FORESTRY IN FRANCE.

Shannon News, 8 June 1923, Page 3

FORESTRY IN FRANCE.

SERVICE METHODS. TIMBER SUPPLIES BRING INDUSTRIES. Some very interesting details were given to 41 “Chronicle” i-epresentative in regard to Forestry in France, by Mr G. D. Hamilton, of Levin, who spent several years in Hie Forestry Service during the war, this being an essential .activity in regaru to the maintenance of the armies in the field. Mr Hamilton -said he would endeavour to detail the general principles and methods adopted by the French Service in the practice of Forestry. First, however, it must be understood that in France there was severail distinct types of forest, in th© northern portion of the country we can take for example the State forest of Nieppe, lying between the towns of Hazebrouck, Aire, and Merville. This is a mixed forest, or one in which is propagated heavy timber over brushwood. The forest is divided into three partitions called respectively the Bois D’Aval, th© Bois Moyennes, and the Boisi Thiennes. Each of thes© partitions is in. turn, subdivided into 35 “coupes” or cuttings, and is cut each year, the. whole forest being cut over in 35 years. The original coupe is now back to it & 35th year and ready for the next cutting, and so th© rotation goes on. The trees cut, constitute only a small percentage of the millable timber available, the balance: being conserved 1 in accordance with' the forestry practice of the State Forest Service.

The method of selection of timber to be felled is as follows: —A forestry officer marks the large timber with a blaze. At the sarnie-time the standards of the 'brushwood -selected to be left standing for the next rotation of 35 years, are marked by a circle of red paint. The woodsmen then clear out all the brushwood, which is cut, up into pi bp rop's 'and fuel, the smaller wood and branches being bundled into- faggots. In, tlie cutting of th© brush, Ihe stump left must not be jagged, but left with a clean surface shaped like an inverted saucer, so that water will not lodge in samle, and cause rot., as it is from these roots that regeneration comes.. When this has been done, tbe milling timber marked is felled flush with the forest floor, and carted out, fo the road, on wheel's, no other method of removing logs from the forests being permitted by the French Forest Service.

Tt will therefore be seen, that after the years these forests have been worked, there is a. succession of standards in the forest after each cut. of from 35 years up to. probably. ?00 vea.rc. of age, according to the quality of tbe timber.

The. pel option of the t imber to -be cot is carried out bv «i Forestry officer ■yvl it is in this -selection that the Services of an expert are essentially necassyrv. “To, mv previous letter. I mentioned Pint several rommunes in Francp have their own forc'ds. Perhaos I had better state that these forests are more or less under the control of the French Forest. Service, as these Communes relv entire.lv on this service for their “Gardes Forestiers,” who are lent. l>y the State Service, and charges made to the Communes for t'vij- services. I can, see no reason whv similar methods could not be adopted in New Zealand, thereby assuring a definite forest policy throughout the pubiliclv-owned forests. “The principles governing the seleclion of trees would take, vohfmes to describe in detail as it is on. this that the scientific basis of Forestry commences. But I would say in passing. lh,at some of the principal conditions which govern the selection of timber -M, each cot. are (in this particular forest of Nieppe):— (1) Their situation in the canopy of the forest, or whether they are crowding out, more; study and vigorousgrowing standards,-(this lie in g ,ai 'ha rdwood forest and most, species represented being more or less light demanding). (i) The preservation as fa.r as possible. of a, proper representation of age- classes. (3) The maintenance of the rate of growth. (t) The market value of th© product. (5) To preserve as far au possible the working plans set out for the particular forest, and the policy of the Department, of Forestry. “During the- war period this forest wa* cut over very much in advance of the periods named, it being so near the British front line, that engineering materials could be delivered up to the line by motor lorries, etc. But against this advanced cutting was the fact that the forest, was converted from a mixed species, hornbeam predominating (a wood which has now little commercial value, being chiefly used for cogwheels and cotton-spinning bobbins), to a forest of oak and 'ash, the two most valuable woods at Home.

