3IO FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 



cedure adopted in a neighboring state forest which is undergoing conversion into high-forest. 

 In many cases, of course, tlie private woods are too distant from the state or communal forests 

 to permit of their owners obtaining any advice or assistance from the officials of the forest 

 department, and they are then thrown entirely on their own resources. 



CHAPTER VII, 



THE ALGERIAN FORESTS. 



The colony of Algeria, which was conquered in 1828, is 162,000 square miles in extent, 

 that is to say, it is about four-fifths of the size of France. It is bounded on the north by the 

 Mediterranean Sea, on the east by Tunis, on the west by Morocco, and it extends southward 

 into the Sahara down to the 30th degree of latitude. It is divided into three departments, 

 viz., Oran on the west, Algiers in the center, and Constantine on the east. The population 

 averages only about 21 per square mile, as compared with 181 in France. 



The two chains of the Atlas Mountains, which attain a maximum height of about 7,500 

 feet, run, roughly speaking, parallel to the coast, but join toward the eastern limit of the terri- 

 tory, enclosing between them the region, about 54,000 square miles in extent, known as the 

 " high plateau," the mean elevation of which ranges from about 2,300 to 3,300 feet. This 

 tableland is rendered remarkable by the presence of numerous lakes, called chottes, most of 

 them salt, formed by the torrents which descend from the ridges on both sides, and are in 

 flood during the rainy season. The range of hills which bounds the plateaw to the north, falls 

 away in broken spurs, which are separated by numerous valleys, to the sea, forming the fertile 

 and hilly cultivated Tell, about 70,000 square miles in extent, which is the only part of Algeria 

 where colonies have been established. Here the vine is largely cultivated, and excellent crops 

 of cereals are raised. The southern slopes of the inner range descend into the Sahara, form- 

 ing a region of about 38,000 square miles in extent, under the sands of which tlie water 

 courses formed in the hills disappear. The desert is marked by dunes similar to those of 

 Gascony, but is interspersed with oases which follow tlie course of the underground streams. 



The climate near the coast is much the same as that of Provence, but somewhat hotter. 

 As, however, the ground rises toward the crest of the first range, the temperature becomes 

 cooler, and near the summit the air is moist, while at some seasons clouds lie on the hills and 

 snow falls. The north and northwest winds bring rain, chiefly in the autumn and winter, the 

 annual rainfall in the Tell being about 16 inches. The plateau receives less rain, and the 

 distribution of it is very unfavorable, while in the desert beyond, the fall does not amount to 

 more than 4 inches a year. The plateau is subject to very sudden changes of temperature, 

 the south winds being burning hot, while those from the north are fresh and even cold ; there 

 are are sometimes night frosts, even in summer, the daily range of temperature being occa- 

 sionally as much as 70° Fahrenheit. 



The forests were formerly much more extensive than they are at present. Abuse of all 

 kinds, following on the first advance of civihzation, has led to the destruction of the greater 

 part of them, those which remain being found on the upper slopes of the mountain chains, 

 chiefly on the inner ranges, where the absence of roads and other means of export has hitherto 

 rendered tliem almost inaccessible to wood merchants ; while their distance from the culti- 

 vated part of the country has protected them from some, at any rate, of the evils that have 

 overtaken the forests in other localities. Some of the principal causes that have brought about 

 the disappearance of a large portion of the Algerian forests, are the following, viz., repeated 

 fires, the ground being deprived of its natural covering of vegetable mould, and the ashes 

 resulting from the burning being washed off the soil by the rain ; the grazing of goats, sheep, and 

 camels; the native practice of felling young poles, instead of using the saw to cut up larger 

 trees, the wood being not only used to supply local requirements, but being con\erted into 

 charcoal, which, together with the bark, is exported in very large quantities ; the light cover 



