In the earlier times the service established was as we have seen, often,
nay mostly in incompetent hands; the offices of forestmasters were
purchasable, were given to courtiers as benefices, and became
hereditary. In all these, higher professional knowledge was unnecessary.
The ignorance of the subordinates was as great as that of their German
counterparts, but lasted longer. Hardly any book literature on the
subject of forestry developed before the 19th century, and educational
institutions had to wait until long past the beginning of that century.
The first, and up to the present, only forest school, came into
existence after a considerable campaign, directed by Baudrillart, Chief
of Division, Administration Générale des Forêts, and professor of
political economy. His campaign in the _Annales Forestières_, the first
volume of which appeared in 1808, and in other writings as in his
_Dictionnaire des eaux et forêts_ (1825), led to the establishment of
the forest school at Nancy in 1825.
The first director of this school, _Bernard Lorentz_, having become
acquainted with and befriended by G. L. Hartig, and his assistant,
afterward his son-in-law and successor, _Adolphe Parade_, having studied
under Cotta (1817-1818) in Tharandt, this school introduced the science
of forestry as it had then been developed in Germany; but later
generations under _Nanquette_, _Bagneris_, _Broillard_, _Boppe_ and
_Puton_, imbued with patriotism, attempted in a manner to strike out on
original lines.
As a consequence of the “unpatriotic” German tendencies of its first
directors the continuance of the school at Nancy was several times
threatened, there being friction between the administration of the
school and the service, which in 1844 came to a climax, agents in the
service being employed without preparation in the school, a condition
which lasted until 1856.
Even to date an active service of 15 years is considered equivalent to
the education in the school for advancement in the service.
In 1839, Lorentz was disgracefully displaced, in spite of his great
merits, because he advocated too warmly the application of the superior
system of regeneration under shelterwood to replace the coppice and
selection forest, an incident almost precisely repeated in the State of
New York in abandoning its State College at Cornell University; and in
other respects the two cases appear parallel.[8] Parade, the successor
of Lorentz being imbued with the same heretical doctrines was constantly
in trouble, and in 1847, a most savage attack in the legislature was
launched which threatened the collapse of the school. This condition
lasted until Parade’s death, in 1864, when _Nanquette_ assumed guidance
of the school and steered in more peaceful waters by avoiding all ideas
at reforms and innovations, but otherwise improving the character of the
school and introducing the third year study. But he, too, was much
criticized and in difficulties until 1880; nor was _Puton_, his
successor, free from troubles, until in 1889 a new regime and new
regulations were enacted.
[8] According to others (a reviewer of this volume), the
difficulties which befell the institution were financial ones, “the
too rapid conversion into timberforest reducing receipts, which the
Minister of Finance resented.” Guyot’s history of the school,
however, leaves little doubt of the above interpretation being
correct. In the case of the State College at Cornell University, a
later historian might similarly claim financial difficulties, the
school having actually been closed for lack of appropriation;
nevertheless political trickery was the real cause of this lack.
The school is organized on military lines. The students, who intend to
enter the State service are chosen from the graduates of the Institute
national agronomique of Paris, only a limited number being admitted. It
has 12 professors, two for forestry, two each for natural science,
mathematics, and one each for law, soil physics and agriculture, for
military science and for German. A three year course, which includes
journeys through the forest regions of France, leads to government
employment; indeed, the first paid position as _garde général stagiaire_
is attained after two years study and before leaving school.
For several years, (1867 to 1884) English students preparing for the
Indian service received their instruction here, and 380 foreigners have
received their education in this school since its foundation.
For the education of the lower grades, an imperial rescript ordered the
establishment of several schools, which were, however, never organized.
In 1863, were proposed, and in 1868, opened, four schools, where
efficient forest guards were to secure some knowledge that would assist
them to advancement; three of these schools persisted until 1883. In
1873, an additional school for silviculture for the education of
underforesters was organized at Barres-Vilmorin, where annually a
limited number of students are permitted to enter. This institution has
persisted to date.
