The weekly herald. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 1906-19??, 1908-12-10

~ a single mulberry tree IN ellhV'
Of these provinces, and the culture
Of the sllkworm has moved farther
souta, TO regions OF atmospheric
moisture, As an illustration Of the
complete change in the rivers, wo
may take Polo's statement that a GER
vain river, the Hun 10, was so large
and deep that merchants assembled II
from the sea with heavily laden
boats, today this river is simply
yroad sandy bed, with shallow, rapid
currents wandering hither and thlth-
er across II, absolutely unnavigahle
Gut we do not have to depend upon
written records The dry wells and
the wells with water far below the
former watcrmark bear testimony to
the good days Of the past and the
evil days OF the present Wherever
the native vegetation has been al
lowed to remain, as, for instance,
here and there around a sacred tenn
pie or imperial burying ground, there
are stlll huge trees and tangled jun
gle, fragments OF the glorious aY'ient
forests. The thick, matted forest
growth formerly covered the noun
tains to their SUBMITS. All natural
factors favored this dense forest
growth, and as long as it was per-
mitted to exist, the plains at the
foot Of the mountains we're among
the most fertile on the globe, and
the whole country was D garden, Not
the slightest effort was made, how
ever, to prevent the unchecked cut
ting of the trees, or to secure re-
torestation. Doubtless for many cen
turtles the tree-cutting by the inhabi-
;ants Of the mountains worked but
slowly in bringing about the changes
that have now come to pass; doubt
less for generations the inroads were
scarcely noticeable. But there came
time when the forest had shrunk
sufficiently to make each years cut
ting serious matter, and from that
time on the destruction proceeded
With appalling rapidly; for of course
each year OF destruction rendered
the forest less able to recuperate, less
able to resist next years inroad.
BIG TREES DISAPPEARED
SOME CENTURIES AGO.
Meyer describes the ceaseless pro-
gress of the destruction even now,
when there is so little left to de-
stroy. Every morning men and boys
go out armed with mattox or axe,
scale the steepest- mountain sides,
and cut down and grub out, root and
branch, the small trees and shrubs
still to be found. The big trees dis
appeared centuries ago, so that now
one of these is never seen save in
Nhe neighborhood' OF temples, where
they are artificially protected; and
even here 1t takes all the watch and
care of the tree-loving priests to pre-
vent their destruction. Each fam
lly, each community, where there is
no common care exercised in the in
terest of all Of them to prevent de-
iorestation, finds its profit in the inn
mediate use OF the fuel which would
otherwise be used by some other fam
lily or some other community. In
the total absence Of regulation OF the
matter IN the interest OF the whole
people, each small group is newt
ubly pushed into a policy Of destruC-
ton which can not afford to take
thought for the morrow This is
Just one OF those matters which It is
fatal to leave to unsuperyised indi-
yidual control. The forests can only
be protected by the state, by the
Nation and the liberty Of action of
individuals must be conditioned up
on what the state or Nation deter
mines to be necessary for the COM
mon safety.
The lesson Of deforestation in Chi
ma is a lesson which mankind should
have learned many times already
from what has occurred in other
places. Denudation leaves naked
soil; then outlying cuts down to the
bare rock; and meanwhile the rock
waste buries the bottomlands. When
the soil Is gone, men must go; and
Ihe process does not take long.
This ruthless destruction OF the
forests in northern China has
/ brought about, or has aided In bring.
Ing about, desolatlon, just as the
destruction Of the forests in central
Asia aid in bringing ruin to the once
rich central Asian cities; just as the
destruction Of the forests in northern
Africa helped towards the ruin OF a
region that was a fertile granary in
Roman days. Shortsighted man
whether barbaric, semi-cvilized, OF
| u,b "a la ,,,Ipto1ynnI,, roVorlg No Fan,