xxxiv Appendix. 
tion of “ regazanement”’ or re-turfing, as distinct from **reboissement" or re- 
foresting ; but the late floods, especially those in the valley of the Garonne, 
appear to point conclusively to the comparative uselessness of the former as 
a remedial measure, and I believe instructions have been issued to substi- 
tute “‘ reboissement," or at least ** reboissonement" (the planting of shrubs) 
wherever practicable. Such is a brief outline of the facts relating to forest 
denudation, its results, and the extensive measures of * reboissement’’ which 
have been forced upon the State in the interests of the community in 
France. To quote the words of Surell, writing some years ago :—“ The 
country is becoming depopulated day by day. Ruined in their cultivation 
of the ground, the inhabitants emigrate to a great distance from their deso- 
lated land, and contrary to the usual practice of mountaineers, many never 
return. There may be seen on all hands eabins deserted or in ruins, and 
already in some localities there are more fields than labourers. The pre- 
carious state of those fields discourages the population left. They abandon 
the plough, and invest all their resources in flocks. But these flocks expe- 
dite the ruin of the country, which would be destroyed by them alone. 
Every year their number diminishes in consequence of want of pasture 
grounds. One commune, St. Etienne, which supported 25,000 sheep fifteen 
years ago, supports no more than 11,000 now. Thus the inhabitants, who 
sacrifice all their soil for the flocks, will not even leave this last inheritance 
to their descendants." 
The work of “‘reboissement’’ must not be mistaken or mixed up with that 
of the planting of Pinus maritima on the low and sandy coasts at the mouth 
of the river Gironde, with the main object of fixing the shifting sands. 
On this subject it may be useful to quote the process adopted* ;— 
“On the low and sandy coasts between the mouths of the Adour and 
the Gironde, every tide leaves behind it quantities of fine sand; the 
sand is continually drifted inland by the wind, and forms moving hills, 
which sometimes attain a height of 70 mètres (280 feet). These hills, as 
we should naturally expect, have a gentle inclination on the 
but descend abruptly towards the interior; sometimes they are long, con- 
tinuous, and disposed in regular and parallel lines ; at other times they run 
zigzag. This depends on the form of the coast-line. Thus, between the 
Adour and the Gironde, the first case presents itself; while, near the pro- 
montory of La Coubre, where the wind blows from several points, the eleva- 
tions and depressions are entirely irregular, 
"It is to these moving sand-hills that the name of dunes has been 
given. According to information furnished by M. Dutemps du Grie, 
* “ Manual of Sylviculture,” 
Forest School of Nancy. 
side of the sea, 
Con- 
nee E a 
by G. Bagneris, Inspeetor of Forests, Professor at the 
