The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1884-03-06

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from which torrent drew its water;
and nothing could be done unless the
whole of torrent-basin were taken in
hand at the same time and under the
same direct on.
The works were closed as rebOiS cnaeRtS
(reforestings) fncultatitS, and re6OiSc-
meqts Obltgato re-. In the former tho
State merely assisted by loans of money.
seeds and cuttings, ana by the advice
and oversight of its trained Officials. In
the latter the STATE for the time being
assumed ownership of the land, and
when its work was done gave the indi-
viduals or communes who had held it
the choice either to repay the cost of
the work and take the land back (the
State, however, retaining such over
sight as would prevent torrents 70: ming
AGAIN. or to take back one half the land
| and lay nothing. In the case of returf-
ing (regazonncnleRD the State retained
only one-fourth the land to cover the
cost of the work.
Lo,a oppOsit on TO the law was al
first a serious obSta le to its enforce
ment. This was overcome by great pa
tience and kindn 1ss; by putting leading
men of the districts on the boards,
which, in connection with the State ex-
perts, decided what land must lie Oper-
ated upon, and by circulating Science
Primer entitled "Etules dc .Hudrc Pierre
sur EAgricuLiure ct les F'Ore's" A
prize was offered for such primer,
and a young lawyer, A. Rousset, won
it. 1t cons SITS of eight dialogues BE-
tween peasant farmer, Master Peter,
I'D h,, in ho
walks and talks converts his pupil from
a stubborn foe to a firm friend OF the
law. The little book is fine model of
Socratic questioning, and will repay
care'ul study by teachers. 1t may be
added that rigid economy was pa ,tced
and minute acc cunts kept, so that those
whose land was taken could know Just
what Il ey must pay for when they re-
deemed their land, and feel satisfied
that they were not being charged too
much.
The bold expedient which was adopted
of attacking one of the worst torrents
fir proved a prudent one. For not
Cnlv would the owners of land so
nearly ruined be more willing to give
up its ownership for time, but besides,
if such demon as the Ardeche could
be tanned, it was the best proof that less
violent torrents could be brought under
control.
Beginning with the trifling sum of
5000 francs year for ten years, be-
fore the end of that time the sue ess
was so marked that all the money that
could wisely be expended was readily
voted by the Corps Legislatit, and near
ly all local opposition vanished. The
war with Germany mad. the state less
liberal in its expenditure for reJO sement
for awhile, but soon the work was taken
up again with vigor. 1t was estimated
that the great flood in the Garonne in
June, 1875, did damage to the tent of
00,0)o,O00 francs, besides destroying
more than 5000 lives. Careful nvesti-
CATION afterward showed thai had the
work of re OiScmem conte rplated in
the original act of 1860 (and which it
was supposed it would take one hun
dred and foyty years to fin SHY been
completed. thai awful flood would have
b ,en comparatively harmless.
To give an idea of the process of tor
rent-taming, we quote the graphic words
of Cezanne, with which he concludes
his supplement to the great work of
Surell ("Eiute sur les IOrrtnS d"S
Hautes A,pcs," published first by the
administration dcS Points e. CiduSSccS IN
1871, and when it had been for years
out of print, new edition was prepared
in 1870 by his friend Cezanne, and in
1872 the supplement.) Speaking of the
astonshment of visitors when they see
pointing heavenward the verdant shoots
of the elm, the maple and the acacia
growing on the dry sch;sts; and of the
walnut and the oak on the dry and solid
buttresses, while the alder, the poplar,
the ash. the osier and the white willow
of the Alps grow in the more most
depths of the ravines, be says:
"These works, SO ingenious in their
very simplicity. form net work of hor-
izontal lines like the alleys of garden.
The green edeings aud Innings develop
themselves among the innumerable sim
uosities of the COnsbeS valleys embrac-
ing kom the rocky beds of the tjrrents
to the very summit of the mountain
crests those ravines which were but late
ly inaccessible and presented an aspect
full of horror. On seeing what has
been done, one Immediately understands
how such combination should be eff
fectual Every liqu d molecule, 50 to
speak, is seized individually, the thin
sheet of water flowing down is retarded
in its course by thousand thirsty little
plants, by the lines of cultivated
herbage, and by the hedges of shoots
and trees. 1t is compeded to tarry q
little on each terrace to slake the thirst
of the ground, and when it caches the
lower end of a furrow it spreads itself
cut on the fiattenod bed there prepared
for it. Stopped at every barrier, it
| loses its vital force on every hand, and
finally, from resting place TO resting
place, and from descent 10 desc ent, it
arrives, after a thousand retardations,
and still limpid, in the channel which
conveys it to the rive. The violence
of torrents is occasioned by an infini-
tude of elements infinitely minute; an
the system of extinction consists in ex-
tinguishing each of these elements with
out disregard 'ng one; it is an accumla-
ton of infinite NAL Titles. The Sec
ondary ravines are blocked up, their mi
mute ramifications intercepted, the lesser
fianks filled up, and finally there are
spread over the soil, completely to diffuse
them, the innumerable threadlets [of
waterl divided and subdivided like the
! fibres of a root
The best single work from which one
can get an idea of this great triumph
is 'sneboisement in France" by j.