The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-07-27
SIZE TIE TREES,
From the Detroit Tribune.

LII tue <AUSuoI uuuUCI VI Tue Opu
lar Science Monthly, DIR. F. l.. Oswald
writing On The Climatic Influence Of
Vegetation" makes a strong plea fol-
the preservation OF our forests. The
facts which he cites in behalf of his ar.
gument are of great interest and in.
struction. and may profitably receive q
local application here
Since the advent of the Christian
religion says DR.. Oswald, " the physi,
cal history Of our planet records the
steady growth Of the desert, which MADE
its first appearance on the dry table.
land of Southern Syria, and gradually
spreading eastward down the Euphrates
toward Atghanistan, aud westward along
both shores Of the Mediterranean, now
extends from eastern Persia to the west.
ern extremity of Portugal, and sends
ITS harbingers into Southern France and
the southeastern provinces of European
Russia. Like a yirulent cancer, the
azoic sand drifts Of the Moab desert have
eaten their way into Southern Europe
aud Northern Africa, aud dried up the
litc-springs of districts which beyond
all dispute were once the garden re-.
gions of tie earth" Southern Spain.
from Gibralter to the head waters OF the
Tagus, now supports only one tenth Of
its former population; Greece about
one twentieth. AS late as go A. d.
TrIpoli had a population of 100000;
now only 10000 are left The climate
OF this country once resembled that of
the Southern Alleghanies now it is so
hot that no open air labor can be per.
formed between the hours of nine A. NJ.
and five p. NJ, and steamboats, passing
near the coast in summer are compelled
to keep up continual shower of arti.
fetal rain to prevent their hands from
being overcome oy the heated air which
comes from the barren hills. The riv.
ers have sunk to the size of the small
est tributaries, and the annual rainfall
has decreased till failure of crops has
become chronic complaint
All this change is due to the whole.
sale destruction Of the forests, which
have so far disappeared that of the
forest area Of Italy and Spain in the
days of Pliny the Elder { A. d. 70)
about two acres in one hundred are left,
aud in Greece hardly one. Even in the
almost inaccessible reccsses of the Tau
rus range few remnants of wood remain
from Bokhara TO the Golden Horn there
is not a stick or brush that can grow up
before the natives lay violent hands up.
on it. The Mediterranean, once forest
lake. is DOW surrounded by dusty and
barren coasts, often without a vestige
Of organize life FOR hundreds of miles.
In some parts of our own country the
extent of forest land is so vast that a
liberal clearing by the husbandmau is
Of advantage in counteracting the excess
Of moisture and miasmatic tendencies
but in other parts the limit has already
been overstepped. Ohio and Indiana
and the southern portions of Kentucky,
and Michigan have now greater pro
portion of treeless area than have Aus.
irla and the North German Empire,
where cultivation has been going on for
a thousand years. The northern part of
OHIO is kept fertile by the lakes, but
the central portion and many of the
river counties have began to suffer from
drought So arid has the once
famous Blue Grass region of Kentucky ,
become that many of the stock raisers
are moving toward the Cumberland !