KEBOISEMENT IN FRANCE. 337 



tance from the beginning of their course to their end, and driving the 

 inhabitants from a region they can no longer inhabit.^ 



These injuries have been going on for many years, but more of late, 

 as the causes have increased. The subject had from time to time at- 

 tracted the attention of observers,^ but it was not till 1860 that the 

 French Government took action in the matter, a measure to which it 

 was led by the reports made upon the causes and effects of inundations 

 that had devasted certain regions of the country a few years before, 

 and especially in May, 1856. In this mouth violent and protracted rains 

 fell throughout France, and most river-basins were inundated to unpre- 

 cedented extent. In the valley of the Loire and its tributaries, about a 

 million of acres, including many towns and villages, were flooded, and 

 the loss was almost beyond calculation. In the valley of the Rhone the 

 injury from an invading army could scarcely have been more disastrous. 

 Public attention was everywhere awakened, and these discussions, and 

 the inquiries which they stimulated, finally led to the passage of the 

 Code du Beboiscment des Montagues on the 28th of July, 1860.^ 



Before stating the ideas embraced in this Code, it may be well to 

 mention some of the theories proposed by writers of various degree, 

 from engineers of great experience and high culture, down to those who, 

 without knowledge, presume to offer their views that scarcely rest upon 

 the shifting sands of public opinion.* Longitudinal dikes, transverse 



1 lu tbe French departmeut of the Haute-Alps the mountain valleys had diniiuishod 

 11,000 in population iu twenty years. The measui'es of reboisemeut attempted by the 

 government met with violent opposition from the peasantry, and they were allowed 

 to substitute gazownement, or sowing of grass. The result has been excellent, as the 

 covered soil will absorb and hold the rains in some soils with good effect. This re- 

 gion is now slowly recovering from its injuries, the streams are becoming clear and 

 more gentle, and the bridges are not liable to be swept away as formerly. — {Nature, 

 December 9, 1872.) 



^Among the more important of these was the work by M. Surell, published in 1841, 

 entitled -Etude sur lea Torrents des Hautes-Alpes. The autlaor had beeu engaged iu engi- 

 neering operations, and began these studies for i)ublication in the Annates des Fonts et 

 Chauss€es, but was eucouraged to prosecute his researches, and finally contributed this 

 m-ist valuable memoir to our knowledge of the subject. In 1870 a new edition ap- 

 peared — with a supplementary volume in 1872 by M. Cezanne. 



Many other authorities are cited in the recent work by John Croumbie Brown, LL.D., 

 entitled Reboiscment in France, or records of replanting of the Alps, the Cerennes,and the 

 ryrenees iciih trees, herbage, and brush, ivith a view of arresting and preventing the destructive 

 consequences and ejfccts of torrents. (London, 18711, pp. 351.) This work is a most valu- 

 able source of information upon the subject, and the references that he gives, lead to 

 a very lull study of all questions involved. 



3 The address to the Emperor, by M. Magne, Minister of Finances, dated Paris, Feb- 

 ruary 2, 18G0, sets forth in detail the motives prompting legi.slation upon this subject, 

 and names the sunl of ten millions of fiancs as necessary for subventions and works of 

 replanting. 



It appears from a pamphlet published by A. Marchand, in 1849 (M^moire sur Je Re- 

 boisemeut des Montagues, adresse a la Direction de VLntdrieur du Canton de Berne), that the 

 attention of the French Government had beeu called to this subject, and measures tend- 

 ing to arrest the damages then painfully apparent had beeu taken. Drying-hons&s for 

 seeds had been established, and extensive purchases of seed bad b en made, amounting 

 iu one case to 27,948 pounds of the seed of the Finns sylvestris. During the last four 

 years 4,451 hectares had been replanted in the Conservation of Strasbourg, and 8,331 

 hectares in the Vosges. 



The argaments used by this writer are singularly clear and forcible, and his illnstra- 

 tions of the necessity of reboisemeut, especially in Switzerland, are impressive and 

 convincing. Yet he appears to have failed to secure attention to the imjiortance of the 

 subject at that time, and not until a quarter of a century a'terward, was legislation 

 secured tending to effectual remedy of the evils which were then as apparent as at the 

 present day. 



* "Assuredly," says Montaigne, " it is wonderfully strange how unstable, divei-se, and 



wavering are human opinious, and how unwilling we are to agree upon a constant and 



uniform idea." This expression of the philosopher of Bordeaux applies to all humanity, 



and was not less forcibly shown iu the discussions that led to the Code of Keboisemeut 



22 F 



