Brookings County sentinel. (Brookings, Dakota [S.D.]) 1882-1890, 1882-11-30

has been bestowed upon the best man
ner of improving and preserving some Of
the forests of the great west. Every.
thing connected with forest culture and
preservation should be of Importance to
lis, as well as facts relating to the in
fuence of trees upon climate. In a
recent pamphlet written by DR.. Schom-
burgh, the director of tho Botanical
Gardens of Adelaide, Australia, some
new views are presented bearing upon
this subject. Contrary to the opinions
now beginning to be generally accepted
by scientific men, the object Of bis PAPER
is to prove that the destruction of for
ests usually has the effect of reducing
the rainfall, while, on the contrary the
planting of trees broadcast over n
country is one of the best methods which
can be adopted for ameliorstins its
climate and increasing Tire snnaal fall of
rain. Ploughed land attracts moisture
to much greater degree than the un-
broken soil. In considering the effect
which the removal OF forests has had in
altering the climate in South Australia,
the only direct test that could be taken
from the records issued by the govern
ment astronomer is the experience of the
neighbcrhood Of Adelaide. II the time
is divided which has elapsed since 1899
(the year iu which observations were
commencedl into two periods, there is
found for the first an average rainfall
of 22.S inches and for the second one of
PIT inches. It will thus be seen that
on the whole the rain fall of Adelaide is
diminishing, though very slightly, and
it is likely the dinlnution in the amount
of timber has had something to do with
the change. In searching for illus
trations of the effect of treeb on climate,
the writer goes further afield and brings
forward some instances in which he
claims that loss of forests means loss of
rainfall. and Uice uers0. He recalls how
the Russians by burning down some of
the Trans-Caucasian forests at the time
of their struggle with the Circassians,
converted the country from fertile land
into desert simply through the cutting
off of the supply of rain. Similar in
stances Of rain having deserteda country
denuded of forests have occurred in the
Mauritius, in Jamaica, the Azores, andit
may also he added, to a still more re-
markable extent in several of the small
cr West India Islands. No sooner had
the forests of these places been de-
stroyed than the springs and rivulets
began to cease TO flow, the rainfall be.
came irregular, and even the deposition
of dew was almost entirely checked. On
the other hand, it is accepted that
Mehemet Ali increased the fertility in
Egypt enormously by planting trees.
He alone plantedsome 10000, 900 on the
Delta; his successors followed up the
work, and the rainfall rose from six
inches to forty inches. Planting has
alse produced remarkable effects in
France and Algiers. Extensive regions
have been planted with gums and other
trees which, for the most part. grew to
about thirty or forty feet in height, and
it is noticed that the quantities of rain
and dew which now fall on the adjacent
land are double what they formerly
were. In the United States steps should
be taken to replenish denuded portions
of our land with timber, both by plant
ing and the setting ont Of such varieties
as are of the greatest value. If not, the
day will surely come when we shall re-
pent of our prodigality and culpable in
difference.