests is 

 not always such as could be desired. This is found to be the case in all countries; but it is 

 probably especially so in France, where the laws relating to the division of the land on the 

 death of its owner, and the custom of the country tend constantly to diminish the number of 

 large properties, and to leave in the hands of each proprietor an area of woodland too small 

 to admit of its management on a regular system. 



The produce derived from the private forests is, however, large in amount, and of very 

 great value. Exact figures are not obtainable ; but it is probable that the 26,657 square miles 

 yield annually over twelve million loads (of 50 cubic feet) of wood, with about two hundred 

 and seventy thousand tons of tanning bark, 2,250 tons of cork bark, and 30,000 tons of resin — 

 worth, altogether, more than ;f 6,000,000 ; while the isolated trees and vines yield another 

 three and a half million loads of wood, valued at ;^i, 000,000. The number of foresters and 

 guards employed in these forests is, however, comparatively speaking, very hmited ; this being 

 due, in a great measure, to the small size of the individual properties, which are consequently, 

 in a very large number of cases, managed directly by their owners. There are no private 

 institutions for the training of foresters and woodmen ; and although the state forest schools 

 are open to receive "free students," very little advantage is taken of this privilege. The 

 Nancy school has only trained thirty such students since it was established in 1824, and the 

 secondary and primary schools have only received one student between them. Neither the 

 owners, nor their managers or guards, have then, as a rule, had any professional education, 

 notwithstanding that the means of obtaining it is open to them ; and it is not to be wondered 

 at if grave mistakes in the management of their forests are of frequent occurrence. In some 

 places they have the means of getting a certain amount of advice from the state forest officials, 

 who are occasionally permitted to render assistance in this manner ; but they frequently attempt 

 to imitate what is being done in the state forests, without knowing the reasons for what they 

 see • and they are thus led to commit serious mistakes, as, for example, when, in treating a 

 forest which is to be permanently maintained as coppice under standards, they follow the pro- 



