CONTINENTAL NOTES — FRANCE. 47 



considerable altitudes in that country, so they possibly might do 

 here. 



VI. I find in a French magazine what seems a useful note 

 concerning the culture of exotics in Hesse, and extract the 

 information given about the Sitka spruce. This species is said 

 to be "but little affected by herbaceous vegetation or frosts, 

 much employed at all altitudes for filling up blanks in woods, 

 to associate well with broad-leaved species; at 530 metres (1738 

 feet), on compact soil, it exceeds in height, towards the twentieth 

 year, the green Douglas and the spruce. Four stems of 26 

 years, on good sandstone soil, reached 12 metres (nearly 

 40 feet) in height, and 16 centimetres (6-3 inches) in diameter." 



VII. The late Professor Fliche has left a book on the botany 

 of the chalk lands of Champagne. This country contains 

 practically no indigenous forest f^ora, nor was its bareness due to 

 disforestation ; it was bare for ages before planting was under- 

 taken. There are now some artificial forests, chiefly of conifers 

 planted far apart. The Scots pine, introduced in 1808, has 

 definitely proved unsuitable ; the Corsican suffers from cold ; 

 but the Austrian, introduced in 1845, is much better. At 

 the same time, though M. Fliche appears to have thought 

 rather well of the Austrian, he has a remark, in connection 

 with the chemical condition of the soil, which seems to 

 point the other way. He says that certain species that one 

 is accustomed to consider as indifferent to the nature of the soil 

 end by suffering and become anaemic, such as Robinia, the 

 aspen, the oak {sic) and the Austrian pine. If, however, the 

 last has done well since 1845 I think one may accept it as 

 suitable, given at least a fair amount of top soil ; and if beech 

 were associated with it its success should be thoroughly assured. 

 The matter is important, in view of the fact that England 

 contains a great area of chalk downs that one may hope to see, 

 some day, at least partially afforested. M. Fliche considers at 

 length the reason for the bareness of these chalk lands of 

 Champagne. He first dismisses the climate as being the hostile 

 agent, and next the chemical condition of the soil, for he says 

 that there are numerous facts which show that there is nothing 

 incompatible between the existence of forest (omitting certain 

 species definitely " calcifuge ") and a strong proportion of lime 

 in the soil. The physical condition is the fault — not through 

 dryness, for although the surface dries up badly, a little way 



