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Canadian Forestry Journal, February, 1919 



fever and other diseases played havoc with the 

 scattered population. A scanty liveHhood was 

 made by raising sheep on the sand plains, but 

 due to the lack of food this was a difficulty. 

 Cattle and horses could not be raised at all. 



The first attempt to colonize the country was 

 in 1610 when Henry IV welcomes 45,000 Moors, 

 expelled from Spain, and induced them to settle 

 in the country, but since they could not make a 

 living they departed to Northern Africa soon 

 after. 



The first real sowing was done in 1801, fol- 

 lowing a well formulated plan. This sowing 

 took place with a grand ceremony at the mouth 

 of the Gironde River, and soon after at several 

 points along the coast further south. This plant- 

 ing was under the direction of the Department 

 of Gironde, but in 1808 a commission was 

 formed in the Department of Landes and the two 

 Departments co-operated throughout. The plant- 

 ing of the dunes was finished about 1860, 

 102,000 hectares having cost about 10,000,000 

 francs, or about 100 francs per hectare. 



Napoleon's Purchase. 



As an example to proprietors to plant up their 

 waste lands Napoleon III bought up in 1860 a 

 block of 7,400 hectares at 80 francs per hectare, 

 which was higher considerably than the prevail- 

 ing price at that time. In six years this was 

 drained, 7,000 hectares were sown with pine 

 seed, 400 hectares were placed under cultivation 

 to raise food for the labourers, the necessary 

 buildings constructed to house them and two 

 nurseries for young trees started. This work 

 included 218 kilometres of ditches, 95 kilometres 

 of roads, and 89 kilometres of wind breaks and 

 shelter belts. The sowing of the pine alone 



cost 21 francs per hectare. The total expense 

 including the cost of the land was 1,745,000 fr. 

 or 235 fr. per hectare. Immediately after being 

 finished, the property, without counting the 

 buildings, was valued at 3,529,000 francs. 

 Since the finishing of the reclaiming of the 



sand lands in 1870 the regeneration of new 

 forests has all been by natural means, except in 

 odd cases on an old pasture or mill site or land 

 under cultivation, in which cases pine seed was 

 sown or young trees planted. The only precau- 

 tions taken to insure natural regeneration are 

 that about ten years before the final cutting the 

 gathering of cones is prohibited, and after 

 cutting the brush is cut to give the young trees 

 a start, and pasturing on the area is prohibited. 



Method of Planting. 



The usual method employed in planting in the 

 Landes was to sow the pine seed broadcast 

 mixed with either genet seed or that of gourse, 

 after the brush had been burned which would 

 smother the young seedlings. 



To secure the pine seed the cones are gath- 

 ered from October to March, placed in heaps 

 and covered with brush. In June, July and 

 August, when the sun is warmest, they are 

 placed in the sand standing on end, so the seed 

 do not drop out. 



Occasionally when it was desired to plant 

 seedlings, an open space fairly moist would be 

 selected in the timber and pine seeds sown there 

 broadcast, so as to form a dense stand of seed- 

 lings. One hectare sown in this manner would 

 furnish sufficient seedlings for from ten to 

 fifteen hectares. 



o 



WHERE DO THE SEEDS COME FROM? 



Readers of the Forestry Journal will be much 

 interested in the investigations of Mr. J. V. 

 Hofman, Forest Examiner in charge of the Wind 

 River Experimental Station, Idaho, into the 

 origin of the seed from which certain types of 

 forests rehabilitate themselves on many burned 

 and cut over areas. Mr. Hofman is referring, of 

 course, to a district in which Douglas fir, western 

 white pine, noble fir, western red cedar and 

 western hemlock predominate. 



Says Mr. Hofman, in his first words of intro- 

 duction : 



"On many burns and cut-over areas in the 

 Douglas fir and western white-pine region of 

 northwestern Idaho, Washington, and Oregon 



there are found dense and irregular stands of 

 young growth, the origin of which can not be 

 traced in any way to the seed trees left after 

 cutting or burning. The effort to find the true 

 source of seed of these stands began with a 

 study to determine the efficiency of seed trees in 

 restocking the ground and the distance to which 

 seed is disseminated." 



The investigator goes on to present the 

 results of his experiments and then says: 



"The foregoing facts first cast a doubt upon 

 the long-accepted theory of the restocking of 

 large forest burns by the process of wind migra- 

 tion and finally proved it untenable. As the 

 study progressed and this fact grew steadily 



