62 
[Aug. 1, 
Proceedings of Learned Societies. 
Of Plantations .—France appears to 
have experienced an extraordinary re¬ 
verse of fortune in this point of view, as, 
until of late, she possessed more woods 
than any other country perhaps in Eu¬ 
rope. About thirty years since, the 
chain of hills in the Vosges, which limits 
that department to the west, was covered 
with immense forests. Both the rising 
gtounds, and the plains, presented the 
appearance of one continual orchard, so 
numerous were the fruit-trees with which 
the country was covered. In addition 
to this abundance of wood, well calcu¬ 
lated for fuel, and also for ajl the va¬ 
luable purposes of ship-building, seemed 
to he ensured to remote posterity. 
The rigorous winter of 1788, however, 
destroyed all the fruit-trees in the plain, 
and the forests were also affected by the 
same intense frost. Other causes aug¬ 
mented the disaster, such as the incon¬ 
siderate destruction of part of what re¬ 
mained, and the extraordinary increase 
of the cultivation of the vine, for which 
props of an extraordinary length and 
thickness were required. The misfor¬ 
tunes attendant on the revolution, toge¬ 
ther with the sale of the national do¬ 
mains, added to the ravages of the ele¬ 
ments, so that the prediction of Colbert 
seemed about to be realised; “ that 
France would some day be ruined from 
the w'ant of fuel,’^ 
On the overthrow of the republican 
government, it was determined by au¬ 
thority to make new plantations every 
where in the department of the Haut 
Rfiin ; and, on hearing of this, all the 
communes rivalled each other, in point 
of zeal and alacrity. The prefect began 
with studding all the grounds in the 
neighbourhood of the highroads with 
clumps; and in the years 1805, 1806, 
1807, and 1808, some hundreds of thou¬ 
sands of forest trees were committed to 
the earth. In order to replant the plain 
w’ith fruit-trees, communal nurseries were 
every where established, with a view not 
only to furnish plants for present use, 
but also to make up for any losses that 
may be occasioned by the intemperance 
of future seasons. 
“ In addition to this,” we are told that 
“ there is a prcjecfural nursery at Colmar. 
Here the useful is united with tiie agree- 
able. An extent of ground amounting 
to six hectares, di>trihnted with taste, 
presents alleys adorned with orange trees 
and flowers, which extend along the 
lim:t-5 of the plots dedicated to the re¬ 
ception of young fruit-trees, of the best 
kinds. One hundred thousand young 
plants, of every age and description, 
furnish constant resources, and a per¬ 
petual succession for those who wish 
either to supply the losses, or extend 
the limits, of their orchards. Since 1807, 
trees of different kinds, to the number 
5,414, has been furnished, for the pur¬ 
pose of ornamenting the adjoining great 
roads. In addition to this, the garden 
in question, which is open for the public, 
contains a precious collection of exotic 
plants, and will in time become a school, 
admirably adapted to all the purposes of 
botany. A building of 150 feet in length, 
is destined to afford a retreat to the 
orange-trees, and other exotics, which 
cannot resist the rigours of our winters. 
On the front of this edifice, is inscribed 
the name of that ^princess, so dear to 
all the French, and whose virtues, and 
whose graces, would adorn the first throne 
in the universe. Botany is justly proud 
of such a distinguished protectress. 
“ All these labours, however, have 
not made the prefect omit anything that 
can contribute to the first grand object 
of his life: the restoration of the national 
forests. By means of wise regulations, 
he has repressed those numerous abuses 
that had hitherto prevailed. The forest 
lands,lately usurped, have been restored, 
and fenced in, while young plants have 
been set with great care and attention, 
so as to repair the losses which have 
taken place; thus the hand of man has 
been used, tO hasten the operations of 
nature.” 
In his replies to seventeen questions 
on the part of the Society of Agriculture, 
bv M. Vidaillan, secretary to the Econo- 
mrhai Society of Gers, the writer of this 
article boasts of the present state of agri¬ 
culture in France, “ of which JMr. Arthur 
Young wrote with such contempt, ante¬ 
rior to the revolution.” But he asserts 
that rural affairs in general have attained 
a greater degree of perfection within the 
last twenty years than during many pre¬ 
ceding centuries; that the farm-houses are 
solid and compact; that the stables and 
ox-stalls are healthy and commodious; that 
enclosures multiply fast; and that a large 
portion of the uncultivated land has been 
ploughed up. In the department of Gers 
fallows are beginning to be disused ; 
* This, doubtless, alludes to the Ex-Em¬ 
press Josephine, the former consort of -Buo¬ 
naparte. 
domestic 
