EELATION OF TREES TO THE SOIL. 239 



But I have said nothing of the pasturage afforded to cattle 

 on the borders of woods. Out of every two or three 

 tons of leaves which are cast upon the ground, a hundred- 

 weight at least is but a solidification of the gases of the 

 atmosphere. All this would be lost to the farmer, if the 

 upper parts of his barren elevations and the sides of his 

 steep declivities were despoiled of their wood and shrub- 

 bery. Without this forest, tons of compost produced by 

 the annual decay of leaves would never have been cre- 

 ated. All that proceeds from living creatures would also 

 be lost, because they would either have never come into 

 existence, or they would have lived and died in another 

 place and benefited some other region. 



