FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 303 



tions received by him from the subdivisional officer. The duties of the subordinate staff are 

 chiefly those of protection ; they act as forest police, and have the power to serve summonses, 

 as well as to arrest delinquents. They are bound to report all offenses committed within their 

 beat ; and should they fail to do so, they become responsible for the payment of any fines or 

 compensation money which might be levied from the offenders. Acting under the orders of 

 the subdivisional officer, they superintend all work going on within the limits of their charge; 

 and in addition to this, they, under his direction, .tend the young plants, prune the stems 

 of the reserved trees, fill up small blanks in the forest, and perform such like minor 

 operations with their own hands. Rewards are given annually to men who have specially 

 exerted themselves in this manner ; but they are forbidden to accept, without special sanction, 

 any gratituity from " communes " or private proprietors for services rendered by them in the 

 execution of their duties. They are entitled to a pension when they have attained the age of 

 55 years, and have completed twenty-five years' service, including the time spent in the army. 



As above stated, one-third of the appointments to the grade of sub-assistant inspector are 

 reserved for the promotion of deserving members of the subordinate staff. Ordinarily men 

 so promoted must have at least fifteen years' service, and be less than 50 years of age ; but 

 they can be promoted after four years' service, if they have passed successfully through the 

 secondary school at Barres. 



Military Organization. — Under the law which provides that all men belonging, in time 

 of peace, to regularly organized public services, can, in time of war, be formed into special 

 corps, destined to serve with the active or with the territorial army, the members of the forest 

 department form a part of the military forces of the country ; and the officers of the superior 

 and the subordinate staff are organized by conservatorships into companies or sections, accord- 

 ing to their numerical strength. In case of the mobilization of the army, the forest corps is at 

 the disposal of the war minister, and its various units assemble at previously determined points. 

 The students of the forest school at Nancy receive military instruction and are drilled, the time 

 passed at the school counting as service with the colors. The officers of the superior staff 

 hold rank as officers of the reserve, or of the territorial army, and in time of war may be 

 employed either in command of the companies and sections of the forest corps, or otherwise 

 as may be ordered. From the day that they are called out, the companies form an integral 

 part of the anny, and enjoy the same rights, honors, and rewards as the other troops which 

 compose it. They are inspected by their own officers annually in time of peace, and the head- 

 guards and guards, who form the non-commissioned officers and rank and. file of the compa- 

 nies, enjoy at all times certain privileges as soldiers. 



In virtue of this service, a military uniform is prescribed for all grades, including the 

 students at the schools. The. subordinates wear it always; and the officers do so on all cere- 

 monial occasions, including official inspections of the forests by their superiors. 



CHAPTER V. 



FOREST SCHOOLS — THE HIGHER SCHOOL AT NANCY. 



The forest school at Nancy is the only one existing in France for the training of officers 

 of the superior staff. It was founded it» 1824, before which year the department was recruited 

 either by means of young men, often of good family, who worked gratituitouslyin (he inspectors' 

 offices in the hope of ultimately obtaining an appointment, or by means of retired officers of 

 the army. Very few forest officers received, under the old system, a professional training 

 sufficient to enable them to discharge their duties satisfactorily; and it was to remedy this state 

 of things that the school was established. The arrangements were modest at first; but a 

 great development has taken place during the sixty-two years that have elap.sed since 1824. 

 The present organization of the school will now be briefly described. 



