CONTINENTAL NOTES — FRANCE. I 5 



M. Jolyet evidently regrets the disabilities of the spruce, and 

 dreams of the formation of a new "race " of the species adapted 

 to lower altitudes and rainfalls. 



After all it is pure spruce woods that blow down so badly, and 

 when spruce stems have grown up isolated from the start they 

 adapt themselves to a considerable extent, and often resist storms 

 fairly well. To some degree this fairly firm footing will, I am 

 inclined to think, apply to individual spruce stems in a deciduous 

 wood, and if care is taken not to isolate them in the fellings they 

 will have the support of the surrounding wood. 



So on the whole spruce should, generally, be quite a good 

 species for filling small blanks, and in fact I use it for that 

 myself — so far without mishap. Where the soil is very thin, 

 and especially over limestone, Laricio should be substituted. 

 For quite small blanks, when there is plenty of soil, silver fir 

 (which M. Jolyet does not mention) seems indicated. Another 

 tree I should think suitable (and am trying) for fair-sized blanks 

 and in good soil is Vancouver Douglas. 



II. — Observations made near Reims, at 7^ kilometres from the 

 front, in coppice woods containing introduced Scots pine, appear 

 to show that the effect of the enemy's gas has been ;/// in the 

 case of the deciduous species, but that the Scots pines have 

 suffered badly. The principal gas attack was in October 191 5, 

 and in the following May the pines were showing signs of 

 recovery. It is not clear whether there have been any gas 

 attacks in this neighbourhood during the spring, but that would 

 probably be a much more harmful time for the forest growth. 

 Nearer the front the observations were, naturally, not so carefully 

 made, but the deciduous species and the Austrian pines seem 

 to have been uninjured, while the Scots pines were all yellow. 



III. — The Morvan is a mountainous part of F"rance, lying 

 between the Seine and the Loire, and as roads did not exist 

 in old times the streams formed the lines of export for the 

 forest produce. These streams doubtless were not of a capacity 

 to convey large timber, and so it came about that the material 

 exported took the form of fuel, which went straight to Paris. 

 Thus the treatment adopted was one suitable for producing fuel. 

 It might have been ordinary coppice, but was in fact a sort of 

 Selection in coppice forest, called " Furetage." Furetage simply 

 consists in cutting those stems on a coppice-stool which have 

 reached a certain size, returning for this purpose at intervals of 



