EEBOISEMENT IN FRANCE. 345 



For stocking the nurseries, it has appeared right to employ as much 

 as possible seed grown in the locality, or in the immediate neighborhood. 

 It has been thought good to employ shelter of every kind — branches, 

 stretched out cloth, straw quilted between canvas or cord, fern, and 

 screens of arbor- vitce. Some were of opinion that the plants should be 

 watered, but with caution; and it was thought that, although in certain 

 localities indispensable, there was in most cases the inconvenience of 

 accustoming the plants to a moisture that would not always be main- 

 tained, and of thus making them more sensitive to the action of heat. 



Other operations, such as weeding and hoeing, were considered by 

 every one as indispensable. All were also unanimously of opinion that 

 the nursery should be inclosed, and that nurseries of any extent should 

 be provided with a hut as a shelter and tool-house. 



Remarks. — There have been recommended as sufficient and economical fences, either 

 simple ditches, wide enough to present obstacles to the incursions of animals, or par- 

 allel lines of wire fencing, fixed at regular distances to wooden posts. As a useful pre- 

 caution in transporting, it was recommended to cover the roots with a mixture of clay 

 and cow-dung. 



Opinions were quite various as to the.season for sowing, mode of cul- 

 ture, and several details as to keeping in proper order : 



Re:\tarks. — Experience alone can provide useful hints as to what is most suitable to 

 each locality. 



Choice of trees. — The employes have not been able as yet to submit 

 well-prepared returns as to the kind of trees to be used in mountain 

 reboisement. Up to this date, the trees principally used have been the 

 ^picea or Norway fir, the Scotch fir, the black Austrian pine, the Aleppo 

 pine, Corsican pine, and the ailantus, which have generally succeeded; 

 the larch, which has failed sometimes because the ground was too damp 

 and the elevation too low; the acacia, which has failed when planted 

 at too great an elevation, but has succeeded lower down. The Atlas 

 cedar has been used in several districts. 



Deciduous trees, such as the white oak, the green oak, the liege oak, 

 the chestnut, the willow, the white poplar, aiwl the birch, have been suc- 

 cessfully planted in the several places ; shrubs, such as the araelanchier, 

 sumac, hazel, &c., have afforded good results in preparing the soil for a 

 stock of valuable trees. 



Remarks. — It is well to attend to the indications supplied by nature in each locality, 

 especially where there is any question of replanting with shrubs or inferior vegeta- 

 tion. There is nothing to hinder a trial of new kinds of trees when this is made with 

 requisite caution. Thus, the ailnntus, recently tried in several places, has every- 

 where yielded good results. The same may be said of the Austrian pine, which almost 

 always succeeds in calcareous soils, and at the most varied altitudes. It will be only 

 after a number of experiments that it will be possible to classify with any degree of 

 precision the kinds of trees by regions and by zones of altitude. 



In Gf^rmany, a mixture of Norway firs and larches is generally considered a good 

 one. A mixture of oak and Scoth tir is also recommended at points where the former 

 has a chance of success. One cause of failure in sowing larches is having the seed 

 placed at too great a depth. This seed should be covered very lightly with earth. 



Mode of execution of icorlcs of reboisement. — After preparing the ground, 

 (in doing which, especially on the slopes, great care should be taken not 

 to disturb the soil too much,) ic is necessary to proceed with the work 

 of restocking with trees. Opinions are divided as to whether sowing 

 should be preferred to planting, or vice' versa. 



Many are inclined to think that sowing should be employed, as more 

 economical in temperate districts, where success is sure, but that plant- 

 ing is to be preferred at greater altitudes. 



