82 



ARRORICULTLRE 



Evidences ot Climatic Changes. 



''I'AllK I'liiKnl Slato. wiih an area of 



I 2,968.700 sfjuarc miles, exclusive of 

 distant possessions, lias 1.720,000 

 S(|uare miles (^t arid plains and treeless 

 prairie, almost ()0 jier cent of oin- terri- 

 tory. 



The g^rcat interior elevated plateau and 

 moinitain re:;ion where rain seldom falls, 

 is increasinj4" in aridity with no prospect 

 of improvement under existing circum- 

 stances. And yet all this now arid ter- 

 ritorv was once the home cf magnificent 

 forests, with a climate as moist as that 

 which our Atlantic and ( iulf states now 

 enjoy. 



There are no people of all the world 

 who are more patriotic than Americans. 

 and if we can once realize the vast import 

 of leaving- to future generations a land 

 arid, desolate. iui|)roductive. infertile — 

 the life blcjod wrnu'^' out by j;Teedv, ava- 

 ricious eflforts of ihe present ^en^ration; 

 or a country fertile, watered hy natural 

 streams, a land ca])al)le of m:untainini^- 

 the dense population which will very soon 

 inhabit it — then will ])atriotism rise to 

 that supreme character which shall de- 

 maml that ])roper efiforts be made to se- 

 cure the best results. 



I shall endeavor to point out some of 

 the evidences of forest influences in the 

 ])ast and draw inferences from these les- 

 >ons which may lead us to an ai)])reciation 

 of our responsibilities as a peojile. that 

 the agricultural condition may be im- 

 proved. The span of human life is so 

 brief, and the most careful observations 

 so incomplete, during any single gener- 

 ation, they are not convincing when ap- 

 plied to regulations governing the ele- 

 ments. "S'ct the laws which control and 

 influence cloud movement, evaporation 

 and preci]iitation bv forests are as pos- 

 itive as are those of gravity, or tidal mo- 

 tion, both the latter of which are fullv 

 understood. Ilut we have in Holy W rit 

 a history covering many centuries which 

 would be indisputable even were it not 

 corroborated by contemporaneous writ- 

 ers, and this is convincing as to forest 

 influence. 



When the angel of the Lortl appeared 

 unto Moses in a flame of fire out of the 

 midst of a bush, a covenant was made 

 that He would bring the Israelites out of 

 lygypt '"unto a land flowing with milk 

 an(l honey."" The promise of tlu Lord 

 was repeated upon various occasions and 

 after tliorough ]ireparation this compact 

 was renewed with Moses in lioreb in 

 these words: ""I-or iju' 1 .ord tli\ ( lod 

 liringeth thee into a good land, a land 

 of brooks of water, of fountains and 

 de])ths that s])ring out of valleys and 

 hills. A land of wheat, and barley, and 

 \ ines, and fig trees and pomegranates ; a 

 land of oil olive, and honey. A land 

 wherein thou shall eat bread without 

 scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything 

 in it."" — Dent. \'III-7. 8, (;. 



I'rom the C'as]')ian Sea. extending west- 

 ward through Asia Minor, is a range of 

 mountains which branches, one portion, 

 the Taurus. l;elting tlie Mediterranean 

 on the north, the other branch, the Le- 

 Ijanon Mountains, parellels the eastern 

 shore of that sea to the Leontes River. 

 .Southward this becomes an irregular 

 range extending to the Red Sea. 



At the time of Kings David and Solo- 

 mon these higher mountains were cov- 

 ered with dense forests of mighty trees. 

 The entire C(^untry. for a width of one 

 hundred miles, is (|uite broken, hiih 

 ridges, deep gulches, with rolling hills 

 sloping toward the Jordan \'allev. h'n^m 

 the Taurus mountains the luiphmtes and 

 Tigris flow southeastwardly to the I'er- 

 sian (Iulf. while between these streams 

 and TaUstine lies the Arabian Desert, 

 (anaan, as apportioned to the tribes of 

 Israel extended three lumdred and fifty 

 miles north and south, Syria, with the 

 Lebanon mountains lying to the north- 

 ward, a total length of five lumdred miles, 

 covered with primeval forest. W bile 

 the mountain tops were clothed with a 

 forest covering, feeding and enriching 

 the lower valleys, retaining the moisture 

 which fell. and. by their presence attract- 

 ing the clouds of rain, this region re- 

 mained fertile, capable of providing food 



