Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-05-08
FLOWING THE
LAND OF EUROPE
Damage to the Soil Will Cost War
ring Nations Millions of Dollars.
Effects Will Last Half a Century.
Penalties for Killing Trees.
BH SAMUEL HARRIS

w HOUSE OF commons his estimate. or tht
cost Of the war to Great Britain, he said tina
the Government expenditures for the f1rs
year would reach the total Of $3.50, 900 900
truly staggering amount of money The
cost Of war. however, s inadequately reck-
oned by reference to the sums which pass
| into and out of the treasures of warning
| Governments, and one item in the total
which far has received scant attention
| from the economists despite it's Importance
| is that which concerns the injury to the soil
! of Europe. The damage Is inflicted princl-
! paly in the regions where the actual fighting
| is taking place, though some Of It occurs In
| England.
| Dr. o. s. Morgan, of Columbia University,
a well-known agricultural expert declares
that at will take two to five years for the
soil of the devastated area to recover from
It's injuries" and that "some of the i'll eff
fects of war on European land will last half
a century" The area thus harmed may be
computed as many thousand square miles.
1t includes much Of the most productive soil
in the world.
Soil is not dirt It's efficiency depends on
many things which are only suggested by the
terms drainage" enrichment" and till
age" Soil must be worked. Soil is benefited
by being rested" but not by neglect and
abuse. Neglect and abuse constitute the
treatment" which the soil in the actual the
atres of war is now receiving. The Germans
call the soil "boden,' because it is body or
organism with regular bodily processes of
eating and digestion and of the creation Of
life. It is a wonderful mechanism and rebels
against Ill usage.
Every Inch Valuable
The soil of Central Europe Is worked by
tba ippb tbor !, by tIa IN
space Is wasted on fences. A system of in
tensive culture yields three or four crops a
year AS much as $1,000 worth Of produce is
grown on one acre in year by the market
gardener in the vicinity of Paris. Such ground
Is correspondingly valuable. Its value lies
chiefly in foot deep layer OF top soil. which
the gardener has created with tillage and
various fertilizers The top soil is considered
the property Of the gardener. and If the lat
ter has rented the land and moves to another
place he digs UP the top soil and takes 1t away
with him An acre of such ground may be
injured by war to the extent of several hun
dred dollars, besides the loss in nonproduc-
ton.
1t is. of course, impossible to estimate the
amount of injury done to the soil by the
armies but when we consider the long
stretch of the battle lines and remember that
readily understand that it Is very consider
able. The earth in the regions of military
operations Is gashed with something more
than 5000 miles of deep and wide trenches,
allowing for gaps, but including secondary
and cross trenches. The soil Is disturbed
for at least twice their width Outside the
theatres of war extensive trenching has been
done in preparation for eventualities
Cannon AS Plows
The earth is gouged, too, by Mines shells
and bombs. A mine that blows up half a |
devastates half an acre of ground, |
which would produce enough food to support !
a family or to feed family for year.
shell from 42-centimeter gun digs a hole 80 |
feet in diameter. Besides all this disturb |
ance of the soil, we'll and intensively cul- |
tlvated in peace times is the effect OF lack
Of tillage and proper drainage and of the
growth of weeds and underbrush. There is
also the impoverishment due to lack of such
food as phosphoric acid and nitrates, nor
naly supplied from this country and Chill.
Not only is agriculture being set back for
years from these causes, but another and
similar cost of war is that which rises out
IF the injury of trees and forests and their
A vast number of trees have
,een cut down for use in military operations.
Trees of century's growth have been thus
Utilized. Green timber furnishes material
o line the sides of trenches, to make bomb
proofs, gun shelters, barricades, huts and
roads Wood lots have provided
uel. Entire forests have been burned to dis
odge the enemy The soldiers, for most of
heir purposes, fell the young trees which
ire easiest to handle, and thereby do the
greatest possible harm to a plantation.
"A three-nch shell passing through wood
nay cut down or fatally wound two dozen
,oung trees Readers of the EVENING LEDGER
nay remember Stanley Washburn's descrip-
ion of the appearance of a great forest in
Poland after battle. "The forest for miles
ooks as though a hurricane had swept
through. Trees staggering from their shat
cred trunks and limbs hanging everywhere
how where the shrapnel have been burst
ng."
The Plaques to Come
What has happened to some of the famous
French forests is told in American Fores-
ry," the writer estimating that It will be
0 years before those which have not been
Utterly ruined will become again source
4 revenue, Much of the damage, of course
vas inflicted by the French authorities them
elves, owing to the necessity OF clearing the
round in the vicinity OF Paris when the
utter defenses OF the city were menaced by
he Germans, and all over northern France,
rom one cause or another the forests have
uttered. The forest of Vitrimont has been
azed so has the forest about Neufehateaux.
likewise the forests of Champenoux and
.mance In the Carpathisns there has been
imilar destruction. A country denuded of
Is trees suffers agricuIturally and otherwise
rom erosion. Orchard and shade trees have
ot escaped the hand of war.