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country as is judged necessary ; surveying and the construction of roads ; the 

 German language ; military science ; riding. Second year, working-plans or 

 schemes of forest management ; mineralogy and geology, with special reference 

 to the chemical and physical properties of forest soils ; zoology, especially the 

 branch relating to the insects which attack trees ; agriculture ; buildings, includ- 

 ing houses, saw-mills and bridges ; the treatment of torrent beds, including the 

 construction of masonry and other weirs. The teaching of surveying, law. the 

 German language, military science and riding is continued. During the last 

 month of each theoretical course weekly excursions are made into the forest, but 

 with the exception of this and the riding drill the whole of the instruction is 

 given in the class rooms. 



The practical course which occupies two-and-a-half months of each year, or 

 five months in all, consists of tours made into the forests in the neighborhood of 

 Nancy as well as into those of the Vosges and Jura, and occasionally to other 

 localities for the purpose of studying forestry, natural history and surveying, a 

 part of the time being devoted to military exercises. An area of 7,500 acres of 

 forest situated near Nancy and placed under the director of the school is used as 

 a field of practical instruction as well as for various experiments and researches, 

 to carry out which an assistant-inspector is attached to the staff. The subjects 

 dealt with by him are principally meterology, the growing of plants in nurseries, 

 various methods of pruning, the effects of different systems of thinning, the rate 

 of growth of various kinds of trees living under different conditions and many 

 other thing's. 



O * . 



The school is well equiped in every way. Besides commodious buildings to 

 accomodate the director, the deputy-director, the inspector of studies, the students, 

 the adjutants, and other subordinates, there is a spacious amphitheatre with halls 

 of study ; a recreation room, and an infirmary are also provided. The museum 

 contains very complete collections, illustrating the courses of mineralogy, geology, 

 palaeontology and botany, with woods, fruits, seeds and carefully arranged dried 

 specimens of the foliage and flowers of trees and other plants, as well as raw 

 forest products. There are also stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, and a 

 collection of insects, with sections of wood showing the damage done by them to 

 the trees. The school possesses an excellent professional library, comprising 

 about 3,350 volumes and a number of maps, It has also a chemical laboratory, 

 in which many interesting researches are made either at the instance of the 

 professors or of forest officers of the ordinary service who may desire the inves- 

 tigation of questions which have arisen in the course of their work. There is a 

 collection of models of saw-mills, of torrent beds treated with weirs, and of sand 

 dunes, etc., as well as a fencing hall and a botanical garden. It is estimated that 

 the buildings are worth about 12,000, and that the library and other collections 

 are worth 10,000 ; total 22,000. 



The students having passed out of the school at the end of their course of 

 instruction are appointed to the forest department as Gardes generaux (sub- 

 assistant-inspectors), and are employed on special duty for a time before being 

 instructed with the charge of a sub-division. 



Both Frenchmen and foreigners can obtain permission to follow the course 

 of the school as " free students " without the payment of any fees. Since the 

 foundation of the school in 1824, 1,334 regular students, candidates for the 1'rench 

 forest service, have been received ; and complete or partial training has been 

 afforded to 239 free students of whom 30 were Frenchmen, 73 Englishmen and the 

 remainder were foreigners of other countries. 



The Englishmen are sent by the Secretary of State for India to be trained 

 for the Indian service, under a special arrangement made with the French 



