Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-12
TREE PLANTING,
Not Hnongh Importance Given 60 III
Subject by the Government or b. thu

Subject by the Government OF b. the
People.
Although a great deal has been writ
ten about tree planting and its rela-
tons to the rainfall of a country, still
there does not as yet seem to be
enough Importance given to the SUBJ
ject by the Government or by the peo-
pie. In many countries and districts
which once were celebrated for their
fertility, agriculture can not now be
carried on at all on account of the
diminished rainfall, consequent on de-
nuding the country of forests and bush.
For instance, Palestine, the northern
shores of the Mediterranean, Greece and
parts of Spain. The mountains of Es-
tremadura and Murcia have been
stripped of the forests and there is now
no rain there for eight or ten months,
which forbids agriculture, while Cata-
lonia and Valencia are covered with
wood andpossess a moist and productive
soil. Prof. Lindley observes of Mauri-
thus: eff this island should in time be-
come barren, it will undergo the fate
which usually attends the destruction
or absence of forest in countries ex-
posed to great solar heat" Blanqui
says of the Cape Verde Islands: 1.-The
terrible droughts which devastate them
must be attributed to the destruction of
forests. On the other hand, in South
America the appearance of forest on
cleared land was followed by a rising
of the waters of Lake Tacaragua.H
Again, Blanqui says: 'In St. Helena
the wooded surface has extended and
the rain has increased in proportion.
1t is now double what it was during the
residence of Napoleon" The same
authority says: 'In Egypt recent
plantations have caused rain. Ths
rainfall in Egypt was as low
as twelve inches in a year. but
by planting some millions of trees
by Mahomet Ali the rainfall has been
brought up to forty inches. When the
Mormons first settled in Utah they
found the district barren, water had to
be brought almost incredible distances
in wooden pipes; trees we're carefully
planted and nou1ished with the water so
brought, and now the district may be
termed the garden of the world, and is
not dependent on water brought a dis
tance, but enjoys a steady rainfall"
In Ascension the replanting of a
mountain caused a spring which had
dried up after telling the wood to flow
again with its former abundance, the
wood, having been cut down on the
sides of the mountain, had dried up
the spring at its base. The following
is from "Proctor's Light Science:
eve may point out in this place the
important connection which exists be-
tween the rainfall of a country and the
amount of forest land. We notice
that in parts of America attention is
paid with marked good results to the
influence of forests in encouraging
rainfall. We have here an instance in
which cause and etfeat are interchange
able. Rain encourages the growth of
an abundant vegetation, and abundant
vegetation in turn aids to produce a
state of the superintendent atmos-
phere which encourages the precipita-
ton OF rain; the consequence is that it
is very necessary to check before it is
too late the processes which lead to the
gradual destruction of forests. If these
processes are continued and the climate
has become excessively dry, it is al
most impossible to remedy the mis-
chief, simply because the want of
moisture is destructive to the trees
which may be planted to encourage
rainfall. Thus, there are few processes
more difficult Gas has been found in
parts of Spain and elsewhere) than
the change of an arid region into a
vegetation-coyered district. In fact,
if the region is Il of great extent, the
attempt to effect such a change is al
most a hopeless one. On the other
hand, the contrary process-that is to
attempt to change a climate that is too
moistinto one of less humidity-is in
general attended with not much diff
Guilty. A judicious system nearly al
ways leads to the desired result. 1t
appears to be generally believed that
trees produce the following effects:
They increase the amount OF rainfall.
This they probably effect thus: They
lower the temperature and thus II
the moisture-laden air first to become
visible as clouds, and secondly to be
precipitated as rain. They intercept,
as it We're, tap the vapor-charged
winds. They supersede the state of
tension ana pOlaflZatlOn winch exists
when an electrified cloud is above
them by silently ~discharging the
electricity. 1t is well known that a
moderate amount of rain falls upon
the ocean far away from land, and it
may be thought by some that the alb
sence of trees can not reduce the rain
fall to an amount less than the fall at
sea, which may be considered the nor
NAL fall. That from some cause or
other a less amount of rain may fall
upon land than sea, is evident from
the existence of the rainless districts
Of North Africa, Mexico and Peru. In
order to attract rain it has been shown
that the surface must be covered with
objects like trees which produce dimin-
ution of temperature.'-sam Fran
cleco No.oo75nIo