Peninsula Enterprise

What Forestry Has Accomplished in France.

French forestry has accomplished wonders of late years. The blue gum tree has been planted extensively in the South of France, and the marshes at the mouth of the Var have been drained, and the fevers prevailing there have been ended by planting this tree. The American oak has been used in poor soil to prepare the way for better trees. The California thuya tree, the wood of which is used for fine furniture, is now planted as an experiment. Wind-blown hilltops have been covered with shrubs and trees by building weirs in the mountain gorges and gradually cultivating vegetation upwards. The Torrent du Bourget is one of the best examples of this reforestation. In 1860 it was only a ravine of bare rocks. The hollow has since been half filled by high stoned dams. Trees and bushes are growing to the very edge of the ravine. The torrent is now quieter and has never since devastated the valley below with periodical inundations, as was formerly the case. From 1861 to 1877 63,000 acres were planted with trees, and 3,700 additional acres turfed at an expense of $1,725,000. The reclamation of sand dunes is accomplished by building strong fences and planting meadow grass, sedges, broom or espartero grass in the lee of the masses formed by the shifting sands against the fences.—Ex change.