678 



CONSERVATION 



ger of starvation that one travels to the 

 ruins of the world's proudest cities: 

 Susa, Babylon and Persepolis. Sicily, 

 in ancient times the granary of Italy, 

 has now large stretches of stony waste 

 instead of luxuriant groves on its moun- 

 tain-sides, and every rain washes the 

 moraine into the valleys below. In the 

 southern part of Italy, heavy rains have 

 injured the productivity of the fields by 

 fully ten per cent. In the Tyrol, too, 

 at least one-third of the area under cul- 

 tivation a century ago is now waste 

 land. The same is the case in Spain, 

 Portugal, Greece, Iceland, Ireland 

 —all have suffered in point of pro- 

 ductivity because of the loss of their 

 forests. 



Forests, moreover, are important for 

 sanitary reasons. Swamps and mo- 

 rasses, which breed disease by their mi- 

 asmatic dampness, are dried up through 

 their influence. 



If we are to further national pros- 

 perity by the development of indus- 

 tries, it is also to our interest to trans- 

 mit the forests^ the legacies we have 

 received from our fathers, to our chil- 

 dren in unimpaired beauty and useful- 

 ness. Therefore, it is a matter of na- 

 tional concern that your forests should 

 be protected. The effects of wholesale 

 and unreasonable exploitation by pri- 

 vate concerns are often f arreaching ; the 

 springs are dried up, a drought ensues 

 and not infrequently high winds result. 

 Fields and meadows need water, and 

 in considerable quantities, but it is of 

 benefit only when the supply is slow 

 and steady. Heavy rains flow ofif, for 

 the most part, and if the area is an 

 open stretch they can supply no springs 

 because there is no vapor nor con- 

 stant passage of moisture in such places. 

 The forests, however, with their dense 

 foliage, furnish protection and the 

 necessary barrier for precipitations 

 without which it would be well-nigh 

 impossible to make any successful 

 settlement. With the passing of forests, 

 we have shown, disappeared prosperity, 

 and whole regions have become wild 

 and barren. The waters rush from bare 

 mountain-sides, after a heavy rainfall. 



down into the valleys, working destruc- 

 tion on the farmers' fields and pastures. 

 But the torrents are absorbed and re- 

 tarded and transformed into refreshing 

 springs and profitable rills where the 

 high places are covered with trees. 



Again, while woodless flats hardly 

 condense the clouds blown over them 

 by favorable winds, and so do not per- 

 form their work of refreshment and re- 

 vivification, wooded districts attract 

 every wandering cloud and make it 

 yield a gentle shower. The influence of 

 forests on the rainfall of a region is 

 expressed also in the fact that they 

 render the climate more equable. The 

 warmth which is received by them 

 through the day and held be- 

 cause of their moisture pours out 

 on the fields at night, relieving 

 their coolness. So. also, do they 

 mitigate the heat of the day, for they 

 emit much of their vapor then, which 

 serves to cool off the air and often 

 raises a refreshing breeze. They at- 

 tract the mist and the dew, whose cool- 

 ing moisture it again turns into rain. 

 In woodless districts heavy rains may 

 fall, but seldom for any length of time, 

 and then they are usually followed by 

 a long dry spell. The woods, too, break 

 the force of storms, cloudbursts and 

 hail. Wooded eminences act like a wall 

 against hurricanes and violent winds. 

 The torrents of cloudbursts are ar- 

 rested by them. Passing over them, 

 violent rain and hail storms are temp- 

 ered and so lose their force when blow- 

 ing over the adjacent cultivated areas. 



Our discussion would be almost in- 

 definitely prolonged were we to con- 

 sider forests in their disinfecting and 

 air-clearing functions, their preven- 

 tion of epidemics and contagious dis- 

 eases. These functions are of the 

 greatest importance to men. We are 

 keeping entirely within the bounds of 

 truth when we say that, in the destruc- 

 tion of the forests, humanity loses one 

 of the necessaries of life. Therefore, 

 you should always look carefullv after 

 the preservation and propagation of 

 your forests. 



