1 8 FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 



and totally unfit for cultivation. A large part of these waste lands is the 

 tops of hills and mountains, most of which were once covered with trees, aod 

 which, having been denuded of their natural vegetation, have become a con- 

 stant menace to the plains and valleys below. The desti-uction of their for- 

 ests has greatly reduced the rainfall throughout the district, and from their 

 hard, barren slopes water pours down during the wet season as from the roof 

 of a house, burying with mud or sweeping away everything in its path. 

 There is but one remedy for these misfortunes — to reclothe the hills and 

 mountains near the sources of rivers with the forests which nature provided, 

 and to this task the French Government has addressed itself with character- 

 istic and persistent energy. 



There are in France two schools of forestry, one for the education of offi- 

 cers of the corps, the other for training the guards and subordinates who work 

 under their direction. 



The officers' school was established in 1827 at Nancy, nearly 200 miles 

 east of Paris. Its facult_y includes seven professors and five tutors, and the 

 course of study occupies two years. Candidates for admission must present 

 diplomas as Bachelors of ^ciences, so that the two years at Nancy are de- 

 signed to add a special course of study to an already liberal education. Grad- 

 uates who aspire to appointment in the French forestry service must be citi- 

 zens of France, but pupils of English nationality, for instance, have been 

 admitted and trained for service in India. Upon graduating the student 

 receives appointment as " Garde- General Stagiaire, " who draws a salary of 

 about ^400 per annum when assigned to active service. 



Subsequent promotion in the corps follows the subjoined grades : 



Salary per annum. 

 Garde-General ^^^ ^^ ^^^ 



Deputy Inspector (^ ^^ ^^^ 



^"^P«'='°'" 1,000 to 1,200 



Conservateur 2,000 to 2,100 



Inspector- General ^ ^-_- 



The duties of the higher officers include all those elaborate works of en- 

 gineering and construction by which dangerous mountain slopes are sustained 

 and strengthened against rain and frost until the soil can be recreated and 

 fixed by restored vegetation. Of Inspectors-General, the highest grade in 

 the corps, there are eight now in service. A conservateur usually has charge 

 of the forestry of a department, though in regions where the area of forest is 

 small one officer of this grade may have charge of this department, while in 

 districts where the work is difficult and important, as in the Basses-Alps, there 

 may be two conservateurs in a single department. 



The school for subordinates in the forestry corps is at Barres, in the de- 

 partment of Loiret. The course of studies there occupies likewise two years 

 but IS much more practical and elementary than at Nancy, candidates for ad' 

 mission being required to pass examination in only the elements of primary 

 education. Upon graduating they are appointed ' ' brigadiers, ' ' or sergeants 

 in the forestry corps. The " gardes forestiers," or privates in the corps are 



