The New York herald., 1873-10-18


mon property, mutiated and destroyed. Germany
Is IN both cases the chief sufferer here, since she
commands the Elbe and the Rhine; and II were
quite possible for Bohemia on the one hand and
Switzerland on the other to seriously interfere
with the navigation OF these rivers did they choose
TO carry the destruction Of the forests as hereto
fore. IL Is IN such cases that the want OF inter.
national treaties are seen. Prussia hersell ana
most OF the German States rational forest
culturlsts taking good care to preserve and cult-
vate their forests, and have good cause TO protest
against the forest crimes committed py theu
neighbors.
MAN CAN DESTROY RIVERS; HE cAN CREATE THEM.
Many rivers have totally disappeared or nave
been reduced to mere streams py an irrational ana
neinous telling ol tne forests IN ,ne eav IN IN
name The classic lands OF antiquity are rich IN
sad lessons OF deorestation me springs ana
brooks OF Palestine are dry and the irutiulness OF
the land has disappeared. The Jordan IS four feet
lower than it was in the New Testament Gays.
Greece and Spain suffer TO this day severely rom
the effects destroying their forests. Many parts
OF the Kingdom OF Wurtemberg nave been rendered
almost barren by the telling OF the trees In Hun
gary the periodically returning drought Is univer-
sally attributed 10 the exterminaton oil the lorest
We attribute the present uniruitluness OF ASIA
Minor and Greece to the destruction OF the WOODS
steppes ruins and tombs have taken the place OF
what was the highest culture. SARDINIA ana
Sicily were once tne granass 0 a'a ny Nv Uu the an
clent poets on the other hand, man can improve
the condition OF me land In which he llves more
slowly indeed but equally as certainly, by cultivat-
ing ana preserving the forests. In earlier years
reliable authorities have told us that In the Delta
upper Egypb tnere were only I'VE OF SlA udls vi
rain in the year, but that since the time when
Mehemet ALI caused some 20, ,000 900 Of trees TO be
planted the NUMBER OF days OF rain In the year mas
increased to Iorty-fve or forty-sx The Suez Canal
has pl oduced remarkable results Ismaila is built
on what was a sandy desert, but since the ground
has become saturated with canal water trees,
bushes and plants have sprung up as II by magic,
and with the temperance OF the vegetation the
climate has changed. Four or five years ago rain
1865 to May. 1859, fourteen days OF rain were re-
corded, and once such rain storm that the ma
tyes looked upon IT. ~ as s supernatural event event.
May 10, 1863, and IN the English journals.)
AUSTRIA.
Austria herself has very striking instance OF
chan.e OF climate being produced by deforestat on
and replantlng. We refer TO that stretch OF miles
OF country over which the railroad passes near
Trieste, as you go from Austria to Italy, bleak,
barren, stony, with hardly earth sufficient Tor
weed to take root in, stretch of barrenness on
which some aread anathema seems 10 rest. 1t is a
curse that rests on II called down from Heaven by
man. Five hundred years ago and an Immense
forest stood on the ground where now Is nothing
but a sea OF stone. VenetianS came and they
hewed down the forest IN order 10 procure wood
ior ples and Tor mercantile purposes, and took the
at your feet. After the trees had been
1eled the result was that the storms
soon washed away the earth no longer
pro eced by the trees, and 1T took very few years
1or the once blooming forest TO become dreary
waste. twenty-five years ago and rain ceased to
lall on this region. The attention OF the Austrian
government was called to the necessity OF doing
something to preserve the communities living IN the
district rom impoverishment, and IL was decided
to plant some millions OF olive trees, in order to
vegetate the hlllsldeS. 1t was difficult under
taxing, the very soil TOR planting the young trees
had 10 be transported by the baSketful, but the
result was equal 70 the expectations. After care
1ul culture of some years the trees thrived, the
rains were Induced to fall regularly and benef-
ciay, and In course OF time 1t is PROBABLE taat
the immense district will be again given up TO
culture and prosperity. And i we need st
more striking instance OF mans power TO alter
the climate, We need but refer TO
SALT LAKE AND THE UTAH TERRITORY,
where a desert has been converted into q blooming
country, where rivers are filled with wafer that
twenty years ago were nearly dry, and the salt
Lake itself has increased seven ieet above It's
original level Brigham Young has taught US these
very important lacts. In this he has rendered
the state some service" that Is II the State Is able
to appreciate 1t.
