PERIODICAL LITKRATURE 1 HO 



SILVICULTURE, PROTECTION, AND EXTENSION 



Nicholson writes regarding the advisabihty and 

 Mesopotamia practicality of afforestation on a large scale in 



and jMesopotamia. 



Afforestation Lower ^Mesopotamia, bounded on the east and 



north by hills and on the west by deserts, is a 

 vast plain, for the most part clay or sandy soils of great depth and po- 

 tential fertilit}' — a tract of country which in the period before the Mon- 

 golian invasion and Arab apathy yielded plenteous harvests of grain 

 and which can by extensive irrigation again become one of the world's 

 grain fields. This section of the country could not, then, be considered 

 in any large aft'orestation scheme ; but since there is at present here a 

 dearth of timber of any kind, it is considered advisable that afforesta- 

 tion be undertaken on waste areas to the extent of furnishing the dis- 

 trict with its requirements of small timber for fuelwood, etc. 



Neither the Syrian desert nor the sandy gravelly tract adjacent to 

 these plains of Lower Mesopotamia lend themselves to afforestation 

 unless afforestation is linked up with irrigation systems. To the east 

 and north are hills interspersed with plains, the soil varying from pure 

 gravel to sandy clay or rich loam. The absence of hard rock brings 

 about erosion and the configuration of the ground remains indetermi- 

 nate, only the higher ridges having attained any definite form. Here 

 the land, except for the scattered plains, is of forest or pasture soil, is 

 independent of irrigation, owing to greater rainfall, better soil aeration, 

 and the presence of springs and streams. Moreover, this region is not 

 altogether destitute of timber. This, then, would seem to be a promis- 

 ing section of the country for afforestation. The prosperity which the 

 grain fields of Mesopotamia will bring to the country and the remote- 

 ness of foreign supplies of timber would seem to justify afforestation 

 of this section, which at best yields poor pasture. The protective role 

 the forests would play in the conservation of moisture and the preven- 

 tion of floods is an added reason for aft'orestation. 



As to the practicality of aft'orestation. though records are not avail- 

 able, it is considered that climatic conditions would be favorable and 

 that the rainfall would be sufticient to support forest growth, the 

 explanation of the absence of forests in this age being their gradual 

 destruction by men and animals, rendering natural reproduction im- 

 possible. If. however, this impossibility results from desiccation of the 

 soil rather than from the eft'ects of grazing, "the outlook, from the for- 

 ester's point of view, is not very hopeful." Hope of success mav be 



