440 STATE FOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



for 1872, in the Gardener's Monthly, for January, he uses the following 

 language: 



"The report of the botanist goes over the various statements made over and 

 ■over again, on the flimsiest of foundations, that great changes of climate have 

 occurred in various parts of the world by the cutting away of forests. It is 

 time that sensible men had dropped this nonsense." 



Mr. C. V. Riley is reported as having expressed similar opinions at the last 

 meeting of the Illinois State Horticultural Society, and as having made the 

 surprising statement that there is at present more timber in the State of 

 Illinois than there was twenty years ago. 



It is not proposed to enter upon an elaborate argument upon these subjects, 

 — the limits of this report will not permit, — and they may attract more interest 

 in discussion than in a written essay. A few brief suggestions only will be 

 madp. 



That the climate of many parts of the eavth has been unfavorably afl'ected 

 by the total destruction of forests, is an opinion held by men of greater scien- 

 tific attainments and more extended observation than Mr. Meehan. That he 

 should designate the foundations of this opinion as being of the flimsiest 

 ''diaracter. savors somewhat of arrogance; particularly, as some of his assertions 

 do not appear to rest upon a very substantial basis. But to the point : 

 Meteorological tables, showing the temperature and the depth of rain-fall, 

 furnish the only recorded means of deciding in regard to a change of climate. 

 Let us suppose a comparison of the records of temperature and moisture of two 

 periods of ten years each. Let us also suppose these periods separated by an 

 interval of fifty years, during which time a tract of country is settled and 

 cleared of forests. The average temperature in the two periods may be nearly 

 the same; there may be little difference in the rain-fall; and yet in the latter 

 j)eriod, the atmospheric conditions, the variations of heat and cold, of dryness 

 and moisture, may be so changed by the destruction of the woods, as to afiect 

 injuriously the productions of the soil, and lessen the comfort of animal life. 

 Every one knows that a man can endure a much greater degree of cold in the 

 still atmosphere of a forest, than when exposed to wind on the open prairie. 

 Why may not the same be true of vegetable life? It is not true that the grain 

 and grass with which the farmer covers the land, prevent the evaporation of 

 moisture as effectually as a forest ; or even as the growth on unpastured prai- 

 ries. Much of every farm is closely pastured through the growing season ; the 

 ■removal of small grain and hay leaves the land naked from midsummer 

 vonward; the rains run off more quickly than from woodland, and evaporation 

 •is-more rapid; so that if the rain-fall be not diminished, there is a diminution 

 of its beneficial efibcts. Peaches were formerly plentifully produced in New 

 England ; they can no longer be grown there, and the removal of the forests is 

 believed to be the cause. Mr. Meehan seems inclined to doubt that the drying 

 -up or diminution of springs and streams is a consequence of the loss of the 

 • forests. What other cause can be assigned? The writer has reason to know 

 'that the atmosphere and soil of the State of Illinois have become drier during 

 the forty-three years which he has inhabited it, in consequence of the destruc- 

 tion of the native grasses and other plants which clothed the prairies, and the 

 cultivation of the earth. Many facts might be cited in evidence. 



