CONVERSION OF COPPICE INTO HIUH FOREST. 27 1 



Ifc has been said with reason that the poorer a forest soil is, the 

 more careful we should be to maintain the cover, and, as a conse- 

 quence, the more important it is to grow high forest on it. Theo- 

 retically this proposition is rigorously true, provided always that 

 the species selected - for this purpose are adapted to the soil and 

 climate. Practically it admits of some exceptions, and, to say the 

 least it requires some explanations. 



In certain soils, deep, yet nevertheless free and little fertile of 

 themselves, the High Forest Regime becomes a necessity, as the 

 only one capable of preserving the fertility of the soil and of prevent- 

 ing the ruin of the forest. The finest high forests in France, viz., 

 those of Bersay, of Bellfeme, of Perseigne, and of Fontaineblean are 

 a standing proof of this. These forests are situated on almost pure- 

 ly silicious soils, the fertility of which is due entirely to the pro- 

 tecting dense leaf-canopy overhead. Were this cover to be destroy- 

 ed either by unskilful working or by some accident, the topsoil 

 would at once lose all its valuable qualities under the direct action 

 of the sun, the ground would be overrun by ling bushes, and it 

 would be futile to demand from it under the Coppice Regime those 

 magnificent oak and beech, which form the present canopied masses 

 that now cover it. The ruined copses of Fontainebleau itself, of 

 Ermenonville and hosts of other forests situated on sandy soils 

 furnish too evident a proof of this. In such soils, therefore, there is 

 absolutely no choice left as regards the Regime to adopt. Treated 

 under any other than the High Forest Regime, the forests stand- 

 ing thereon would be bound to deteriorate rapidly, and yield pro- 

 duce both limited in quantity and of poor quality. The sessile- 

 flowered oak, the beech, and the hornbeam associated with each 

 other are the chief species to grow in such forests. Besides these, 

 the birch is generally found in abundance on such soils. 



The Jurassic limestones usually give a more or less undulating 

 character to the country. Often they form plateaux intersected 

 by sinuous valleys and ending in abrupt slopes. The topsoil, being 

 the remains of the limestone rock washed away by rain, is simply a 

 mixture of silicious sand, clay, oxide of iron, and of fragments 

 more or less small of the limestone. This red earth is generally 

 very shallow, being from 6 to 8 or 12 inches deep j it is apt to dry 

 up rapidly, because rain falling on it filters away with great ease 



