Читать книгу Walking in the Cevennes. 31 walks and the Tour of Mont Lozere онлайн

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In 1871 the chestnut forests were hit by disease called‘la maladie d’encre’and this, together with the exodus of the population, was the death knell of this noble tree. Two-thirds of the splendid chestnut woods have disappeared, cut down for their excellent wood, but have been replaced by other species, such as the Austrian pine, which do not need looking after. However, hundreds of chestnut trees still remain, most of them untended and some of magnificent size; they are a symbol of the Cevennes and of a tree that can nourish a whole population.

The Silk Industry

The other tree that is a symbol of the Cevennes is the mulberry. Again it was planted for a specific reason – to feed the silk worms whose cocoons furnished the silk thread to make clothes and stockings, the main economic resource of the region. Sericulture, or the art of making silk, started at the end of the 13th century but was at its height in the 17th.

Mulberry trees were planted at altitudes of up to 600m beside the roads and fields in convenient places where the leaves could be easily picked. Two tons of leaves were required to nourish 33g of eggs when they hatched into worms. Before special incubators were constructed in the 18th century, the eggs were kept warm in special sacks hung under the blouses and skirts of the women!