FORESTERS AT THE FIGHTING FRONT 



713 



that which I saw, but even here the productive capacity 

 of the soil for forest growth, to say nothing of agricul- 

 ture, has been almost irreparably impaired. 



While the trenches may be filled up in the valley and 

 the fields restored, their immediate value will be slight. 

 Sub-soil ploughing has its advantages, but no one would 

 consider land over which a gold dredge had operated 

 to be desirable farm property, and much of the valley 

 land resembles western land so treated. 



It will take careful study and experimentations to dis- 

 cover the tree-growing capacity of the hillsides studies 

 not easilv made under shell fire. 



shells into these woods from time to time, "fishing" ior 

 these concealed batteries. The effect is that of a heavy 

 ice storm combined with a moderately high wind- 

 broken branches, shattered tops, occasional trees up- 

 rooted or broken down. 



A more complete study of this light shelling would 

 have been interesting, particularly if an opportunity 

 could have been afforded to compare the effect of shrap- 

 nel and high explosive shells, but wars are not conducted 

 for the benefit of foresters, of foresters with an investi- 

 gating turn of mind. 



A visit to the trenches themselves showed some inter- 



Photograph by International Film Service. 



PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN DURING AN AVIATOR'S DEATH FALL 



This remarkable photograph was found in a camera picked up near the wreck of a flying machine in which an aviator had just fallen to his 

 death, after a shot from a German air raider. It is assumed that the camera had been fixed for exposure and that when the stricken machine 

 dropped the picture was taken automatically. It is believed that the scene pictured is that of an exploding shell, as no other theory explains the 

 cloud of smoke and dust at the left. This mute evidence of the camera bestirs a picture of the thrill of war as experienced by the man who 

 braves the perils of the air in a winged ship. When an airplane is successfully attacked by an enemy plane the aviator knows no escape. With 

 his machine wrecked his plunge to death is inevitable. In this forest scene is given a suggestion of the type of woodland in which American 

 Forest Regiments are at work. The bleakness of the landscape is in keeping with the general appearance of the forests in the war zone, but 

 there is good timber available in the standing trunks. 



The German fire was either directed largely against 

 the French infantry advance or was not especially heavy, 

 judged by barrage standards. 



The writer had the opportunity of visiting some of 

 the French batteries concealed in the woods back of the 

 lines. The timber was a rather dense stand, some thirty 

 years old, I should suppose. The Germans had dropped 



esting uses of wood products. Most of the dugouts re- 

 semble in their construction vegetable cellars and pow- 

 der magazines of our northern lumber camps, being built 

 of small logs and poles banked with earth. The stiff soil 

 of the region holds up well and the trenches require little 

 shoring up. 



When it is' required the French use large numbers of 



