FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 3 I I 



of the Aleppo pine, which occupies a great portion of the ground, and does not do much to- 

 ward the improvement of the soil ; the digging up of the roots of shrubs to obtain bark and 

 firewood ; and finally the clearing of the trees from land which is totally unsuited to cultiva- 

 tion. This last-named cause of the disappearance of the forests has led also to the result that 

 in many places the grass has followed the trees, and the loss of pasture land has in consequence 

 been most serious. It is said that since the year 1870 the department of Oran has suffered the 

 loss of one-half of its pastoral resources, while the want of a sufficient supply of wood is also 

 much felt. Forest fires work terrible destruction in this hot and dry climate, burning up the 

 vegetable debris, which would otherwise protect the ground, injuring the larger trees, and 

 destroying the young growth; but lately measures have been undertaken to lessen this evil. 

 It is said that during the twelve years from 1861 to 1873, nearly 1,000 square miles of forest 

 in the Tell were burnt, the damage done having been enormous. Fires are not of such fre- 

 quent occurrence in the forests overlooking the plateau, where the chief causes of injury con- 

 sist in overcutting the young trees, and in overgrazing, both of which practices date from time 

 immemorial. 



Generally speaking, it may be said that the existing forests clothe the higher portions of 

 the two chains of hills, the ground below and between them being occupied by cultivation in 

 the Tell, by pastures on the plateau, and by sand toward the desert. On the high portion of 

 the Tell, the forests contain most of the trees which are indigenous in Province, including the 

 cork oak, which is the principal tree over a very large area, chiefly in Constantine, and is of 

 great value ; and the evergreen oak (guercus ilex), which yields excellent tanning bark, and 

 is very common at altitudes above 3,000 feet, chiefly in Oran ; while the Aleppo pine covers 

 vast area in all three departments. Among other trees which are also found in Provence may 

 be mentioned the maritime pine, the ash, the elm, the poplar, and the wild olive. The Zeen oak , 

 (g. lusitanica), which is not found in France, occupies a large extent of country, the most 

 important forest of this species being that of Beni Sala, in Constantine. The Thuya (callitris 

 quadrivalvis), a coniferous tree, of which the wood is extremely valuable for cabinet-making 

 is also found. In localities where the forests have been destroyed, a more or less dense growth 

 of evergreen shrubs of various families, nearly all of them characterized by thick, coriaceous 

 leaves, has sprung up, and a palm [chamarops humilis) covers a large extent of waste land. 



On the hills sloping down to the plateau from the north and south, the most important trees 

 are the Z^en oak and the cedar, the largest forests of the latter being those on the Aures, and 

 at Belesma in Constantine, with that of Teniel-el-Had, in Algiers. The cedar {cedrus atlan- 

 tica) forests are usually found at altitudes above S,ooo feet, but they cannot at present be worked 

 for want of roads. The Aleppo pine, the edible oak [qiiercus ballota), the elm, ash, and other 

 trees are also found in this region. The growth of trees upon the plateau itself is extremely 

 poor, being confined almost entirely to a species of zizyphus and apisiacia; but immense areas 

 are covered with alpa grass {stipa tenacissima), which is largely used for the manufacture of 

 textiles and paper. 



The following is a statement of the forest areas which now remain in Algeria: 



Square miles. 

 Managed by the forest department — 



State forests 7,604 



Communal lorests 3°o 



7,9°4 



Not managed by the forest department — 



Communal and private forest.s 1,211 



Total 9'"5 



This amounts to a little more than S>^ per cent, only of the total area of the country. The 

 state forests, as well as those belonging to communes and private proprietors, are much cut up 

 by patches of cultivated land; while about one-half of the area managed by the department is 

 covered'with scrub, and is not worthy of the name of forest. The demarcation of the state 

 forests is making good progress, and in the department of Algiers it will probably be completed 



