26 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



3. Continental Notes— France. 



By A. G. Hobart-Hampden. 



I. The Armistice of the nth November 1918 was signed at 

 a spot in the Forest of Compiegne, near the small station of 

 Rethondes, which is 6 kilometres along the line from Compiegne 

 to Soissons. Two diverging lines of rail had previously been 

 laid as a siding for the purposes of the heavy artillery, and on 

 these stood the carriages of Marshal Foch and of the Germans. 

 The lines have been left as they were, and the points where 

 the carriages stood have been marked with slabs, laid between 

 the metals, and inscribed, respectively, ''Marshal Foch" and 

 " The German Plenipotentiaries." Midway between them is 

 a huge square of granite, 6 metres by 6 metres, nearly flush 

 with the ground, on which are the following words: — 



"Here on the nth November 1918 succumbed the criminal 

 pride of the German Empire, vanquished by the free 

 peoples whom it attempted to enslave." 



These slabs are surrounded by stone bollards and chains, 

 and the whole stands in the middle of a circular clearing 

 100 metres in diameter. The clearing is connected with a 

 neighbouring crossroads (the Carrefour de la Vicioire) by a ride 

 of 30 metres breadth and 170 length. 



In addition, at the end of the ride, facing the clearing, is 

 a monument consisting of a block of granite with a sword 

 piercing an eagle, which was presented by the Matin. One 

 wonders whether this addition is really an improvement. 



II. M. Guinier, Director of the Nancy Forest School, describes 

 the silver fir canker (dorge, chaudron, or chancre), which is very 

 common in the mountain forests of France, being found some- 

 times on as many as 30 per cent, of the stems. This occurs 

 especially in damp, misty places. The canker, which appears 

 on the trunk of a tree as a large swelling, either completely 

 or partially encircles it. It may be closed — that is, the 

 swelling may be covered with bark, much split — or open, 

 showing the wood, and in the latter case rot may get in 

 — generally Polypotus fulvus. Occasionally the stem dries 



