164 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



upon the prairie. It measured sixty 

 inches in circumference. All about it, 

 as though shorn off by an enormous 

 scythe, lay the stricken branches and 

 the mown undergrowth. Just beyond 

 it I noted the hollow crater made by a 

 shell, which, in bursting, had projected 

 a large tree some ten or twelve feet in 

 the air. In falling, it dropped athwart 

 another tree, their branches interlaced. 



In the forest of Lattay, I observed a 

 most curious effect, produced by two 

 shells which had passed through a tree, 

 at the same height from the ground, 

 one to the right and one to the left, so 

 that the tree was practically shorn off. 

 This was due to the fire of a piece which 

 was situated only a few meters behind 

 the tree. During the firing by night, 

 the gunners had been unable to perceive 

 the tree which lay in the trajectory of 

 their fire. If the shells used had been of 

 the percussion type, all of the men 

 serving the piece would have been 

 blown to bits. 



To the East of Amance and near 

 Nancy, the forest of Champenoux has 

 also suffered greatly through bombard- 

 ment. The damages due to fires in 

 these woods have been insignificant 

 because at the beginning of the war, 

 the troops were forbidden to make fires. 

 Those who had not tinned meat, were 

 obliged to eat it uncooked and to go 

 without hot soup or coffee. 



The beautiful forests of 

 Chantilly and Compiegne es- 

 caped destruction by the^/^ 

 enemy, who were not permit- 

 ted to remain there long, on 

 account of the victory of the m 

 Marne. Only about five hundred men 

 were able to penetrate as far as the 

 Chateau of Chantilly, where they re- 

 mained barely one night. At the same 

 time, I am credibly informed that the 

 forest of Compiegne suffered somewhat 

 from our own artillery fire, directed 

 upon the extremity of St. Etienne, 

 where we had reason to believe that the 

 Germans had taken up a position at 

 the Villa des Gaules. 



In our principal forests, the Forestry 

 Department has placed limits to the 

 cuttings which could be made for 

 military purposes. But these limits 

 will be greatly exceeded, and the indis- 



criminate "gashing" which is generally 

 the custom in such work, will render 

 the damage much greater than one 

 thought would be the case, even though 

 the regulations were properly observed. 

 Happily the forest of Compiegne is 

 composed principally of beech, oak and 

 hornbeam, and is thus less likely to 

 destruction by fire than the forest of 

 Fontainebleau, for example. 



In 1870, it is recorded that the forest 

 of Compiegne suffered a loss of three 

 hundred thousand francs through in- 

 discriminate cutting by both the in- 

 habitants of the interior and on the 

 outskirts. Let us hope that the hand 

 laid on by the army in this present 

 war will be a less costly affair. 



I am told that the enemy have cut 

 down huge quantities of trees in the 



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Diagram of the Trench Occupied by the Author 

 and His Comrades, from Pen Sketch by the 

 Author. The Top of the Chimney is just Level 

 with the Ground. 



Argonne, transporting the timber to 

 their own country, as booty of quickly 

 realizable value. This represents a 

 real disaster one which it will require 

 long, long years to repair. 



In the battles in the eastern area, 

 they have employed the stratagem 

 recounted by Shakespeare in Macbeth, 

 the "Birnam Wood" which went to 

 Dunsinane. The soldiers, to render 

 themselves invisible while advancing, 

 have hidden their movements behind 



