226 LEGISTJlTION ON TOEEENTS, 



canton is situated on the plateau, at an elevation of 1200 mfetres, surmounted 

 by peaks of from 1400 to 1600 mfetres. In this region is the p6rimfetre of 

 enjoined reboisements, rehoisement ohligatoire, of Bor6e, and the unoccupied 

 domains of Mazan and those of Bonnefoi. Scarcely any traces of sand-hiUs 

 are to be found in the portions which have been rehoised. But it is not so 

 with the adjacent lands, and more especially with the valley of Saint- 

 Etienne-de-Lugdarfes, the basin of the Alher. There, where terminate the 

 slopes which have been rehoisM, the rock has been laid bare, deep excavations 

 have been dug by the waters, and the valley has been covered with the 

 material dug out and carried away. 



" The department of the Gard, like that of the Ardfeche, only suffered in its 

 north-west portion, that is to say, in the Arrondissements of Alais and of the 

 Vigan, in which are situated the principal p6rimfetres of rehoisement ohliga- 

 toire. With the exception of two harrages carried away by the waters, the 

 works which have been executed have stood wonderfully, and have at the 

 same time protected all the lower-lying lands against erosion. But every- 

 where else, and notably at some distance from the p^rimfetres of 

 Montdardier, of Coucoules, of Genolhac, and of Ponteils, new ravines and 

 considerable accumulations of sand have been produced. 



" In the department of the Puy-de-d6me, until 1866, enjoined rehoisement 

 had been carried out only in one p^rimfetre, that of Clermont, about 400 

 hectares of which had been restored at the time of the inundations. But 

 sanctioned reboisements had been there undertaken upon a great scale, and 

 they extended over many thousands of hectares. Both have sustained 

 perfectly the rude test of the deluges of the month of September 1866. In 

 many places they have to some extent contributed to moderate the ravages 

 of the waters. Thus, amongst the affluents of the Allier, the slopes of 

 which have been happily protected by the recent replantings, may be cited 

 the Couze-de-Chambon, This torrential water-course had always, when 

 great rains fell, caused great havoc and desolation in the commune of 

 Chambon d'Issoire. In 1866 the losses sustained, though still consider- 

 able, have been less marked than previously ; moreover, the inhabitants 

 convinced, as .are likewise the agents of the Forest Administration, that the 

 amelioration of the regime of the torrents ought to be attributed to the 

 reboisements effected since 1862, on an area of about 200 hectares, have, 

 without loss of time, Ijastened to offer contributions of day-labour towards 

 the completion of these useful works. 



It is befitting to make mention in the same way of the Puy-de^la-Chopine, 

 or of I'Echorchade, the abrupt steeps of which were lately throughout a great 

 extent denuded, and the dejections, spreading far, were augmented by every 

 rain. Sowings and plantations of resinous trees, combined yjith. gazonnement 

 and a system: of planting slips or cuttings, which might root, have completely 

 changed the aspect of these grounds ; and the storms of rain of the autumn 

 of 1866, notwithstanding their extreme violence, have not effected any 

 erosion of importance. In fine, in the basin of the Morge, the Arrondisse- 

 ments of Clermont and of Eiom, the reboisements of Chatel-Guyons and of 

 Reyot, which are still of but limited extent, have given a striking illustra- 

 tion of the effects which works of this kind may produce. The old ravines 

 are now stopped up, and the little rivers of the Grosliers and the Tiretaine, 

 which in 1835, from the effects of rains like those which have led to the 

 late inundations, would have ravaged and desolated the valleys, have not, 

 it may be said, occasioned any havoc. 



