780 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



BHB 



SCENE OF CONSIDERABLE FIGHTING. 



IT IS IN SUCH A COUNTRY AS THIS IN WESTERN FRANCE THAT MANY OF THE MOST STUBBORN CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE 



FRENCH AND THE GERMANS ARE REPORTED. 



Unlike the forests nearer Paris, al- 

 ready described, those near Valenciennes 

 contain comparatively little beech. Oak 

 and hornbeam form the chief species, 

 while nearly a fourth of the State forest 

 is composed of Scotch pine. The latter 

 has mostly been planted since the 

 Napoleonic wars on areas which were 

 previously bare heather land. Parts of 

 the forest are managed as coppice under 

 .a rotation of from 14 to 25 years, usually 

 .also with some standards, while in other 

 parts an effort is made to secure nearly 

 all seedlings. The importance which the 

 French attach to the protection afforded 

 the soil by a forest cover is shown by 

 the fact that they actually plant such 

 species as hornbeam, ash, alder, and 

 sycamore, to serve as an undergrowth 

 and to prevent the drying out of the 

 soil which might result from the exces- 

 sive opening up of the main stand. 



To the southeast of Valenciennes and 

 Maubeuge, where the big fortress was 

 captured by the Germans early in the 

 war, lies the region known by the 

 general name of Ardennes. Long ago 



in the days of the Roman occupation 

 this region occupied a vastly greater 

 area than at present, and extended 

 eastward as far as the Rhine. Caesar 

 in his Commentaries described it under 

 the Latin name of "Arduenna silva" 

 as the largest forest in Gaul. With the 

 advance of civilization, however, the 

 forest was gradually cleared away until 

 now the region is restricted to an area 

 some 100 miles long by 40 miles wide 

 divided about equally between France 

 and Belgium. Topographically, the 

 region consists of a series of plateaus, 

 with an elevation of from 900 to 1300 

 feet and much cut up by deep ravines 

 and valleys, in some places with pre- 

 cipitous cliffs 600 feet high. These con- 

 ditions contributed largely to the des- 

 perate character of the recent fighting 

 in this region. The area is now drained 

 by the River Meuse, a tributary of the 

 Rhine. Geologists believe, however, 

 that in prehistoric times the rivers from 

 this area deposited their sediment on 

 what is now the city of London, since 

 the London basin is the only other place 



