FORESTRY IN FRANCE. 305 



qualified, be admitted every year without further examination. The number of candidates 

 admitted annually is, as a general rule, from fifteen to eighteen, and the course of study 

 extends over two years, so that there are from about thirty to thirty-six regular students at the 

 school at one time. The yoimg men while at Nancy are housed in the school building, but 

 take their meals in the town. Their parents deposit ;^6o a year for their maintenance, includ- 

 ing the purchase of books and instruments ; but they do not pay anything for their instruction, 

 or toward the annual expenses of the school, which may be estimated as follows, viz. : 



Salaries, scholarships, tours, and examinations jC4>^7° 



Maintenance of the buildings, library, museum, etc 742 



Total annual payments by government ;^4,9I2 



If the number of students passed annually through the school be taken as sixteen and a 

 half, the actual expenditure per head, for the entire period of two years' residence, is ;^298 ; 

 but if interest at 4 per cent, on the estimated capital value of the buildings and collections 

 (;^22,ooo) be added, the annual expenditure becomes ;£'5,702, and the amount spent by the 

 state on each student during the period of his training is raised to about ;£'350. 



Each year of study at the school comprises six and a half months of theoretical, and two 

 and a half months of practical, instruction ; one month being devoted to examinations, and 

 there being two months of vacation. During the period devoted to theoretical instruction the 

 following subjects are taught, viz. ; First year — Sylviculture in all its branches ; botany, includ- 

 ing vegetable anatomy and physiology, as well as the classification of plants and their geo- 

 graphical distribution, special attention being paid to forest trees and shrubs ; poUtical economy, 

 with special reference to forests ; forest statistics ; law, including forest laws and rules, together 

 with such general knowledge of the common law of the country as is judged necessary ; sur- 

 veying and the construction of roads ; the German language ; military science ; riding. Sec- 

 ond year — Working plans or schemes of forest management ; mineralogy and geology, with 

 special reference to the chemical and physical properties of forest soils; zoology, especially 

 the branch relating to the insects which attack trees; agriculture; buildings, including houses, 

 saw-mills, and bridges ; the treatment of torrent beds, including the construction of masonry 

 and other weirs. The teaching of surveying, law, the Germany language, mihtaiy science, 

 and riding is continued. During the last month of each theoretical course weekly excursions 

 are made into the forests, but with the exception of this and the riding-drill the whole of the 

 instruction is given in the class-rooms. 



The practical course, which occupies two and a half months of each year, or five months 

 in all, consists of tours made into the forests in the neighborhood of Nancy, as well as into 

 those of the Vosges and Jura, and occasionally to other locaUties, for the purpose of studying 

 forestry, natural history, and surveying, a part of the time being devoted to military exercises. 

 An area of 7,500 acres of forest, situated near Nancy and placed under the director of the 

 school, is used as a. field of practical instruction, as well as for various experiments and 

 researches, to carry out which an assistant-inspector is attached to the staff. The subjects dealt 

 with by him are principally meteorology, the growing of plants in nurseries, various methods 

 of pruning, the effects of different systems of thinning, the rate of growth of various kinds of 

 trees living under different conditions, and many other things. 



The school is well equipped in every way. Besides commodious buildings to accommodate 

 the director, the deputy-director, the inspector of studies, the students, the adjutants, and other 

 subordinates, there is a spacious amphitheater, witli halls of study; a recreation-room and an 

 infirmary arc also provided. The museum contains very complete collections, illustrating the 

 courses of mineralogy, geology, palseontology and botany, with woods, fruits, seeds, and care- 

 fully arranged dried specimens of the foliage and flowers of trees and other plants, as well as 

 raw forest products. There are also stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish, and a collection 

 of insects, with sections of wood showing the damage done by them to the trees. The school 

 possesses an excellent professional library, comprising about 3,350 volumes and a number of 

 maps. It has also a chemical laboratory, in which many interesting researches are made, 

 E. F. 21. 



