904 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Underwood and Underwood 



FOREST VALUABLE FOR OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS 



Three artillery pieces and one French artillery officer are to be seen in this heavily wooded section of the Argonne Forest, but so well camou- 

 flaged are the pieces that they are not visible at a short distance unless the observer knows just where to look for them. In woods such as these 

 it IS easy to conceal thousands of troops so well that the enemy airmen cannot discover them. One hundred and fifty-five pieces of artillery were 

 concentrated at this place. 



the East the fir and the spruce constitute the greater part 

 of the woods in the mountainous part of the Department 

 of the Vosges ; and, in the chalky plains of the Cham- 

 pagne (Department of the Aube and of La Marne), the 

 Austrian black pine is very common. 



The principal forests belonging to the Government 

 which are not in the regions in question are : 



Mormal, 22,649,186 acres; Nieppe, 5,728 acres ;. St. 

 Amand, 8,191 acres; St. Michel, 7,568 acres; Chateau- 

 Regnault, 13,397 acres; Signy, 7,860 acres; Sedan, 9,496 

 acres; Moyeuvre, 5,189 acres; Compiegne, 22,239 acres; 

 Laigue, 9,439 acres; St. Gobain, 7,904 acres; Retz, 14,826 

 acres ; Coucy-Basse, 5,322 acres ; Laclialade, 5,436 acres ; 

 Spincourt, 5,189 acres; Lisle, 6,671 acres; Sommedieu, 

 4,942 acres; Les Elieux, 5,189 acres; Parroy, 6,424 

 acres; Bois-Sauvages, 5,310; Valde Senones, 10,331 

 acres; Rambervillers, 13,679 acres. 



The forests belonging to Communes or to private in- 

 dividuals are: 



Mazarin, 7,029 acres; Sauton, 5,169 acres; Boux, 

 17,222 acres; La Fague, 10,827 acres; Nouvion, 9,234 

 acres; Ban Lemonie, 11,633 acres; Valtin, 3,867 acres. 



It is very difficult to estimate at present, with any ac- 

 curacy, the area over which the forests in these regions 

 have been devastated, the methodical and detailed ex- 

 amination of these ravages being still under way by 

 the forestry department of the French Government, con- 



sequently it is impossible to determine with precision the 

 area on which the work of reforestation is to take place. 



Moreover, independently of the wooded tracts which 

 were more or less completely destroyed and which are 

 to be totally or partially reforested, it is proper to take 

 into consideration the agricultural lands which, having 

 experienced a tremendous upheaval from artillery fire, 

 mines, or works of defense will no longer be utilizablc 

 except through reforestation. 



At all events it does not seem to be exaggerating to 

 estimate at 741,300 acres the total of the lands on which 

 work of reforestation will have to be undertaken, 494,- 

 200 acres of forest lands and 247,600 acres of agricul- 

 tural lands having been ruined. 



They will be reforested, as the case may be, either by 

 planting or seeding. The nature of the land and its 

 condition on the surface, the nature of the forest trees 

 to be employed, and on the other hand the labor resources 

 will involve the choice of one or the other of these 

 methods. 



It may be estimated that the area planted will be 444,- 

 7S0 acres and the area seeded 276,520 acres, which will 

 necessitate, altogether, the use of 720,000,000 saplings 

 and 1,851,864 pounds of seed of different varieties, or 

 72 million saplings and 185,186 pounds of seed per year, 

 assuming a period of ten years as necessary for the execu- 

 tion of the work. 



