~ CHAPTER: LY 
THE FOREST AS AN AGENT IN MODIFYING THE SURFACE 
OF THE EARTH AND IN CHECKING THE DESTRUCTIVE 
FORCES OF NATURE 
“‘T regard the forest as a heritage given to us by nature, not 
for spoil or to devastate, but to be wisely used, reverently honored, 
and carefully maintained.”—Baron Ferdinand von Mueller. 
1. Tue Forest as a Sor-ForMER 
Vasr areas of fertile land consist almost exclu- 
sively of the detritus of the forest. Vegetable mat- 
ter, in the form of humus, resulting from the decom- 
position of the litter on the forest-floor, has formed 
in many places several feet in thickness. The acre- 
age of swamp-lands which have been formed in this 
way is immense. In addition to large patches of 
swamps here and there, there are many miles of 
swamp- or river-forest along our Southern rivers. 
The process of soil formation by the annual addition 
of vegetable matter may be seen to good advantage 
in the Dismal and Okeefeenokee swamps of our 
South. By digging through the vegetable accumu- 
lation of the Dismal Swamp for several feet, one 
46 
