232 THE DESTRUCTION OF CANADIAN FORESTS. [Aug. 



magnitude, in which the Government, the railroads, the land com- 

 panies, and the people must all take a share. The Government 

 should, however, take the initiative, the first and most essential 

 step being the establishment of experimental forestry stations at 

 several points in Manitoba and the North- West Territories. 



Having shown that the denuding of the country of its trees 

 causes an abnormal condition of the rivers and streams, Mr. Morgan 

 proceeds to inquire whether the reforesting of a fair proportion of 

 the plains would not cause a change in the level of the waters of 

 the Eed Eiver, the Saskatchewan, Assiniboine, and other rivers now 

 subject to extremes of high and low water, and thinks it may 

 reasonably be presumed that, if their banks and the neighbouring 

 hills were clad with trees, whose foliage would protect the earth 

 from the sun's rays and from the hot winds, the mosses and porous 

 earth would hold and store the water till it found its way gradually 

 to the rivers, preventing floods, causing a more regular water-level, 

 prolonging the season of navigation, and contributing largely to the 

 prosperity of the country. The work of desiccation is still advanc- 

 ing. Dr. Selwyn, in the Geological Survey Eeport of 1873-74, 

 says : — " The lakes and lake basins are abundant. They appear to 

 be gradually diminishing in size and drying up." On the other 

 hand, in Utah, the Great Salt Lake, under the iniluence of the 

 groves, orchards, and other plantations set out by the Mormons, and 

 which now throw a grateful shade on the surrounding hills, has 

 increased in magnitude, while many of the minor lakes and some of 

 the rivers have increased their volume of water, and are not now so 

 subject to extremes of high and low level. Before the American 

 Forestry Congress in 1882, Mr. Emile Eoth gave an interesting 

 address on the influence of the absence of trees on the rivers of 

 the prairies, illustrating his remarks by statements as to the present 

 condition of the Upper Mississippi and its tributaries, their loss of 

 water-supply, decreased water-power, frequent inundations, uncertain 

 navigation, causing abrupt changes of temperature at all seasons of 

 the year and late frosts in the spring. Speaking of Arizona, Mr. 

 Eoth says : — " The hills and slopes were once stocked with timber, 

 which was wasted by the inhabitants, and the same deterioration of 

 the country gradually took place there which we now notice in 

 Palestine, Greece, and Sicily ; and finally the people had to emigrate 

 to avoid starvation." 



In concluding this report, Mr, Morgan says it is not too late to 

 repair much of the damage that has been done by the destruction 

 of forests. Eegulations for the use of the timber might be made 

 without injury to the legitimate lumber trade ; and the replanting 

 and establishment of artificial forests may imdoubtedly be made 



