The morning call., 1893-10-01

i: ..'TIhe action oIVegetaIlon Is net C9uHpeu
merely to imbibng the water fallins from
the clouds; it often also assists the super
> abundant moisture In penetrating the IN
terror of the ground. Trees after they
have received the water upon their foliage
let it trickle down drop by droron the
gradually soften ed earth, and thus: taclil-
; tate the gentle permeatien of the moisture
: to the substratum; another part OF the
rain water running down. the trunk and
along the roots at once finds its way 10 the
lower strata. *0n mountain slopes the
moses and the freshly growing carpet Of
alpine plants swell like spODges when they
are watered with rain or melted snow. and
retain the moisture in the iuterstices OF
their leaves and stalks until the vegetable
mass is thoroughly saturated and the
LIQUID surplus flows away. Peat moses
especially absorb "a very considerable
quantity of water and form great feeding
reservoirs for the springs which gnsh out /
at a lower level. The immense fields OF
peat which cover hundreds and thousands
. of acres on the mountain slopes OF lreland
ana Scotland may, Notwithstanding their 4
elevation and inclined positions, be c0nsld- 4
cred as actual lacusuiDe basins contain
ing millions of tons of water dispersed
among their innumerable leaflets. The
superabundant water of these tracts OF
peat mosses issues forth in springs IN the
plains below" -
Vegetation therefore plays great part
in the Irrigation of the earth. Solar power
gives Us all the fresh water on the land, /
raising 1t from the sea inyapOr and by
generating atmospheric currents. also
through its heat, distributing the vapOr in:
rain and snow. Mountain ranges and
forests, as we'll as great stretches OF con-
H., t-s,pf
lakes, are powerful factors in modifying
rainfall and climate. and study: or the
Hptenomena of meteorofOgy enables US to-:
comprehend why some regions are favored
and fertile, while others, with apparently
equally good soil and vivifyIng tempera-
rture, are uninviting or depressing for human
babitation. -
We can do nothing to alter the physical
conformation of countries or continents IN
their geographic or lacustrine features, or
change the course of their rivers: AS far
as mans influence can be eXerted the
mountains are everlasting and the level OF
the lakes established, But man can and
does exert notable influence on climate
by the wisdom or the Tecklessness and
ignorance, culpaDe for the most part.
which he dis sDlays in dealing with the
forests of the earth, and the time has
come in the United States and Canada, as
in other parts of the world, when science
SuOulO Suiub llc III III ldUN VI SusCi
in regulating everywhere any: further
tampering with our forests. -.
1t is not necessary to stop lEHa bering it
Is only necessary-but $mpeyaCiveiy neces-
sary-to regulate il. We're famine of
timber the only consequence of the de-
struction of the magnificent forests which
still flourish over vast areas, the deprIya-
tion might be borne with equanimity, for
timber could be procured from either
regions Of the earth yet denselv afTOrested.
But that is enlv minor consequence of the
evil of findiseTimlnate arbOreal denudation.
The whole country would be modified ad-
versely. Agriculture would be impossible
over large tracts: the climate would be
changed by increased radiation and re-
sultaut aTidity, with intense heats and
arctic colds in rapid alienation; the sur
face drainage would be accelerated, and
the flooding of rivers common; the very.
winds would be rendered more destructive
in storm and hurricane.
These deductions may :savor of calamity
panic. but they are amply supported by
the evidence of what has haprened else
where. 1:.-: -:
Spain owes its degeneracy and back
wardnesS rs country, fallen from its
greatness and even pre-eminenca in the
sixteenth century. more to its deforesta-
tioB and loss of fertility than to any de-
cline in the physical stamina of its people.
1t no longer has food for a teeming popu-
lati0n. 1t has great area, but the popu-
lation of 100000 are poor, and the ma
tional finances areln wretched state and
likely to remain so. There is actually in
Spain an area of about 2G00 square miles
without lnhabltants-a tract deserted as
if it formed part OF the Sahara. Irrigation
would restore the wastes to luxuriant veg
citation, but where is the rain to come
from? and without rain how are the rivers
10 supply water? More than that, Span
ish floods are a good deal due to the
rapidity with which the gathering grounds
run eff the rainfall Without forests there
Is diminished check upon the rush of
waters after heavy rains. Spain has
almost the smallest percentage o her acre
age in forest of any county in Europe,
and like England, which, however, has
passion for trees. is almost the only coun-
try without state regulation of forestry,
although it now has school. Portugal
has suffered from similar ignoring of the
laws of nature and sweeping away her
forests.
All the Mediterranean countries, in
cluding Italy. have fallen off in produc-.
tivity from the palmy times of the Romans
and Greeks. Sicily, for instance, is a
mere shadow of what il was when cole
nized by the Greeks and cultivated lux
uriantly during rentufies. The timber.
save at the base of Etna, has disappeared.
France also has suffered, but remedial
planting has done much to retrieve the
deterioration, and care of what forests
there are. as. well as wise projects of re-
afforestation, show that this country is
fully awake to-. the value of trees In the
economy of nature. The periodical floods
in the Rhone and Saone valleys are be-
lieved to be due to the clearing away of
the timber belts. and the river that used
to cause disaster by floods has ceased to be
dangerous by the growth of planted wood
lands. Northern Africa has been bene-
fitted, in Algiers. for instance, by fresh
timber culture. and il can scarcely be sup
posed that ancient Carthage supported its
population on the comparatively treeless
soil which now forms the littoral of Tunis.
Iyndal has shown that but for the
watery vapor which is in our atmosphere
all life on the earth would perish in a.
night. The suns heat would be over
powering by day and the radiation by.
night so excessive that descent of tenn:
perature beyond endurance would be in-i
eyitable. 1t is owing to the drvness of the
air that there are such extremes Of heat
and cold in the Sahara and over the high
plateaux of Asia, and in California we
owe the tempering of the summer heats
and the cool nights to radiation through a
dry atmosphere. On this coast we need
all the moisture we can conserve, and as
tributary to that the forests Of the coast
range and the high Sierras are important.