The sguardian forests,n to which the second
resolution OF the International Congress refers
are apparently indispensable in the household OF
nature to protect sea coasts, exposed places and
the mountain valleys. The coasts OF the province
OF Prussia, with the exception OF fruitful, amber
rich damland are an almost uninterrupted broad
strip sand-dune down, 200 miles long and per-
haps mile broad, with sand hills reaching to
height oil 10 feet. Originally these sand mounds,
which were apparently work oil nature to
protect the land against the encr0achments oil the
sea, were covered with pine growths. In the past
centuries trees were felled. Soon the sparse vege-
tation died on ana the sand driited away, and on
careful examination proved that these very sand
hllls which under their forest cover stood frm as
sentinels, receded at the rate OF from fifty TO
hundred eet per year. In the course OF the past
century and the first decades OF the present whole
thus buried 10y the drt sand. At the commence
ment OF tins century the work OF reforesting
ana 1 az na afe ou lgm
excepting those belonging TO communities and
private persons, and not the state Wherever on
sandy coasts the forests are destroyed
THE SEA ENCRoACHEs
with slow but terrible certainty. Where the rocky
coasts are deforested bleak, rocky barrenness IS
left and the desert district encroaches inland with
every year. Deiorest the mountains and tie val
ley 1t shelters suffers in the loss OF ruitiulness
nd ha fnup pAatIn yvhr q WQn ndad
mountain would prevent, by checking the sudden
rain downfall Switzerland has suffered severely
from the effects OF deforestlng the mountains
Professor Landolt, who spoke to the International
Congress, attributes the devastatons caused in
the Alps BY avalanches and land slides 10 the de-
structlon OF the forests. The poet Schiller attriD-
utes 10 the forest the post OF guardian when, in
his "Wiliam Teln little Walter says:-
Fat Father, ss true, rue, that ITO on the mountain mo there
With cruel blow, his axe INTO Their r9otst
Are bound and II we inJure them the hand
Is cursed until we reach the grave.
TKLL-The trees sacred TO us; that is true.
Long since the village Altdorf buried meath
Their load, i they had not, ike lsndwehr, stood
Above 10 guard IT
or all central European countries Switzerland
occupies the most important position as regards
the preservation OF the forests considering that in
her mountains are the sources OF two or the
greatest rivers OF this Continent. But nowhere,
perhaps, has the devastation Of the forests been
carried on so recklessy, and centuries OF careful
cultivation win not make good what the past few
attributes the fearful foundations which took
place in Switzerland in September and
October 1868, the destruction OF the forests on
the mountains. Sannure, IN his Voyages dams les
Alps- SAYS tnat from 177s to 1896 Lakes Neuicnate
Bie and Murten constituted single sheet OF
water but since the destruction OF the surround
ing forests have so far sunk as to form three dis
tinct lakes The herds are the greatest foes on the
mountains TO the new growths OF wood but the
truth Is that the people themselves are intensely
ignorant OF the value OF trees TO them and their
well-being. The people, especially the herdsmen,
aak fFaA m nf N
years there has been considerable agitation in
favor Of preservation and culture Of the forest. The
same may be said OF Italy, where, some years ago,
tine academies OF Florence, Milan, Modena, Palermo
and Pisano offered premiums for the best methods
OF reforestlng mountain surfaces.
IL was easy, unfortunately, TO I'LL column after
column with such cases OF
DEFOREsTATfOS AND ITS BANEFUL EFFECT.
More difficult by far IL Is TO adduce cases where
the forest has proved OF direct striking benefit,
it is not long since people began to think
the forests were Of no use at all. The cases
OF Egypt and Trieste, and OF salt Lake, are valu-
able TO We have not touched upon the i'm
pOrtant Influences which the forests admitted