256 Dependence of the Geographical Relations of Countries 



we may use the expression, an artificial climate, modified in 

 proportion as they are more or less scattered over the 

 country. 



There is not the least doubt that a reduction by 2° R. 

 (4°.5 F.) of the mean temperature, obtained by raising plant- 

 ations on the mountain slopes of Calabria, would restore to 

 that country the delightful climate which prevailed at the 

 time of the settling of the Greeks ; and that Bavaria and 

 Hungary might be brought to boast of the superior vegetation 

 which characterizes the fine provinces of Flanders, Provence, 

 Franche Comte, and that portion of Lorraine'^ which is bounded 

 by the Ardennes and the Vosges mountains, provided that the 

 marshy forests on the banks of the Danube, and in other 

 places, were cleared away, the ground properly drained, and 

 the extent of forests rendered only commensurate to the wants 

 of the population. Acting upon this plan, we would obtain an 

 increase of about 2° R. in mean temperature. 



Owing to their influence on temperature, the beneficial 

 effects of forests, as regards improving the soil, increasing the 

 quantity and variety of products, advancing the interests of 

 trades, manufactures, commerce, and all the other branches 

 of industry, and as regards insuring prosperity and opulence 

 to the people, are indeed incalculable ; for an unusually damp 

 and chilly atmosphere is not only unfavourable to the growth 

 of exotic trees and plants, but endangers their health, espe- 

 cially during the cold months of spring and winter, whilst in 

 autumn it prevents them from bringing their fruit to a state 

 of maturity. Again, excessive dryness and sterility diminish 

 the number, and prove fatal to that class of plants which con- 

 stitute the chief food for the sustenance of man and beasts. 

 We need only allude to the breeding of silk-worms in Bavaria, 

 which is carried on at a great expense, and is far from being 

 in a prospering condition. 



If we consider, that, in the torrid zone, the coffee-tree yields 

 but a poor crop, unless it is planted on the slopes of hills, 

 and screened from the heat of the sun by dense hedges of 

 verdant galba and rose-apple ; that the cocoa plantations 

 suffer considerably, unless they are situated in the vicinity 

 of forests, where they find shade and shelter, and a moist 



