Victor Boutilly

Career Work in forestry management After returning to France from Réunion, Boutilly served as an Inspecteur adjoint at-large from 1894 to 1897. After, he worked in Vivario, Corsica until 1899. During this time, Boutilly completed two reports for the Crédit Foncier Colonial, a development bank in Réunion for which he worked as the head of the Forestry and Secondary Crops Department. The first, a study on the tea industry in Ceylon, was well received and published as two articles in the Revue des Cultures Coloniales in 1897. In 1898, the study was awarded a silver medal at the annual meeting of the Société d'Agriculture de France, and was published as a book with additional illustrations and a section evaluating the possibility of tea production on Réunion.

Boutilly's report on tea was followed by Le caféier de Libéria: sa culture et sa manipulation, which was published in 1900. His efforts received national recognition when he was named an Officer d'Académie in 1901 As chief forest inspector, he drew up the implementation decrees for the Forestry Law, In 1906, Boutilly authored a summary report on the Algerian Forestry Service that was published in the Revue des Eaux et Forêts. His work with the Forestry Service was recognized by advancing his Mérite Agricole to the rank of officer in 1907, naming him an Officer de l'Instruction Publique in 1910, and awarding the Légion d'Honneur, chevalier in 1911.

Continuing forestry work in Algiers In 1919, Boutilly was promoted to the rank of Conservateur and assumed the roles of Conservator of Water and Forests and Director of the Forestry Department of Algeria. He was next promoted to the senior rank of Inspecteur Général in 1925, keeping his role as Director. In April 1931, he was appointed Director First Class of the General Government of Algeria. His service to forestry was recognized by his promotion to an Officer of the Légion d'Honneur in 1925 and Commander of the Mérite Agricole in 1927. He was also a member of the Ligue of Reboisement and a proponent of local beekeepers, taking a personal interest in the installation of bee hives in tourism areas within the national forests of Algeria.

Boutilly died following a long illness on March 22, 1934. He is buried in the Algiers European Cemetery on Boulevard Bru.