Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1890-11-08
TIE USES or FORESTS.
Why Trees Are Valuable Apart from the
Question of Timber Supply.

Why Trees Are Valuable Apart from the
Question OF Timber Supply.
Some time back the world was of
opinion that trees were of value merely
as supplies of timber and that where
building materials could be easily i'm
ported a country slight without any dis
advantage, be laid entirely bare. To be
sure a few far seeing individuals, such
as Bernard Palissy. were aware of the
influence of woodlands as regulators of
climate Similar views were taken in
antiquity by Critias, who spoke vaguely
of the sickness of the country in conse-
quence OF the deforestation, and in 1910
by Fernando Colon. who declared that
the rains in Madeira, the Azores and the
Canaries had become rarer since the trees
had been cut down. But in spite of
these warnings the process of clearing
was carried on in most countries with
reckless haste.
This havoc was not arrested until its
consequences were pointed out by Hum
boldt, BoussingauIt and Becquerel, and
by still more authoritative teacher, ex-
perience, who on this occasion seems to
have charged unusually high school fees.
One of the most important effects of
woods upon climate is that they pro-
mote rain The theory of this process is
not perfectly understood, but the facts
themselves are matters of experience.
There are districts on the continent where
the chief rivers have decreased notably
in volume since the clearing of the dis
tricts about their sources. We have seen
a small stream, tributary of the Oder,
which, within the memory Of living per
sons, turned in its course two or three
corn mills. At the time of our visit it
was dry all the summer months, save
Immediately after a thunder storm. In
many districts of southern France the
destruction of the forests has caused
much more striking mischief.
The rain, instead of falling as hereto
fore in moderate showers. now comes in
violent gushes, with long periods of
drought between. AS the natural conse-
guence, the grasses and other low grow
ing plarts perish, their roots wither away,
and the soil, no longer held together by
their fibers, is washed away by the occa-
sional violent rains and carried down
into the beds of the rivers. The hillsides
and the higher plains remain as barren
wastes of sands, gravel and shingle. A
similar process has been going on in
Spain, Italy, Greece, Algeria, Morocco,
and, in short, all around the Mediterra-
mean. Countries which were once the
grainaries of the world, and which sup
ported numerous and thriving popula-
ton, are now little better than deserts.
Nor has this mischief been confined to
Europe. The vegetable wealth of South
Africa, when it first became known to
Europeans, was remarkable.
The Cape was the source of num-
bers of our finest greenhouse plants.
But now vast tracts have been rendered
so desoate that a troop of the colonial
cavalry on the march actually gave three
cheers at the sight of a tree. Even in
the United States, once regarded as emf
nently the land of forests. many regions
have lost, first their vegetation and then
their soil, in consequence of tree telling.
1t may, perhaps here be objected that,
fully admitting all these unfavorable
changes, they may possibly have been
produced by unknown causes, and would
have occurred all the same if the wood
lands had not been interfered with. This
plea can easily be refuted In MANY of
the countries above mentioned replanting
has been undertaken on a large scale by
individuals, by communities, and by
governments, and with the most decisive
results.
Wherever such attempts have been
made the climate becomes less extreme,
the rainfall more uniformly distributed,
and public health is improved. Such
beneficial changes have been distinctly
recognized in northwestern India, where
fertility is gradually returning to the
deserts. In France, within about twenty
years, $50, 200 acres of mountain lands
and nearly the same extent of sandy
coast lands have been replanted of
course at great expense, but with the
Elost satisfactory results. In America.
also, replanting is being vigorously car
ried on. An eminent agricultural au
thority in the United States has given it
as his opinion chat if one-fourth of a
country is left covered with trees, the
remaining three fourths will yield bet
ter return in the shape of crops than it
would if stripped bare. Scientific News.