FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 273 
dealt with by him are principally meteorology, the growing of 
plants in nurseries, various methods of pruning, the effects of 
different systems of thinning, the rate of growth of various kinds 
of trees living under different conditions, and many other things. 
The school is well equipped in every way. Besides commodious 
buildings to accommodate the Director, the Deputy-director, the 
inspector of studies, the students, the adjutants, and other sub- 
ordinates, there is a spacious amphitheatre, with halls of study; a 
recreation-room and an infirmary are also provided. The museum 
contains very complete collections, illustrating the courses of 
mineralogy, geology, paleontology and botany, with woods, fruits, 
seeds, and carefully-arranged dried specimens of the foliage and 
flowers of trees and other plants, as well as raw forest products, 
There are also stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish, and a 
collection of insects, with sections of wood showing the damage 
done by them to the trees. The school possesses an excellent 
professional library, comprising about 3350 volumes, and a number 
of maps. It has also a chemical laboratory, in which many 
interesting researches are made, either at the instance of the pro- 
fessors, or of forest officers of the ordinary service who may desire 
the investigation of questions which have arisen in the course 
of their work. There is a collection of models of saw-mills, of 
torrent beds treated with weirs, and of sand dunes, etc., as well 
as a fencing-hall and a botanical garden. It is estimated that the 
buildings are worth about £12,000, and that the library and other 
collections are worth £10,000; total, £22,000. 
The students having passed out of the school at the end of their 
course of instruction, are appointed to the Forest Department as 
Gardes généraux (sub-assistant inspectors), and are employed on 
special duty for a time, before being entrusted with the charge of 
a sub-division. 
Both Frenchmen and foreigners can obtain permission to follow 
the courses of the school as ‘‘ free students,” without the payment of 
any fees. Since the foundation of the school in 1824, 1334 
regular students, candidates for the French Forest Service, have 
been received ; and complete or partial training has been afforded 
to 239 free students, of whom 30 were Frenchmen, 73 English- 
men, and the remainder were foreigners of other countries. 
The Englishmen are sent by the Secretary of State for India, 
to be trained for the Indian Service, under a special arrangement 
made with the French Government. Ordinarily the free students 
