202 MGISLATION ON TOERBNTS. 



" The operation of reioisement, isx from introducmg new restrictions into 

 the already straitened circumstances of the poor inhabitants, would, on the 

 ncotrary, be a source of numerous advantages. Without mentioning one of 

 these advantages which can only be realised in the more or less distant 

 future, there can be pointed out as an immediate and direct result, the 

 unusual comfort diffused over these poor districts by the money devoted to 

 the execution of the works in the form of wages, purchase of seeds and 

 plants, and other outlays of various kinds. 



" There is reason to think that the mountaineers, with their characteristic 

 mental quickness, have already come to' appreciate the operation of reboise- 

 vtent, and that the opposition which has arisen in several cases is only an 

 expression of personal and isolated interests. 



" It is, moreover, only through mistake that the pastoral population takes 

 alarm at the undertakings of the Forest Administration, the greatest number 

 have been in favour of this industry. Besides the- immense tracts known by 

 the name of pastoral mountains, which lie above the zone of forest vegeta- 

 tion, and of which the destination indicated by the nature of things cannot 

 be modified, the actual sheep runs are in many cases not only preserved but 

 improved from the double point of view of the pastoral interest and the 

 preservation of the turf." 



Nearly all the commissioners charged with the direction of these 

 inquiries have earnestly approved of the projected rehoisement, and in all 

 cases the special commissioners, the Councils of the Arrondissement, the 

 General Councils, and the prefects have adopted these projects. Besides, 

 the General Councils have voted subsidies in favour of the reboisements. 

 These subsidies, 20,000 francs in 1860 rose to 40,000 francs in 1861, and 

 to 71,000 in 1862. 



The gradual increase of these sums, more than their absolute importance, 

 is an indication of the increasing movement of public opinion in favour of 

 the operation. 



Bebcdsements obligatoirs, or enjoined reboisements, had extended in 1862 

 into three departments, and into seven p6rimfeters, or defined areas, of over 

 2061 hectares 87 ares, and has cost the State 69,576 francs 21 cents. 



Thus the reboisements effected in 1862 amount in all to 11,416 hectares 

 63 ares. 



0. SScheries and Nurseries. 



The reboisement in 1862 has been effected, by means of sowings, upon 

 8344h. 26a. — by means .of planting, upon 3072h. 37a. For the sowings 

 95,403 kilogrammes of the seeds of different trees have been used. For 

 the plantations there have been used 22,137,500 plants of different sorts of 

 trees, besides those transplanted from the woods. 



The pin sylvestre, or Scotch fir, epicea, or Norway fir, and the larch, 

 have been most generally employed. Other trees have also been used — as 

 the oak, the Austrian pine, the Mugho, the Aleppo pine, the cedar, the 

 ailanthuB, which are introduced gradually in proportion as new experiments 

 are tried. The selection of trees has generally been directed by local 

 indications. 



Four sScheries were formed in 1861 ; two others were established in 

 1862. These supply from 15,000 to 20,000 kilogrammes of seed, corres- 

 ponding to the reboisement of 2000 hectares. The outlay in 1862 amounted 

 to 38,515,24 francs. 



