APPLICATION OF THE METHOD. 75 



^mature decay in many places, and the disappear- 

 ance of the peduncled oak in others, are due to 

 excessive draining. Without altogether proscribing 

 works of this nature, it is allowable to recommend an 

 attentive and previous study of the soil and 

 vegetation. Here, too, we must be cautious, 

 and simply content ourselves with aiding nature 

 in a fair measure. In the majority of cases it 

 will be quite enough to open out a few small 

 channels falling into a well- planned ditch in order to 

 carry off the excess of surface water. It is in localities 

 that remain submerged during winter that the best 

 oak seedlings are often found, the reason being that 

 under water the acorn is preserved. 



VII. TREATMENT OF THE SILVER FIR. 



HABITAT. The silver fir is a widely-distributed 

 species in France, and it covers large areas in 

 Europe. It grows sometimes pure, sometimes 

 accompanied by the beech, the Scotch pine, or the 

 spruce fir. It is principally met with in cold 

 climates, but it inhabits very cold, as well as 

 temperate climates, where, however, it deteriorates. 

 The silver fir requires above all hilly ground of 

 an elevation varying from 1,600 to 6,000 feet ; it 

 is there that it attains its largest size, and yields 

 the finest timber ; but it is not found indigenous 

 in the plains even in the north of Europe, and 

 the rare instances that are quoted in opposition to 

 this fact are places where it has been introduced 

 by man, or hilly ground in the neighbourhood of 

 mountains, which possesses the same climate. 



