14 PRACTICAL FOEESTRY. 



stood, while near by, fields of waving grain rejoiced the 

 hearts of the husbandmen, the lesson is the same, — 

 forests, fields, and firesides, are three inseparable links 

 in the golden chain of man's prosperity as a tiller of the 

 soil. 



But the destruction of forests in the old world 

 interests us, mainly as a warning, showing what may 

 happen in this, if we continue doing as we have done 

 during the past half century, in strijiping the land of 

 forests. I doubt if we have any proof that the destruc- 

 tion of forests thus far, in America, has had any per- 

 ceptable influence upon the amount of rainfall, and 

 there are not wanting instances where more rain has fallen 

 in the open country than in the forests, but I believe 

 that the fact is well established that in wooded countries, 

 or where forests abound, it rains oftener and the atmos- 

 phere is, in consequence, more humid than where the 

 opposite conditions exist. Marsh in his "Man and 

 Nature," sums up this question of the effect of 

 forests and rainfall as follows : '• The effect of the 

 forests then, is not entirely free from doubt, and we 

 cannot positively affirm that the total annual quantity of 

 rain is diminished or increased by the destruction of the 

 woods, though both theoretical considerations and the 

 balance of testimony strongly favor the opinion that more 

 rain falls in wooded, than in open countries, one im- 

 portant conclusion, at least, upon the meteorological 

 influence of forests is certain and undisputed; the 

 proposition, namely, that within their own limits, and 

 near their own borders, they maintain a more uniform 

 degree of humidity in the atmosphere, than is observed 

 in the cleared grounds, scarcely less can it be questioned 

 that they promote the frequency of showers, and if they 

 do not augment the amount of precipitation, they 

 equalize its distribution throughout the season." 



There are, no doubt, great irregularities which must be 



