THE FORESTS OF THE BASSES PYRENEES. 105 



Of THE Kinds of Trees. 



Coming to the kinds of trees of which these forests are com- 

 posed, we find that oak constitutes more than 50 per cent, of the 

 whole, followed by the beech, which is accountable for 33 per 

 cent., chiefly on the mountain ranges. A very small percentage 

 is thus left for other varieties, the most important of which is 

 the spruce. The trees which we associate generally with the 

 south of France, namely, the cork oak and the olive, are con- 

 spicuous by their absence; while the maritime pine, although it 

 grows in isolated patches on the sea-coast, keeps to the dunes 

 farther north. It may be remarked concerning the last-named 

 tree, that it seems to have a very limited area where it grows to 

 perfection. A most reliable authority, Mr D. Cannon, formerly 

 of Mysore and now of Salbris, tells us that the pines of Sologne 

 are cut down at the age of about twenty-five years, at the very 

 period of their growth that, in the Landes, they begin to yield 

 their valuable resin, a product which, if permitted, they will 

 continue to furnish for a full century. Under Government 

 working, however, the pine forests have a revolution of seventy- 

 five years only, when the coupe de regeneration is made. It is 

 impossible to pass by without regret the susceptibility of tlus 

 most valuable tree to the rigours of winter, and its consequent 

 unsuitability, speaking generally, for planting on our own 

 seaboard. 



The oak (Quercus pedunculata) of the Basses Pyrenees deserves 

 more than a passing notice, as well from its preponderating quantity 

 as from the excellence of its timber. Like our own oak, it was 

 formerly in great demand for shipbuilding, the oak of the Adour, 

 so called from the river of that name, being well known and much 

 sought after in naval dockyards. The very qualities, howeveri 

 which gained for it this reputation, militate against its more 

 general use for less important purposes, on account of the hard 

 labour involved in its conversion. The price obtained for it is 

 considerably less than that readily commanded by the Dantzic 

 oak, which is imported to Bayonne. In the rich soil of the 

 valleys it grows rapidly, so that it is not unusual to see trees of 

 sixty years of age possessing a girth of 3 metres, or about 3 feet 

 10 inches. A great proportion, however, of the oak in the plains 

 is pollarded every eight or ten years, the loppings being used for 

 agricultural purposes. The products of the oak are, moreover, of 



