46 



THE FOREST RESOURCES OF THE AVORLD. 



The forest area of France is considerably smaller than that of 

 Germany or Austria-Hungary. In 1901 the per capita forest area 

 was 0.61 acre. The total area was distributed among different 

 owners as follows: State forests, 2,889,470 acres, or 12 per cent; 

 communal forests, 5,589,392 acres, or 23.3 per cent; and private 

 forests, 15,542,725 acres, or 64.7 per cent. 



Of state forests, a large part is poorly or not at all forested; the 

 unproductive area is estimated as 662,000 acres, or nearly 23 per cent 

 of the total area, while in the communal forests it amounts to 

 275,000 acres. Most of the state forests afe in the departments of 

 Ariege (203,750 acres), in the Pyrenees, Basses- Alpes (116,328 acres), 

 Vosges (141,180 acres). Cote d'Or (100,743 acres), farther Loiret 

 (96,582 acres), and Corsica (111,890 acres). 



The most of the communal and institution forests are in the east- 

 ern departments of Vosges (296,638 acres), Haute-Saone (287,757 

 acres), Cote d'Or (251,815 acres), Savoie (188,098 acres), Doubs 

 (249,600 acres), Hautes-Alpes (197,948 acres). Jura (215,333 acres,) 

 Meuse (242,115 acres), in the more distant parts of the three depart- 

 ments of the Pyrenees (322,360 acres), and in Corsica (203,405 

 acres). 



The smallest amount of private forest is found in the department 

 of Vosges. 



COMPOSITION. 



Of the total area, 20 per cent is stocked with conifirs and 80 per 

 cent with hard woods (35 per cent of this is the ordinary oak and 

 4 per cent is the stone oak, Quercus ilex). In the state forests, con- 

 ifers occupy 23.4 per cent of the total area (fir 7 per cent, Scotch 

 pine 6.6 per cent, maritime pine 4 per cent, spruce 2.7 per cent, 

 larch 1.8 per cent, other conifers 1.3 per cent); broadleaf forests 

 76.6 per cent (oak 27.4 per cent, beech 18.3 per cent, hornbeam 

 10.9 per cent, evergreen oak, Q. ilex, 4 per cent, other hard woods 

 16 per cent). In private forests conifers form 19 per cent, hard 

 woods 81 per cent. 



According to the system of management practiced, the forests show 

 the following proportions in state, private, and communal forests: 



Distribution of forests hy management. 





State 

 forest. 



Forests 

 under 

 state 



control. 



Private 

 forest. 



Total 

 forest 

 area. 



Coppice . 



Per cent. 



2.5 



29.2 



16.8 



51.5 



Per cent. 



14.7 



53.2 



1.0 



31.1 



Per cent. 

 49.0 

 31.0 



Per cent. 

 38.0 



Composite forest 



35.0 



Conversion forest 



2.0 



High forest 



20.0 



25.0 







ANNUAL CUT. 



The total annual cut in France amounts to 910,740,000 cubic feet, 

 of which 225,920,000 cubic feet are timber, or a total cut of 39.39 

 cubic feet per acre. The cut varies in the different forests, as can be 

 seen from the following figures : 



