466 



Canadian Forestry Journal, April, ipi6. 



which could also be transformed into 

 forests. There are laws in France 

 in connection with this national im- 

 provement, but they have been loosely 

 applied. The war has now brought 

 out the strict and urgent necessity of 

 rebuilding the forests. "It is impos- 

 sible to neglect our mutilated forests; 

 it would be a crime to not take up now 

 steps in order to ensure, in a compara- 

 tively near future, their reconstruc- 

 tion." 



Mr. Marin then enumerates the 

 wooded regions that have been sub- 

 jected to the military operations of 

 this conflict. He finds that, in gen- 

 eral, the forests at the front have been 

 laid waste; the soil as wxU as the for- 

 ests themselves has been destroyed. 

 At those places where the struggle has 

 been most acute, the land will have to 

 be completely razed. With regard to 

 the trees injured by bullets, it has 

 been found that their wounds, unlike 

 those of man, do not heal. After a 

 few years the trees die, and can then 

 only be used as firewood. As they 

 are liable to rot, it is better to fell them 

 soon so as to obtain the best possible 

 use of them. Here, Mr. George is 

 quoted in his scientific explanations of 

 the causes whereby an injured tree 

 is sure to wither away. 



A Few Mutilated Trunks. 



With reference to the damages done 

 to the soil, Mr. Marin quotes the fol- 

 lowing communique of April, 1915: 

 "From the woods of Ailly, there re- 

 main but a few mutilated trunks. It 

 is a field of desolation, levelled by 

 shells. There no longer exists an 

 inch of ground that has not been 

 overturned by explosives." 



The writer then discusses a bill he 

 has prepared with a view to obviate 

 the disaster caused by this war, and 

 in which he suggests a thorough re- 

 construction of the ruined forests of 

 his country. We give here a brief 

 summary of the chief parts of the 

 bill referred to; it deals with "the 

 gravity of the damages caused to our 

 woods and forests ; the calculation and 

 the estimates of these damages, the 



means and methods to be adopted in 

 the reconstruction of the said forests ; 

 the necessity of special legislation in 

 connection with these improvements ; 

 the difficulties of all kinds to be con- 

 fronted in the application of the pres- 

 ent law ; the solution of the problem in 

 the purchase by the State of all for- 

 ests aft'ected." He lays stress on a 

 clause of the present law which to his 

 mind should be amended, and which 

 he would have substituted by a more 

 acceptable proposition. According to 

 the existing legislation, all sums paid to 

 a proprietor, in the purchase of dam- 

 aged and unused land by the State, 

 must be employed by the proprietor in 

 the improvement or reforestation of 

 the said property. If, aft^r the said 

 improvements, he has money left, he 

 must spend it in rebuilding adjacent 

 properties. Instead of this, Mr. Ma- 

 rin suggests that, after the proprietor 

 has spent sufficient to completely re- 

 build his destroyed property, he be 

 permitted to keep the balance ; in all 

 cases, the State would pay for the 

 said lands amounts corresponding with 

 their full value, prior to the war. This 

 measure would have the advantages 

 of indemnifying the settler for his loss 

 and of turning over to the State valu- 

 able tracts of wooded lands which 

 would constitute a splendid addition 

 to the national resources and which it 

 would be bound to protect. — In ex- 

 plaining his bill, he admits that it 

 will be difficult to ascertain the whole 

 extent of the damages ; a committee 

 of experts would be entrusted with 

 this task. Mr. de la Roussiere, gen- 

 eral secretary to the Forest Committee, 

 is here quoted: "About 515,000 hec- 

 tares of our forests are damaged. It 

 is not completely devastated, but in es- 

 timating the loss at two-thirds, we 

 should not be' far from the truth. It 

 will take at least a century before our 

 forests are restored to their original 

 conditions." 



What of the Future f 

 The task will be enormous, but it 

 will have to be attempted. The coun- 

 trv will ever need wood for fuel and 



