Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-11-24
GERMANY.
The influence of Forests.
Commerce of the Different Eu-
repean Races.

repean Races.
oorrespondencs OF the New York Evening
Post.l
FRANKFORT. .oN-THE-MAIN,l "
, October 81, 1865
There Is probably no country from
which America can learn so useful a les.
son in regard to the value of forest
trees TO man as Germany, for no.
where has the result of ignorance of their
worth been more felt and at the came
time more accurately noted. Science
and experience have long since proved
The great climatic influence OF the forests,
and their importancs TO human welfare
) in regulating the extremes of tempera-
tuTe-tonlng down the excessive hest of
summer by their power of retaining the
evaporation OF the soil which they cover,
lesseniDg the cold of winter by hindering
the radiation Of warmth from the earth's
surface, aud sffording shelter against the
northern winds. A country totally bar
rsn Of forests or but thiDly Overgrown,
indicates an extreme o: temperature. In
the regulation of the fall of rain they are
of incalculable benefit
Many Interesting facts bearing upon
these points hsve lately been brought to-
gether by a German writer in q PAM
phlet entitled 1.-THE Influence OF the For
est" being q lecture delivered before the
LeipFic Polytechnic Society, by DR.. n.
COutzen, Of the Stuttgsrd Polytechnic
School. His facts are drawn not only
from Europesn but other lands.
1t would almost appear, he says, that
man has it in his power to IegulRte the
temperature, to & certain extent, of the
country ia which he dwells. In Cairo,
/ Lower Egypt, Z number OF years ago.
D raj n 70 bsrf cali fv,
OF four years; but since the time of Mo-
banned Ali, twenty TO thirty millions
OF trees have been planted, and the re-
suit is now that the people have from |
thirty TO forty rainy days every year. In |
/ Upper Egypt the reverse is the case. |
In the beginning Of the century it GER !
tainly did not rain there very much, yet |
there was enough; but since the heights |
have been deprived of their covering of |
palm trees, the rain has cessed to fall, |
and, in consequence, fields and meadows |
are rendered unfruitful.
From South America Alexander Won 1
Hum bOldt brings an interesting instance. |
In 1900 he visited Venezuela, and reports /
that the natives living in the valley of |
AragOsy had remarked with great as
tOnishment that lake which lay in the |
middle of the valley had decreased in
volume with every year; the cause of
this he clearly traced to the telling OF q
great number Of trees that grew upon
the surrounding mountains.
In Europe itself, many parts Of Wir-
temburg have been rendered almost bar
rem by the telling of the feTests. The
recent great floods IN Switzerland have
also been attributed, in part, to the
mountain forest robbery. IL January,
1868, the Canton Tessin alone lost six
hundred and seVenty-fiVe Thousand |
francs by the floods. Bot the prsfecs Of
the Drome wr0tes as early ss 1901: "Iu
Yslence and Crest there is no more
wood the mountain declivities are, in
consequence, cut up into millions OF ra-
vinesn
Still, the author by no means sdvo-
Gates that the forests should be permR-
Dent, only that there should be a Law 10
prevent their total eXtirpsti0n; which,
unfortunately, has come about in many
countries.
Many celebrated Germans have earlier
recognized the grand use for which ma {
ture Intended her forest trees. Riehl,
the historian, sSid: "Cut down the
forest and yen destroy the bistcrico-
political society,"" Alexander Won Hum |
bolce said: "By the Telling Of trees
covering the monntains and hills nlsB
prepares, under all zones, for the coming
generation a two fold piague-lsck Of {
fuel and lack of water " The patriot :
Ernst Moriiz Arndt uttered the propb-
ecy: Now will the sx laid 10 the tree :
in many pssts Of Europe become an ak c
which viii be lad 10 the peopie.n DR.. c
Coutsen attributes the deLeriOTstiOn Of c
many races 70 the loss OF the forests, sl1 c
says: Among the woods we find a c
fresh, healthy, strong people. The oaks :
of ancient Germany were as celebrated 3
and powerful as its inhabitants, who C
were the terror OF the Romans. The i
oaks are nov seldom seen, the giant 6
oaks have disappeared sid given place
to pigmes."
The MODgois and Arabs OF Asia are c
also cited as examples OF deterioration. U
The conclusion arrived at, apart frcm ?
the importance Of forests cOnsidert d in 4
their ;estEetic aHd poetic relations, in {
their insstlmsble value fer the produc- e
ton Of water power, and in relation 20 e
industry and agriculture, is, that man =
cannot safely disturb the harmony Of the >
esrth'E organism that he cannot carry '
far the devastation of the woods without {
ineurriug the penalty of his imprudence. U
Ia the taking away OF the forests man e
deprives the earth Of sn iFrepsEaDle {
magG zine of valuable asteriGls for the T
development Snd bsauti {
IyilE Oi uAs OM II me- 6Iu tliC AuDct ECAH ! -
feet, elevating and beautiful picture Of T.
the vegetable creation. He attributes 4
the present unfruitfUlness Of Asia Minor c
and Greece 70 the destruction Of the {
woods: for where once reigued the ?
greatest fr0itfulness snd highest culture, U
are now only steppes, ruins and tOBabE.
Sardinia and Sicily, once the grauRries
OF Italy, have suffered the penalty OF Il
their thoughtlaesuess in exterminating ?
their forests. The 6ncispts have related c
TO us the wonderful proGsct.yepsss of T
these lands two thousand yeaTs ago, Z
when they were praised as the most Q
beautiful IL ths World, and the richness c
of Sicily was certainly astounding. Now, ?
81 is well known, everything lS COM
pletely changed. The reason must be
looked for in the destruction Of the forests
upon the mountains, upon whose gloomy, Z
bald sumnits now the rain falls but sell /
dom, because the attractive power-the ?
forests wanting. Many stseaun5 and
fountains are now dry, which were once J
SOURCES Of fertility TO the surrounding C
lands and the once adgs1ced intellect '
u6l development Of the people hAs given ]
place TO abjeet degradation.
COMMERCE or THE seLAVogIC, LATIN /
AND GERMANIC RACES.
In relation TO the old conflict as to the 2
superiority of one great eihnic group
above another, the following caicula- l
tions, worked out by 3 German writer Z
from the mass Of figures bearing on the s
trade and commerce OF sH nRtlolP, i
brought together by SeherZer in the
+" Geographical Year Book ;" for 1855, I
will be interesting as showing the com
merciai development of8he different na-
tions. The mercantile feet of the three
great groups depends, however, to "a s
great extent upon the geographical posi- 7
tion Of the different countries. Thus the 3
az essentially continental and h
agricultural people, are placed ia an un- \
favorable position; but the extent of 8
coast land of the Romantic countries is at n
least as favorable toward the formation n
of commercial feet as that OF the Ger d
manic In the following calculations d
Belgium has been placed half with the o
Germanio and half with the ROmsEic 9
aroun. Austria hall TO the SclaVouic and q