72 SYLVICULTURE IN LA SOLOGNE, 



we have in one a depth of 270 feet, and the other only 226| feet ; 

 and a third at Vannes (Loiret), we have only 168 feet. And owing 

 to accidental disturbances, and to the general inclination of the 

 surface from east to west, one and another of the layers of which the 

 deposit consists appear on the surface with a very great variation 

 in breadth, giving rise to superficial ground of silicious sand, of clay, 

 and of those elements associated in different proportions ; and the 

 sub-soil, which may be considered the true soil of the trees, presents 

 modifications not less important in character and in depth. 



All the layers which appear have, as a common character, that 

 they are poor in lime and in fertilizing substances. 



" In Sologne," says Boitel, " the lack of lime, the natural sterility 

 of the country, the ignorance of those who exploit its products, the 

 want of capital, the deficiency of labour, the undivided state of the 

 property, whether held by communes or by individuals, and the strik- 

 ing ruin of some inexperienced innovators, are the main obstacles which 

 have retarded the utilisation and improvement of the greater part of 

 the uncultivated land." 



Following out the natural division of the layers into sandy, clayey, 

 and mixed lands, he says of these : 



" Sandy silicious soil is formed of sand, more or less coarse, and 

 more or less white ; it is light and easily worked. Damp does not 

 make it cohere, or change it into a thick oily paste. If it lies on an 

 impermeable clay bed, without any fall, it becomes, in winter, 

 saturated with water, and almost inaccessible to animals, who would 

 sink into it up to their chests. 



" But if there is a slight declivity it drains itself of its own accord, 

 and is liable to become too diy in summer. Farmers sow it only 

 with rye and buckwheat ; turnips and red clover also succeed pretty 

 well. In farms where no hoisement, or planting with trees, has 

 taken place for fifty years, it is often still arable. Old fashioned 

 farmers prefer it, because it is easily worked, and because the eff"ect 

 of manure soon becomes apparent on the buckwheat and rye. 



" Intelligent farmers, on the contrary, dislike it because of its 

 rapid exhaustion, and because old manure can never be stored up in 

 it, so as to yield a good return. Even supposing that lime could be 

 had, it would be unsuitable for wheat and oats, it being poor in fertiliz- 

 ing substances, and because these cereals would sufi'er from drought 

 before coming to maturity. Farmers subject these sandy soils to a 

 fallow of lengthened duration; it then becomes covered with a 

 whitish hair-grass (aira canescens), with a species of woodruflf 



