314 Forestry Quarterly. 



Only a few miles westward of the Rhone lies the watershed be- 

 tween the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean in the Cevennes. 

 The southern and eastern slopes are very steep indeed and contain 

 engineering difficulties hardly second to those in the Alps. But 

 political and social conditions are vastly more favorable and the 

 same expenditures here have brought results much more satisfactory. 

 Oak and beech are planted in the lower altitudes, spruce, fir, larch 

 and Mugho pine higher up. 



In the Pyrenees control of torrents meets with much the same 

 natural conditions as in the Alps, but the' region has suffered less 

 at the hand of man. Only a few of the streams need remedying 

 and the outlook is more hopeful. Very great pains have been taken 

 to protect certain mountain resorts from boulders falling from the 

 cliffs above, both by forest planting and by masonry. 



Of unusual interest was a swath cut through the forest by an 

 avalanche. Everything went down in the ruin from timberline to 

 the bottom of the narrow gorge, where the debris piled up. But on 

 the opposite ascending slope there was a continuation of the svatli; 

 all the trees were blown down in the direction the avalanche moved, 

 not only up to the crest of the next hill, but for a short way down 

 the farther side. 



The Landes of Gascony lie in southwestern France, forming a 

 triangle between the ocean, the rivers Gironde, Midouze, and Adours. 

 Little more than a centurj?^ ago this was a wilderness that no owner 

 claimed. The State appropriated to itself and improved immense 

 areas by replanting to Maritime Pine, after fixing the dunes with 

 sand-grasses. Entirely as a result of this improvement this region 

 has become a large producer of naval stores. 



Between the Loire and Cher, south of Orleans, lies another sand 

 plain that has been greatly improved by forest planting and drain- 

 age. Here, too, in the Sologne, as it is known, was Maritime Pine 

 planted at first. The winter of 1879 was too severe and killed this 

 species everywhere, and since that time return has been made to 

 broad-leaved species which are native, though some pine has been 

 planted in the hope that such a severe winter may never again occur. 

 The Scotch Pine seems best adapted to conditions in the Sologne, 

 but always with broad-leaved trees in some sort of mixture, or as 

 an underwood. 



Forstliche Reisebilder aus den Aufforstungsgehieten Frank- 

 reichs. Zeitschrift fiir Forst- und Jagdwesen. May, 1906. Pp. 

 314-333. 



