, 1907-11-21

Special to Ihe hepuDllcan.
Washington, Nov. 21.-France has
under way a f~ar-sighted forest policy
which will require two centuries be
fore the work reaches it's greatest eli
fciency. The plan covers the refor'
estation of vast tracts of denuded LAM
and the work is in the hands of 4,OOg
trained foresters in the pay of the
republic and q large number of men
employed by the communal govern
ments.
Consu! Skinner Makes Report.
Consul General r. p. Skinner tells
how this work is being done by a great
nation keenly alive to the necessity nj
doing it, and determined that it shall
be lone well, though years and centu
ries are consumed in the doing. Col
bert, in the reign of Louis XIV, ex
claimed: France will perish for lack
of wood" and his prophecy was com
ing true a century and a half later
when the French people walked to
the peril which threatened them, and
called a halt
Restoring Wooded Area.
Their forests were vanishing as are
those in the United States today, but
the depletion had gone even farther
than it has. yet gone in America. France
commenced protecting and restoring
its wooded areas nearly a century ago
and has stuck to the task ever since
but so much yet remains to do thai
Mr.. Skinner says in his report:
Two Centuries Required.
THE work is SLOW. 1t will require
probably 200 years to bring it up to its
maximum effectiveness. But the time
is foreseen when existing damaged
forests will be reconstructed, and when
all the waste spaces will be replante1
to the point of proper proportion to in
sure the conservation Of the water sup
ply, and to furnish the timber and
wood required by the population. The
effect upon private landowners of this
rublic work has been most salutary.
Where absolutely bald mountains have
been replanted, very surprising local
results are nov visible to all observers.
Artificaily Planted Forests.
This is especially true in the Hautes
Alpes, which had the unenviable repu'
tation of being the poorest department
in France, and is. in fact, one Of the
few from which the United States has
received several thousand French i'm
migrants. There are now many arti-
icially planted forests in this depart,
ment of twenty-five years standing, anu
in the bottomland below, conditions
have SO improved that a state OF gen'
eral prosperity prevails"
Plan of Foresters.
The plan OF the French foresters is
comprehensive. 1t embraces the care
of forest land, planting OF trees, x
ton of dunes near the coasts to pre-
vent the drifting of sand upon agri'
cultural land, correction of mountain
streams, regulation of pasture land,
utilization of water in pastoral and for
est regions, and the surveillance 81
river fishing and fish culture. This
comprehensive service extends to ev
cry part Of the republic.
Area Of American Forests.
The area of the national forests OF
the United States exceeds twenty-fola
the national and communal forests Of
France, but the problems are the same.
France has been longer at the work
and when it began its forests were in
a worse condition than ours are now.
but not worse than our privately own,
ed forests will be if present methods
continue.
Suggestions to Americans.
Consul General Skinner concludes
his report with this suggestion to
those in America who have shown suf'
ficient interest in the matter to write
him on the subject:
IF correspondents could penetrate,
as the writer has done, the almost in
accessible mountain villages of this
country, and there discover the enthus'
iastic French forester at work, apply
ing scientific methods which can not
come to complete fruition before two
or three hundred years, they would re-
tire full of admiration and surprise
and carry the lesson back to the Unit
ed States"