TREES AND SHRUBS OF SAVOIE. 1 23 



During the drought of last summer these species became so 

 withered on much of the shallower soil overlying the limestone 

 that I fear they have been killed outright. Walnut and Robtnia, 

 though of course not natives, may be seen coming up from 

 natural regeneration in many of the lower woodlands. Higher 

 still the natural woods are so varied in the number of species 

 they contain, and, in the case of certain forests, such as those 

 of the valleys of the Grande Chartreuse, the timber itself is so 

 superb, as to recall the wonderful and fast-diminishing virgin 

 forests of Arkansas. Of the broad-leaved species I saw in 

 these valleys beech, ash, lime (Tilia platyphyllos), sycamore 

 and wych elm were the finest, while, except for the yew, the 

 only conifers were silver fir and spruce. The last two are felled 

 carefully and peeled before being hauled out of incredibly 

 difficult and inaccessible places. At the roadside they are 

 loaded, six or eight to the timber wagon, generally drawn by 

 a string of five to six mules, and taken down to the nearest 

 railway. Each stem is from 75 feet upwards long, and has 

 less taper than any timber I have seen except in western 

 America. 



The woods are largely owned by the peasants, though there 

 are extensive state and communal forests; in consequence, the 

 peasantry of the better timbered districts are exceedingly well 

 oflF, and are only partly dependent on their tillage. 



Of the rarer trees I saw in the woods of Savoy two maples, 

 neither of which is in common cultivation in this country, were 

 frequent, these being Acer opaliis and A. monspessulamim. The 

 grey alder [Alnus incana) is commoner in the woodlands than 

 our own alder {A. glutinosa), though both are general in the 

 river valleys. The white-beam {Sorbus aria) is thoroughly 

 at home on the limestone of Savoy, but the rowan {S. auacparia) 

 I did not often see. The two limes, Tilia platyphyllos and 

 T. parvifolia, our only British species, Norway maple, field 

 maple, commonly used for vine-posts, and aspen-poplar all 

 occur frequently. Tree-willows of many species, accompanied 

 doubtless by many natural hybrids, flourish by the streams. 

 The most distinct is Salix incana, often wrongly but not 

 unnaturally called S. rosmarinifolia. The dwarf-creeping 

 willows, S. reticulata, S. herbacea, S. repetis and S. rettisa may 

 be found among the rocks above timber-level. Birch of the 

 warty-twigged weeping form [Betula verrucosa) is frequent but 



