Influknce of FoiJESTS ON Natuhal W'ateu-.Supply. 115 



Im'Iow .suffer in their turn.* In Germany it was observed that, e\»'n 

 prior ti» L'^Tl, deforestation had caused the mean level of the Oder to 

 fall 1 7 •4.") Hhenish inehes,f the Rhine at Emmei-ich 24 .SB inches, the 

 Vistula 1*6-2, and the Danube at Ors<)\a o5'06 inches. And at the 

 same time a diminution in the yield of springs was noticed.;;; 



All treeless countries are affected by rtoo«ls. The devastation that 

 occurred in the Province of Murcia in Spain in 1879, and that was 

 repeated in 1900, is attributed to rainfall in deforested regions. The 

 thunderstorms falling on the millions of acres of treeless tableland! 

 in South Africa frequently cause disastrous Hoods, from which railways 

 and public works suffer a severe annual loss, and it is <mly the sparse 

 population and undeveloped condition of the countrv that mitigates 

 the loss of life and property. 



The deforestation of the Alps, Pyrenees, Apennines, c^c, has re- 

 sulted in the formation of destructive torrents, which have since cost, 

 and are costing, millions of francs for their reclamation, or extinction, 

 by means of tree planting. The damage caused by torrents in these 

 districts alone has been enormous. It would be easy to cite number- 

 less instances, but the following given by M. Surel must sutiice : On 

 going from Gass towards Embrun more than a fourth of the journey is 

 made on the beds of torrents. They are seen scattered over the whole 

 country, inundating all the valleys and furrowing all the slopes. The 

 number of torrents in this department is a fearful scourge. They eat 

 into the side of the mountains and deposit heaps of debris on the 

 plains. These, b}'^ long-continued accumulation, have created enormous 

 Jits de dejections, which are ever increasing and extending. Tliey 

 threaten to overwhelm everything, and doom to perpetual sterility the 

 soil buried beneath them. Year by year they swallow up some afldi- 

 tional propert}' and hinder the establishment of a good system of 

 I'oads. 



From such localities the rain and melting sncjws rush with un- 

 broken violence to the rivers, causing disastrous floods. That of 1875 

 in the valley of the Garoinie destroyed the crops over hundreds of 

 square miles. In the v/ords of an official report, 8t. Cyprien with its 

 >30,000 inhabitants "ceased to exist." The total loss was variously 

 estimated at from £4,000,000 to £11,900,000, and 3000 persons are 

 supposed to have been drowned. Those who w-ish further information 

 on this subject should read Modern Forest Ecouonitj, and Rehoisement 

 hi France, by Professor J. C. Brown. In the latter work is given an 

 extensive bibliography of French, German and Italian literature deal- 

 ing with this interesting and important matter. 



South Africa, consisting as it does of thousands of square miles 

 of treeless country, is naturally subject to fre<|uent and serious tloods. 

 This evil is increased by grass burning, which is universally practised 



* Irrlt/atiou Institvtiuns, by Elwood Mead, p. 339. 

 t Oue Kheuisli iiidi = l-(^;^3 Kiiglish indies. 



Z "Leber die Wasserabnalnne in Fliissen, &c.,'' by Herr (lustav We\ in 

 Zeitschrift des Oesterr. Ingenieur und Ar<hitecten Vereina. 



