208 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



Adjoining the nursery is an arboretum of several acres, mostly young trees. 

 It contains many of our common American species, and to the forester from 

 over the sea their familiar appearance is as welcome as the sight of old friends 

 in a strange country. With the nursery and arboretum so close at hand, the 

 students of the Forestry School have a fine opportunity for study and experience 

 in this branch of silvics. 



The dense forests and leafy conditions about Vallombrosa recall readily the 

 literary quotation which has made this place so famous. The mountain slopes 

 are thickly covered with fir and spruce, while near the college there are mixed 

 woods of pine, locust, sycamore, mountain ash, white birch, chestnut, oak and 

 poplar. 



Prance. 



In a country where the forests are managed mostly under the selection system 

 and for the formation of coppice growth, as in France, the need of nurseries is 

 consequently not so great as in one where clean cuttings are the rule. But 

 whatever the method employed in reforesting, there is always a need for nursery- 

 grown plants to fill the fail places. Hence there are pepinieres in ail the forest 

 districts of France, some of which are absolutely perfect, not only in the 

 technical methods employed but, also, in their attractive appearance. 



One of the best, perhaps, of these may be found at Xettes, in the mountains 

 of the French Vosges, near Gerardmer, Southeastern France. The plot is rect- 

 angular, 200 by 175 feet in size, and is inclosed by a rustic fence of neat design. 

 It is surrounded closely on all sides by a dense, high forest of Norway spruce. 

 The ground is nearly level, with a slight slope to the south, and has an altitude of 

 906 meters. The neat fence, clean paths, long, well-kept beds and pretty summer- 

 house at one side well repay the long climb up the mountain from Gerardmer 

 to find this secluded spot. The polite and attentive forester in charge wears a 

 distinctive uniform, as is the case in all the government nurseries and forest 

 reviers in Europe. 



The entire area is devoted to the propagation of conifers — spruce and fir. 

 To maintain the regular annual output nine seed beds are made, each about 

 sixteen feet long, and inclosed in frames of wide boards placed on edge. These 

 seed beds are covered with wire screens to protect them from the depredation of 

 birds, and the screens are allowed to remain in place until August, or until the 

 germination has advanced far enough to permit their removal. 



The seedlings, when two years old, are transplanted into the long beds, where 

 they remain two years more. The beds containing these transplants are four 



