, 1874-04-18
Respectfully
RAIN IN ST. CROIX.

The drougntS OF latter years nave udtuIdlly
made people ask if the amount Of rain in this
island was not gradually diminishing and if not,
as a Mr.. Hubbard expressed itin a rather curious
letter to the Torrey botanical Club, reproduced
in this paper some time ago, the desiccation
of this island was going on slowly but steadily"
meaning that the quantity of rain grew less for
every year.
The aspect of st. Croix in many places would
certainly warrant a supposition like that express
sed above and if this scorched appearance origi-
mated from an annually decreasing amount of rain
there would indeed be every reason to despair OF
the future of this country.
Fortunately figures show that there is no
foundation in suppOsing the annual average
amount of rain to be less now than 30 or 40 years
ago, and it would be very premature to Judge from
the three last years that a general change in the
climatic conditions of the island had taken place.
On the whole it is very unlikely, that Il small
SPOT like this island, however altered its surface
might become by the action of man can have any
material influence upon the fall of rain on it.
The great evil with this place and to which
many bad effects must be ascribed is the fact,
that the rain, which actually falls on it, is not
allowed to benefit the soil as much as it ought to
do from the unwise interference of man in de-
stroVinr the natural conditions for its being put to
the proper use, without putting any artificial ones
in their place. =,
From this lamentable circumstance are derived
to a great extent the pitiful consequences OF an
occas onal dry year, the effects OF which are telt
much more heavily from the shortsighted pro-
ceedings of man himself
BY cutting down trees year after year without
planting any new ones brooks and wells, which
were to be nourished by the moisture collected
beneath them, will dry up even during q short
drought, and man and beast suffer from want OF
water and food, fruit and provisions grow scarce
and the general calamity of a small crop IS two
fold augmented.
This point, to which / have called attention
once before in this paper, cannot be laid too
much stress upon, and it is most earnestly to be
hoped that both Government and the Colonial
Council as well as all private persons will do their
best to prevent this practice from being continu-
ed. 1t cannot but make a painful impression
upon every friend of this island, especially at Il
time like this, when every body laments the
effects of the drought, to see two beautiful brooks
within the last few months being entirely or
partly denudated of their shady and luxurious
trees, the work of nature for many years and
many of them useful to man by yielding nourlsh-
ing fruit, the consequence of which doubtlessIy
will be the same as has taken place with many
others in this country, viz. the drying up OF the
formerly abundant flow of water.
The evil arising from this way OF acting, so
justly stigmatized over the whole civilized world
can be remedied only by preserving the existing
trees and planting new ones, and the benenclaI
eU6CCS OF CnlS measure Will SOoH O0 6CoH' 1A 90
stated above, the annual amount of rain cannot
be said to be less on an average now than Az
years ago, beyond which time no regular obser-
Vations seem to exist
Dry years have occasionally occurred, even
as far back as 1861, and the driest year on record,
which has been observed properly, occurred 81
years ago, viz. 1912, when the annual amount Of
rain was only 1876 English inches according to
the observations of the late Major Lang of ELIAS
Retreat. No such terrible drought has fortunate
ly occurred since. Even the year of 1873,
which approaches it next in regard to dryness'
had still 29.4 inches or nearly twice the amount
and it can be expected, that the present year Will
turn out a favourable one, the amount OF rain
during the first three months having exceeded
the average by 2.3 inches already. The annual
average of rain in this Island for the period OF IA
years from l838~I85l incl. according to Major
Lang's observations was only 33.5 English
inches, = (Maximum 54" in 1850, Minimum 1916" in
1922, whilst according to my calculations as
stated below the annual average for the following
% years from 1852-1873 incl. is 44.H English
inches. This would seem to represent a very
encouraging increase of rain in this place, but IN
comparing these two figures, it must be remem-
O ~