, 1873-11-08

80 per cent of the land is covered by
forests, is the country of all Europe
most Astounding in water the 10000
square miles of the Russian steppes (naked
land) are the most deficient in Europe
along the Volga the destruction Of the
forests has been |ruinous to navigation at
one time the river is so low, that islands
rise IN the very midd e, and at other times
it OVerflOWs it's banks In the Norwegian
National Gazette Mr.. s. Brun relates, how
he was an eyewitness to the destruction
OF large tracts of forests, by which the
land became so dried up, after a few years,
that the cultivation of trees became impos-
sible now such a thing is no longer an
uncommon sight in ~Norway.-In the
neigbbOurhood of C0nStantjn0pIe there is a
wood of oaks and beech trees, which is
protected by the laws, because the Turks
know, that it supplies the water to the
springs Of the town.-Whcn Napoleon was
sent to ST Helena, the English government
established a garrison in Ascension, which
was nothing but a barren rock IN the course
often yearS the garrison succeeded in form
ing a layer Of mould and in making gar
dens and plantations, when suddenly q spring
Of water burst forth.-In Russia it is forbid
den to cut down or injure trees to a certain
distance from the rivers, and q French lar
Of Juoe 1859 mentions the prcseycatjon of the
forests us necessary TO the crist nee Of springs
and 1%jUulcts.
We shall now only add a few statements
concerning Sutherland, because that coun-
try bears the visible effects not only of the
destruction of forests, but also the system
of planting trees, to which people have
been driven in order to counteract the evil
done. The forests have there been felied
on so large a scale and so rapidly, that the
same generation, which saw the trees dis
appear, saw the consequences thereof.
Each Canton has its own legislation also
in matters concerning the treatment Of the
forests; but so striking was the importance
of the destruction OF lhe forests, that the
Federal Council felt the necessity Of max
ing it a subject appertaining to the l0hole
Confederation. tn 1888 it caused an in
vestigatioo Of all the circumstances, and
then made use of its authority to introduce
general compulsory measures for the pre-
s2rVatlOn and extension OF the forests.
In the Community of Labruguiere there
is a forest of over 1000 acres of land, and
through this forest runs a river Cauman
which puts severat mills in motion. The
Community, which itself owns the forest,
cut down the trees beyond reasonable pro-
portions, in spite OF the objections of the
forest-authoritios, which By degrees altered
the character Of the river;S after every
tolerably abundant rain its power was
much increased, and it burst down upon
the valley, dragging along with it large
quantity OF earth and stones, which partly
continue to choke the river, and sometimes
the force was SO great, that it was impos-
sible to stop the miIl-wheels. In sumner
all this was changed, as then the river
after some time of dry weather almost
ceased running, and often could not yield
water enough for a single channel, and it
was no rare thing, to see all the mills per-
fectly at rest. In 1910 the eyes of the
people were opened, and they began to
improve the forest and undertake new
planting of trees. They succeeded: the
river has now returned to its original state,
the sudden rises have ceased, and it is only
after six or eight hours from the beginning
of the rain, that some change of the river
is observed, when it rises steadily and falls
just as steadily in summer all the mills
are in motion and have each water enough