CHOICE BETWEEN SOWING AND PLANTING 115 



to-day there is not a larger per cent of French territory under well- 

 managed forest. The main reasons for this deficiency can be traced to 

 the vicissitudes of families and of the nation, coupled with the selfish- 

 ness of pleasure-loving nobles, kings, and pohticians. Yet, curiously 

 enough, the search after pleasure, in the form of hunting and shooting, 

 is responsible for some of the most famous high forests of France. 



Trees are sometimes planted as shelter-belts for the fields on the 

 right of way along the railways. This apparently is a wise use of land 

 otherwise unproductive, but it is very hard on the eyes of travelers. 

 Where the railroad grade passes through cuts trees have been planted 

 to hold the earth and prevent erosion. This is a practice which American 

 railroad engineers might well follow. At Toulouse cypress trees are 

 planted along canals to protect them against drying winds. 



Roadside tree planting is practiced very generally throughout France 

 and results in endless rows of trees flanking the highways which is one 

 of the characteristics of the French countryside that impresses itself 

 most indelibly on the traveler. 



French writers ^ class (a) the forestation of the Landes and mountains 

 as obligatory forestation and {h) the stocking of poor agricultural land 

 or waste land, which has never been cultivated, as optional. From the 

 standpoint of public economics no nation can afford to permit land 

 suitable for growing crops of trees to lie idle. If the individual cannot 

 afford the proper forestation the State must step in. There should be 

 no waste land nor should its use for forestry be optional. It should be 

 obligatory, but with the alternative of yielding ownership to the State 

 under equitable conditions. With at least 300,000 acres partially or 

 completely denuded by the recent war, France has a vital problem of 

 reforestation to meet and must import a large portion of her seed or 

 plants. It would certainly be a just settlement if the Germans were 

 made to furnish much of the seed and plant material. 



No attempt will be made to treat the subject of artificial stocking 

 systematically; instead only the most interesting and instructive phases 

 of the problems will be covered in varying detail. 



Choice between Sowing and Planting. — According to such foresters 

 as Lorentz and Parade field sowing is considered especially useful on a 

 large scale, since it is alleged to be simpler and cheaper than plantations 

 and because the result is more nearly like the natural forest. On the 

 other hand, it is recognized that the plantation is surer and results in 

 more regular stands. Therefore where the soil is dry, where it is de- 

 nuded, and where it is eroding, as in the majority of cases in the Alps, 

 planting is preferable to sowing. While no absolute rule can be formu- 

 lated for the choice between sowing and planting, Demontzey, the 

 2 For example, see Jolyet, pp. 467-468. 



