198 ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTUEE. 



be the exception, not the rule. It cannot become 

 general and take the place of natural methods. "We 

 have noticed the circumstances which justify it in our 

 summary of the treatment of forests of oak and of 

 Scotch fir. To abandon natural reproduction is 

 only to retrograde, to return to the infancy of the art ; 

 it is tantamount to claiming to supersede the forces 

 of nature ; above all it is simply wasting money 

 under the false idea of economy, only to arrive in 

 the end at results which are at the best doubtful. 



Nevertheless, artificial restocking cannot be totally 

 proscribed. It forms the necessary complement of 

 natural regeneration, but it must remain only its 

 complement. Hence it is necessary for the forester 

 to know how to do it well. Besides this, it is the 

 only method of stocking extensive treeless wastes. 



CHOICE OF SPECIES. There can be no hesitation 

 in this choice, nor should it ever be allowed to 

 furnish an occasion for the indulgence of the fancy. 

 Thus the forester has to take into account the soil 

 and climate, so that he may not be guilty of planting 

 the peduncled oak on a dry soil, the silver fir in the 

 plains or in a southern aspect, the sweet chestnut in 

 calcareous soil, the cluster pine in a cold climate, 

 the beech in the plains of Provence, &c. Above all, 

 he must invariably avoid introducing exotic trees, as 

 if our native species could not furnish wood suitable 

 for every purpose. France is a miniature world, 

 where we find every kind of climate and soil with 

 its indigenous vegetation, which is not deficient 

 either in quality or variety. 



But precisely because France presents such differ- 