* * * * *
The French _forestry literature_ has never been prolific, and to this
day occupies still a limited amount of shelf room. The first book on
record is a translation of the well known volume of the Italian, Peter
de Crescentiis, translated at the instance of Charles V in 1373. In the
16th century we have reference to an encyclopædic volume, probably
similar to the German Hausväter, by _Oliver de Serres_, _Théatre
d’Agriculture et Mesnage des Champs_, in which a chapter is devoted to
the forests. During the 18th century, just as in Germany the
cameralists, we have in France a number of high class writings, not by
foresters, but by savants or students of natural history, the names of
Réaumur, Duhamel, Buffon and Micheaux appearing with memoirs transmitted
to the Academy of France, the highest literary and scientific body of
men, on subjects relating to forestry. _Réaumur_, in his _Réflexions sur
l’état des forêts_, in 1721, recommended the conversion of coppice
forests into timber forests by a system of thinnings, but it is evident
that his words were not heard beyond the Academy. _Duhamel_ (in 1755,
1764, 1780) repeats the recommendation of Réaumur in his three memoirs,
_Semis et Plantations_, _Exploitation des Bois_ and _Traité de la
Physique des Arbres_, in which he exhibits considerable learning, while
_Buffon_, the great naturalist, in 1739 and after, presented several
memoirs on forestry subjects full of excellent advice. _Varennes de
Fenille_, another one of the Academicians, but also one of the
conservators is on record with two memoirs (1790, 1791) on the
management of coppice and timber forests in which also the theory of
thinnings was well developed. But among the foresters of the service
there seems not to have been sufficient education to appreciate these
writings, or, with the exception of _Guiot_ with his _Manuel forestier_
(1770), to bring forth any contributions to the literature and art,
until the 19th century. In 1803, we find the first encyclopædic volume
in _Traité de l’Aménagement des Forêts_, which was followed, in 1805, by
a very incorrect translation of Hartig’s _Lehrbuch_, both by
Baudrillart, professor of political economy, who also published in 12
volumes his _Traité Général des Eaux et Forêts_. _Perthuis_, in 1796,
and _Dralet_, a forester, in 1807, also brought out treatises on forest
management, which include all branches of the subject.
According to Huffel, the foresters of this period (Louis XV and XVI)
were of superior character, and forestry in France the first in the
world; the writings of French authors were being translated into German
and studied by foreign foresters. He has to admit, however, that the
majority of these authors were not really members of the forest service.
In 1836 appeared _Parade’s_ _Cours Elémentaire de Culture des Bois_, an
excellent book, recording the teachings of Hartig and Cotta. This seems
to have been all-sufficient until 1873, at least. Such things as yield
tables are still a mere wish, when _Tassy_ wrote his _Etudes, etc._, in
1858, while _de Salomon_ a little later reproduced Cotta’s yield tables,
and to this day this needful tool of the forester is still almost
absent, at least in the literature of France. _Nanquette_, _Broillard_,
_Bagneris_, _Puton_, _Reuss_, _Boppe_, all directors or professors at
the forest school, enriched the French literature by volumes on
silviculture and forest management, and _Henry_ on soil physics. He also
translated from the German Wollny’s _Décomposition des matières
organiques_. It is claimed by _Guyot_, that a truly “French science” (!)
of forestry dates from _Broillard’s Cours d’aménagement_ in 1878.
_Demontzey’s Reboisement des montagnes_, 1882, is a classic volume. Of
more modern book literature may be mentioned three voluminous
publications, namely _Traité des arbres_ by _Mouillefert_ (1892-1898) in
3 volumes, and _Traité d’exploitation commerciale des bois_ by _Matthey_
in two volumes, and _Guyot’s_ _Cours de droit forestier_ in two
volumes. A very complete work on valuation of damage under the
misleading title _Incendies en forêt_ was published by _Jacquot_ in
1903.
But the latest and perhaps most ambitious work in the French language
and especially of intense interest from the historical point of view,
tracing not only the development of forest policies but of silvicultural
and managerial practices in France, is _G. Huffel’s_ _Economie
Forestière_ in three volumes published 1904-1907.
There should not be forgotten as among the non-professional promoters of
forest questions, _Chevandier_, a chemist and manufacturer, who, in
1844, made investigations regarding the influence of irrigation on wood
growth and on the influence of fertilizers, and in connection with
_Wertheim_, laid the foundation for timber physics.
* * * * *
One bi-weekly magazine, _Revue des Eaux et Forêts_, in existence for 50
years, the successor to the _Annales forestières_, begun in 1808,
satisfies the needs of current literature, besides the journals of
various forestry associations, among which the Bulletin de la Société de
Franche Comté et Belfort has for a long time taken a prominent rank.
A very active propagandist literary and association work has within the
last decades been inaugurated, and forestry associations of local
character abound. Among these the “Touring Club,” a sporting association
with some 16,000 members in 364 branches is active by writing out prizes
and promoting waste land planting. Through its agency some 4000 acres
had been planted by 1910, some 900 nurseries furnishing plant material.
An active Section of Silviculture in the _Société des Agriculteurs_ some
time ago absorbed the forestry association and is also doing practical
work in the direction most needed, improvement of forestry practice
among private woodland owners.