250 THE LURE OP THE LAND 



except the two parts mentioned, is thrown back into the 

 air by evaporation. In other words, considerably more 

 than one-half of all the water that falls on the surface 

 of the earth is returned to the air in gaseous form. It 

 is the part of the water that runs off into the sea that 

 produces the erosion of the soil, to which attention has 

 already been called. 



Often the expression is heard that the seasons are 

 changing, that some portions of the country are becom- 

 ing drier and some portions wetter. The data on which 

 such assumptions are based are wholly untrustworthy, 

 or at least too fragmentary to warrant any general 

 credence. One of the reasons, which has been most 

 frequently assigned for changing seasons in so far 

 as rainfall is concerned, is the deforestation of the 

 country, which has proceeded at such alarming strides 

 in the past. On this point the scientific men are at 

 variance. The greater majority of them believe that 

 the cutting of the forest tends to excessive precipitation 

 or excessive drought. In other words, without dimin- 

 ishing the total quantity of rain the distribution of it 

 is greatly disturbed, so as to permit of the excesses just 

 mentioned. 



On the other hand, many scientific men who have in- 

 vestigated these points are of the opinion that there 

 are not enough reliable data at hand to draw any posi- 

 tive inferences regarding changes of climate due to re- 

 forestation. Nevertheless I think it is the general be- 

 lief, based upon observation and upon theoretical rea- 

 sons, that the wooded country is more apt to have an 

 even distribution of its water supply through the year 

 than one which has been deforested. In this connec- 

 tion, however, it should not be forgotten that vast re- 

 gions of the United States have not been in forest at 



