906 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Underwood and Underwood — British Official Phoiograph 



WRECK 01" A WOODLAND NEAR LE BARQUE 



Wherever trees were subjected to concentrated artillery fire the result was much the same as indicated by this photograph. Almost invariably 



some remained standing but all are so badly wounded that tliey will die. 



on agricultural land so badly torn by shell fire that it 

 is no longer of agricultural value. Such land may ulti- 

 mately be restored for agricultural purposes after being 

 planted as a forest for nature then may very gradually 

 heal the scars of war. 



At the conference held in the Ministry of Agriculture 

 in Paris were M. Dabat, Directeur General des Eaux et 

 Forets au Ministere de I'Agriculture ; M. Leddet, Con- 

 servateur des Eaux et Forets au Ministere de I'Agri- 

 culture, Chef du bureau des reboisements ; M. Eymeri, 

 Conservateur des Eaux et Forets au Ministere de I'Agri- 

 culture, charge du service des exploitations forestieres 

 de guerre, representing the French Government ; Major 

 Theodore S. Woolsey, Jr., Chief of the Paris office of the 

 forestry section of the American Expeditionary Forces ; 

 Capt. Maurice Fresson, liaison officer, and the writer. 



M. Dabat with many expressions of gratitude accept- 

 ed the offer and later in an official letter of acceptance, 

 said : 



"I am hfghly appreciative of the kind offer which you 

 have made to me on behalf of the American Forestry 

 Association and according to which the latter proposes 

 to place at the disposal of the General Bureau of Waters 

 and Forests considerable quantities of American forest 

 seed to help replenish the French forests devastated by 

 the events of the war. 



"With deep gratitude do I accept the generous collabo- 

 ration of your Society in this vast work which is so neces- 



sary in order tu restore the painful ruins accumulated 

 on our soil as a result of the terrible war in which the 

 American nation contributed so powerfully and so vali- 

 antly toward bringing to a glorious conclusion. 



"I therefore have the honor to request you to express 

 my sincere thanks to the American Forestry Association. 



"The American forest seed capable of being used to 

 advantage in the proposed reforestation are primarily 

 those of the Douglas fir (Pseudolsuga Douglasii) or 

 Oregon pine and of the Weymouth pine (Pinus Strobiis), 

 which have proved successful in our country and can be 

 utilized there to a considerable extent. 



"fiesides them, we should be interested in receiving 

 small quantities of the blue variety of Douglas (Colorado 

 Douglas fir), of Piniis inonticula (Western White pine), 

 of Piiiiis resinosa (Red pine or Norway pine), of Larix 

 occidentalis (Western Tamarack), and of Picea Stichen- 

 sis (Tideland spruce), all being varieties whose use can- 

 not really be rendered general until experiments have 

 been made with them in nurseries or on small areas." 



These facts, together with information about condi- 

 tions in Great Britain, Belgium and Italy have been for- 

 warded to the Board of Directors of the American For- 

 estry Association, and are to be presented to the members 

 of the Association. Later plans for the collection of the 

 seed needed by the Allies will be considered and an- 

 nounced in the magazine. 