“Unfortunately this work was entirely lost owing to the Germans, in their advance of 1918, getting right, up to tllie edge of the forest, and demolishing the whole of it with shrapnel aiul high explosive, the forest being cut down to the last tree. Incidentally the regeneration of this forest will be one of the most interesting studies in modern practical forestry. “There are some forests, mostly privately owned', which consist of brushwood alone, and these are cut out every ten or twenty years according to the district, and the demands for fuel or other resulting products in the district. The regeneration is from the old stumps left in the ground. “There are alsTi the High Forests consisting of high timber in hardwoods, a, good many of these forests being situated in the Somme and northern part, of France. The one in which I worked, procuring material foj- the Vimy advance ini 1917, was just over the reverse slope of Mont St. ; Eloi, and about a mile from the German front line:.

“These forests require special sylvicultural system’s which, are toe lengthy to detail here. There are again the pine forests of Les Sandes, Jura:, etc., and the coastal sand-dune plaor nations. These latter are mostly handplanted, hut the former very

mixed in variety, grown from seed, hand-planted, regenerated, from seed, eta.

“Then there are the spruce forests of the Vosges. Here is the finest timber in France and the most wonderful forests. These were, up to recent years, purely of spruce, but certain numbers of, beech-trees have now been introduced by hand-planting, these being supposed to eradicate some of the fungoid diseases which were spreading in these forests and occasioning much trouble and alarm to the folrteiSt jservicei. The regeneration is natural, and as this particular spruce will stand a. great deal of shade, you get a, very considerable growth underneath the long standards of matured timber. Clumps of. young trees may be seen growing sturdily from seed, but the disparity of age can easily be noted, this being accounted for by the fact that these trees seed only every several years.

“I have cut timber in this forest 120 feet to the first branch and from 30 to 40 inches diameter at, the bultt, with a very slight taper to the head; in fact I have cut 14ft logs out. of this timber which have had no appreciable difference a,t either end.

“The Forestry principles applied in these forests are much the same as already mentioned, only of course, governed by quit© different methods o-l 10 res try practice owing to the nature of growth, habits, and also to climatic conditions in these mountains.

“A thing that struck me in the spruce forests of the Vosges was the class of soil this timber was growing on. In some places sturdy spruce trees might be seen growing oult of practically, solid, rock. There is no depth of soil, and the floor of the forest is very similar'to the class of country- to be seen in the bush up the Oha.u river. Of course there are table lands and gently sloping valleys which have accumulated sufficient humus from the shed pine-needles, apd the growth in these places is correspondingly marked. “In a conversation I ba'd with a French Forestry Commandant, M. E. de Longueville, regarding the climate in the Vosges and the bearing the forests have on same, he stated that there was. no question; as to their benefiting |he surrounding country, by causing to be produced, beneficial rains more regularly than would otherwise: be the case. But in the Vosges proper it was! always damp except in the heart of summer, whether it rained or not., owing to he wonderful retentive qualities of the soil formed by the pine needles on the mountain slopes and valleys. . “As: to the price at which this timber can he sold after the cost sustained in its growing, I may state that during the war period, the average price paid for timber by the British Government, was somewhere in the vicinity of 40 francs per metre cube, which reduced to English measures approximates 10s per 100 ft. super. This figure represented royalty paid, the British Government having then to do the milling, but. it. must be remembered that these prices represent, the. inflated values of the war period, and I know that prior to the war, baulk timber and scantling sizes in deals were selling in London at Timber Exchanges at lOd per foot cube-. „ “I would sa.y in conclusion that the feature' of forestry in France which appealed - most, forcibly to me. was the numerous industries subsisting on forests, and I say without, hesitation that, where forests are established ami producing timber, the industry of the surrounding eountryyis increased to a. extent.fOf course. France is an old and . ..sett led country, but New Zealand someday will also grow old, and it is obvious that, industry will come to the available supplies of timber. It, will not ■'stablish itself and wait for the tim■u* to grow. Surely herein is a lesson for those local bodies adjacent to waste and unproductive tracts of country.” v ;