74 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



demanded ; and, 3. The doubt whether such torrents would not wash 

 away the plantations as fast as they could be made. 



The first two difficulties demanded great patience and kindness 

 in making clear to the peasants the necessities and advantages of 

 reforesting, and in convincing them that the work would be done so 

 honestly and cheaply that they might reasonably expect to be able to 

 repay the cost of the work and get back their land, which would soon 

 begin to yield some income, and in the course of twenty years would, 

 as a rule, be more profitable than pasture-land. A sort of science 

 primer, " Les £tudes de Maitre Pierre sur I'Agriculture et les Forets," 

 was prepared and circulated among them with excellent results. It 

 consists of eight dialogues between a government teacher and a peas- 

 ant, Maitre Pierre, in which the latter is converted from a stvibborn 

 opposition to the reboisement law (which he said would ruin him 

 because, in obedience to it, his landlord was about to withdraw a 

 certain pasture from his raoutons) to a quite intelligent advocacy 

 of it. The main reasons for and methods of forest propagation, con- 

 servation, cutting, thinning, etc., are gradually instilled into the peas- 

 ant's not very bright mind. The book is a fine model of Socratic 

 teaching. 



The velvet glove was always kept upon the iron hand in carrying 

 out the law. As far as possible the co-operation of those whose land 

 was taken was secured ; and none was taken except after full oppor- 

 tunity for every one to learn just what the government meant to do 

 and to present objections. Local magistrates and land-owners must 

 be united with the state officials upon the boards which decided where 

 to run the lines which included lands to be reforested. 



The third difficulty — doubt as to the possibility of success — was 

 overcome by the prudently bold policy of attacking some of the worst 

 torrents first. Of course, victory over these insured success with less 

 violent ones. 



The conflicts with physical obstacles may be classified as prepara- 

 tory and final. The first thing was to exclude sheep and goats from 

 the pastures above the forest zone. The next was to divide the whole 

 area by horizontal walls into two or more zones, and in the lateral ra- 

 vines to build as many dams as the case might require, so as to check 

 the downward flow of water and compel deposit of earth above the 

 . walls and dams. In the deeper ravines Avhole trees were thrown with 

 tops down-hill, fascines, etc., being packed among the limbs. Then, 

 with explosives, the sides of the ravines were thrown down upon these 

 trees so as to afford a deep and somewhat level soil that could be planted 

 at once. Horizontal mule-paths about a metre wide were made where, 

 later on, roads for working the forest would be needed. These paths, in 

 passing ravines, ran upon the dams, etc., and by them laborer and ma- 

 terial could reach the points where they were needed in the prelimi- 

 nary works. Besides these paths there were made, at distances twelve 



