The Progress., 1897-07-03

woods act like large sheet of water as
an origin of local winds On the other
hand, again, they constitute a mechan-
ical barrier against chilling north and
hot southern blasts. The prairie farmer
well knows what q windbreak Of few
rows of trees will do in adding to tll,
comfort of his homestead and protecting
his young orchards.
But the paramount Office Of the forest
is to preserve soil humidity and to store
up and feed out equally the earth's wa
ter capital. The moss and leaf mold
make vast sponge, taking water from
the air and the clouds, and from this
reservoir paying regular dividends, In
springs, brooks and rivulets, giving up
its resources, too, gradually as they are
most needed. The earth is always most
thirsty and arid where there are the
fewest trees. Again, where the headwa-
tiers OF streams and rivers are denuded
Of forest, not only is the average level
Of flowing water lowered, but the coun-
try is necessarily made subject to occa-
sional tremendous floods. BY this agency
mans handiwork is extensively destroy
ed, and, worst Of all, the soil is washed
away from the slopes and rich valleys
pauperized for years. It is a demonstra-
bic fact that the afforestation of i'm
mense tracts in France, Germany and
the Tyrol has been of incalculable ad-
vantage in lessenillg such cataclysms Of
nature and otherwise blessing the labors
Of the earth tiller. It is not too much to
say that the efficient control of the
earth's resources-that is to say, civil
zation itself-depends more largely on
proper proportion of forest to tillable
soil than on any other single factor.
AS to the sanitary effects of great for
est tracts science is constantly eliciting
new proofs, which come home to the
Oost skeptical. The activity of every
tree in consuming carbonic acid and
breathing out oxygen has long been
known. The balm Of elevated forest at
mosphere. especially in regions of pine
and spruce, has made such districts
natural sanitariums for pulmonary suf-
ferers. So. too, a vast extent Of swamp
has been cleared of malaria by the gen
erous planting OF trees the webwork Of
leaf and twig probably serving as fl
ter in purifying the air of the spores Of
fungi and bacteria
1t seems to be clear, so great is the
importance of the relation Of the forest
to the open land and SO manifold its
aspects, that 1t is one of those problems
which the state can no longer leave alb
solutely to the caprice and selfshness Of
individuals. The individual is for the
most part shortsighted, intent only OIL
immediate utilization for commercial
purposes. The lumberman's outlook
merely covers the stripping of a piece
of woodland for its available timber
and moving to the next, leaving jagged
eyesores of stumps, saplings and under
brush. This it will take from 80 to so
years to renew, even if the forest fire
does not sweep over it with an awful
fury Of flames involving i'll many in
stances confiagratioas extending hun
dreds of square miles, Every year reeks
with such destruction. Thousands of
squatters, too, have been in the habit of
clearing lands by fire, destroying thou
sands of acres to get the use Of hun
dreds for tillage. The breath of fire has
done more than the AK to deforest our