CONTINENTAL NOTES FRANCE. 35 



the cones in the autumn the seed should not be extracted from 

 them till just before it is required. This, too, Rafn, of Copen- 

 hagen, found. He even found that of two consignments of 

 cedar seed, the one clean but the other mixed with dirt, the 

 latter germinated the better. To extract the seeds from the 

 cones we should soak the cones in water (presumably cold) for 

 forty-eight hours, and then spread them in the open for half a 

 day (probably with us for a day, and in the sun), after which the 

 seeds will fall out easily. In collecting the cones it must be 

 recollected that they remain in their natural state for two years 

 on the tree, so that cones of two different years will be on the 

 tree at the same time. Those of one year may even become 

 brown, so that only cones the scales of which are beginning to 

 open should be taken. 



With us probably Deodar would be the most suitable cedar 

 to use, for its natural home — between five and nine thousand 

 feet in the Himalayas — has a climate not unlike our own, though 

 no doubt with a stronger sun. That its wood is durable here I 

 know, because the other day I pulled up a small piece of Deodar 

 (originally from the High Meadow Woods) which I had stuck 

 into the ground in 1909, and found that it had only begun to 

 deteriorate a little just below ground, but was unaffected above. 



VIII. The Revue, quoting Nature, says that M. Robert Stumper 

 watched a nest of ants (the large Formica rufd) for several 

 seasons. He found they had four main roads, which divided up 

 and extended till they covered nearly ten acres. The ants 

 captured forty-eight insects (hymenoptera, lepidoptera, small 

 coleoptera, caterpillars, etc.) in a minute, and he deduced 

 that they destroyed some 50,000 a day and five million in a 

 season. That would, perhaps, be an exaggeration, since one 

 imagines that the sport must fall off as the game becomes scarce. 

 Still it is pretty good, and must surely have a considerable 

 influence in forest economy. 



IX. We obtain the following information from the Revue des 

 Eaux et Forets. The forests of the Bukovina cover 4500 square 

 miles, 45 per cent, of the total area of the country. They 

 consist of silver fir (45 per cent.), spruce (25 per cent.), beech 

 {25 per cent.), and various (5 per cent.). But the State only 

 owns a minute part (-3 per cent.). The biggest owner is the 



