448 MISC. PUBLIC ATION 218, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
of local roads in place of the taxe vicinale. Octrois are local consum p- 
tion taxes generally levied on produce which enters towns. This form 
of taxation is being rapidly abandoned, and less than 3 percent of the 
total number of communes employ it. The Paris levy now accounts 
for more than half the octroi collections in France. Miuiscellaneous 
pen fees include market fees, parking fees, sanitation fees, and 
the like. 
THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE FORESTS 
The forests of France are one of the most important resources of 
that country. They occupy nearly one-fifth of the total land area, 
or an area of a little more than 10 million hectares (25 million acres). 
The National Government owns 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million 
acres), the communes and public institutions (établissments publics) 
own 2.4 million hectares (5.9 million acres), and private owners 6.4 
million hectares (15.8 million acres). A large part of the communal 
and institutional forests are managed under Government super- 
vision. The private forests are held mostly in small tracts; 1% 
million owners possess each less than 10 hectares (25 acres) of forest. 
About 700,000 workmen out of a total population of about 41 million 
are normally employed in forest and sawmill operations (244, pp. 368, 
478; 240, p. 852). 
The economic importance of forestry has long been recognized by 
the French Government. The Forest Ordinance of 1669, which was 
prepared by Colbert in the reign of Louis XIV, was by far the most 
progressive measure of its time and antedated by more than a century 
any far-reaching attempts in other countries to control the public and 
private forests. It formed the basis of the Code forestier which is 
still operative. The ordinance was never put into full effect, and in 
the eighteenth century and during and after the Revolution very 
considerable deforestation occurred, until in 1850 the forest area 
reached a minimum of 8.8 million hectares, or 16.5 percent of the 
area of France. After 1850 the area of woodlands was increased by 
afforestation, and by 1908 it reached about its present extent. Since 
the war there have been heavy fellings, as private owners have been 
anxious to realize capital from their woodlands, but there has been 
very little decrease in forest area. 
French forestry is notable for the contributions it has made to the 
development of forests for protective purposes. Not only has an 
area of over 700,00C hectares of sand dunes and similar land been 
planted in the Landes, but large extents of mountain slopes have been 
afforested in order to prevent erosion. 
TAXES THAT AFFECT FOREST PROPERTY 
LAND TAXES 
The tax levied by the National Government on unimproved prop- 
erty (la contribution fonciére des propriétés non baties) is a tax on the 
income from land. As already explained, it 1s levied not on the actual 
income, but on an estimate of the annual income which land of the 
particular quality and location should be capable of yielding. These 
estimates are made very infrequently, so that improvement or 
deterioration may not be reflected in the tax status for many years. 
This lag naturally favors the improvement of agricultural and forest 
land. 
