FORESTERS AT THE FIGHTING FRONT 



713 



that which 1 saw. but even here the productive ca])acit\ 

 of the soil for forest growtli, to say nothing- of a.iirit-ul- 

 ture, has been ahnost irreparablv impaired. 



While the trenches may be tilled up in the valley and 

 the fields restored, their immediate value will be slig-ht. 

 Sub-soil ])loii.<;hins- has its advanta<res. but no one would 



shells into these woods from time to time, "fishing" for 

 these concealed batteries. The effect is that of a heavy 

 ice storm combined with a moderately high wind — 

 broken branches, shattered tops, occasional trees up- 

 rooted or broken down. 



A more com])lete study of this light shelling would 



consider land over which a gold dredge had operated have been interesting, i)articularly if an opportimity 



to be desirable farm jjroperty, and much of the vallev could have been afforded to compare the effect of shrap- 



land resembles western land so treated. nel and high e.x])losive shells, but wars are not conducted 



It will take careful study and experimentations to dis- for the benefit of foresters, of foresters with an investi- 



cover the tree-growing cajiacity of the hillsides — studies gating turn of mind, 



not easily made under shell fire. A visit to the trenches themselves showed some inter- 



Photograf'h by Intt-rtialwnal Film Scrzice. 



PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN DURING AN AVIATOR'S DEATH FALL 



Ttiis remarkable photograph was found in a camera picked up near the wreck of a flying machine in which an aviator had just fallen to his 

 death, after a shot from a German air raider. It is assumed that the camera had been fixed for exposure and that when the stricken machine 

 dropped the picture was taken automatically. It is believed that the svene pictured is that of an explodine shell, as no other theory explains the 

 cloud of smoke and dust ?t the left. This mute evidence of the camera bestirs a picture of the thrill of war as experienced by the man who 

 braves the perils of the air in a winged ship. When an airplane is si:ccessfully attacked by an enemy plane the aviator knov\s no escape. With 

 his machine wrecked his plunge to death is inevitable. In this forest scene is '.jiven a suggestion of the type of woodland in which American 

 Forest Regiments are at work The bleakness of the landscape is in keeping willi the general appearance of the forests in the war zone, but 

 there is good timber available in the standing trunks. 



The German fire was either directed largely against 

 the French infantry advance or was not especially heavy, 

 judged by barrage standards. 



The writer had the opportunity of visiting some of 

 the French batteries concealed in the woods back of the 

 lines. The timber was a rather dense stand, some thirty 

 years old, I should suppose. The Germans had dropped 



esting uses of wood jjroducts. Most of the dugouts re- 

 semble in their construction vegetable cellars and pow- 

 der magazines of our northern lumber camps, being built 

 of small logs and poles banked with earth. The stiff soil 

 of the region holds up well and the trenches require little 

 shoring up. 



When it is required the French use large numbers of 



