14 FOREST CULTURE AND 
per cent. merely by establishing plantations of shelter- 
trees ; that the progress of drift-sand is checked by 
tree-plantations ; and that a belt of timber not only 
affords protection against storms, but also converts 
sandy wastes finally into arable meadows, thus adding 
almost unobserved, yet unceasingly, so far to the re- 
sources of a country. 
Shall we follow, then, the example of those improvi- 
dent populations who, by clearing of forests, dimin- 
ished most unduly the annual fall of rain, or pre- 
vented its retention ; who caused a dearth of timber 
and fuel, by. which not solely the operations of their 
artisans became already hindered or even paralyzed, 
but through which even many a flourishing country — 
tract was already converted almost into a desert 
Should we not rather commence to convert any desert 
tract into a smiling country, by thinking early and 
unselfishly of the requirements of those who are to_. 
follow us? Why not rather imitate the example set 
by an Egyptian sovereign, who alone caused, during 
the earlier part of this century, 20,000,000 of trees — 
to be planted in formerly rainless parts of his domin- 
ions. 
Dr. H. Rogers, of Mauritius, issued, this year, a re- 
port ‘‘on the effects of the cutting-down of forests on 
the climate and health of Mauritius.” Still, in 1854, 
the island was resorted to by invalids from India as 
the ‘¢pearl”’ of the Indian Ocean, it being then one 
mass of verdure. When the forests were cleared, 
to gain space for sugar cultivation, the rainfall dimin- 
’ ished even there ; the rivers dwindled down to mud- 
dy streams ; the water became stagnant in cracks, 
revices, and natural hollows while the equable tem- 
