lUustnitcd Canadian Forestry Magazine. Deeeniber. ipso 



The Warning Finger of China 



{An Editorial in the Toronto Globe) 



591 



The perpetuation of the forests as a 

 safeguard to tlie soil in tlie timhered 

 areas now heing- cHsposed of is the pro- 

 blem of prime importance, but it is re- 

 ceivini^- very httle thought from our pub- 

 lic men The hnger of warning, how- 

 ever, is pointed toward Canada from the 

 most anciently inhabited quarters of the 

 glol)e. Think of the trag'edy of the 

 famine in China, where, before the next 

 harvest can be reaped, ten. perhaps fif- 

 teen, millions of souls ma\- ])erish of 

 starvation. Then realize that this calam- 

 itv is the slow but sure accumulation of 

 centuries of ignorant forest waste on the 

 plains and in western hill regions of 

 China. And with all the skill of mod- 

 ern engineering", decades, running into 

 centuries, will be required to restore the 

 disordered balance of Nature. 



One of the most mournful monuments 

 of human folK' and ignorance in mis- 

 treaiing the bounties of the earth is to be 

 seen in a section of Syria about fifty 

 miles square, of wliicli the old city of 

 Aniiocli is nearly the centre. That cit\ 

 once had a ])opulation of 200, (K)0, now it 

 has about 2().0(X). l-"rom llic hill over- 

 looking tile ruins of ilijs ciu tin.- t'vc m;i\' 

 range o\ct sewn ollici' hills whose' slopes 

 contain tlu' nnns of 1.-0 cities and towns 

 once teeming with prosptTous (•oininuin 

 ties. The symbols of ;i \;inishe(l wealth 

 are \isibK- on iwer\ hilJsiiU'; \;iis for 

 wine from llu' choicest gr.Mpcs th;it fcil 

 the epicures ol l\oi))c. oli\e oil \ ats 1)\ ilu' 

 hunili\-d. and niius <>\ b;illis ainoiii; the 

 colonn;i(lc(l p.-daiX's oi' llu- i-icli. Tin- lj\^ 

 ing ri'mnants of these poimldUs sites ;ire 

 sqiialid, dirl\ and destitute to a <legi"ee. 

 Whence ;ill tlii- decav." hesiruction 

 of the loresls wliicli oiire elwlhel these 

 hillsides. We know it iroiii simu- oi the 

 most dramatic e\ents of liistor\ . Iiom 



these hills were taken the '•cedars of Le- 

 banon" which were imported to Palestine 

 to build Solomon's temple at Jerusalem. 

 The cedar wood was so admired that 

 after the first temple was built the slopes 

 of tlie.se hills continued to be stripped 

 t(j turnish the interiors of private palaces 

 of Jewish Kings. Roman nobles and Gov- 

 ernors. When the protecting- covers of 

 the hill forests were stripped the freshets 

 washed away the thin skin of soil down 

 to the rocks, and the desolation now to be 

 seen was inevitable. It took a millen- 

 nium to build ui) this fertihty. but it only 

 took a few hundred years to accom|ilish 

 the destruction. It will take another 

 thousand years to make restitution to 

 violated Xature and grow again the 

 cedars of Lebanon, whose half-dozen 

 trees represent all that is left of the glory 

 of the departed age. 



We have no stones to throw at the 

 people of China and Syria in regard to 

 the abuse of the bounties of Providence. 

 I here are many square miles of hill 

 country in .\ew Ih-unswick. (Juebec and 

 ( )ntari(). where, through t'oolish forestry 

 melhod.s, including criminal forest hre.s. 

 the surface soil has alreadv been washed 

 down to the rivers and the sea. In some 

 of these situations it will take a ceninrv 

 ol careful replanting- before the process 

 of sod restoration can make even a be- 

 .ginniiii^-. 



Our dut\ to the forest was divinelv 

 iiidic.ited by the injunction ■"replenish the 

 earth .md subdne it." It i-. f,,l|v incre<l- 

 'blc to invade ;i forest where .\ainre has 

 already laid the found;ition o\ replenish- 

 ment and bring desolation where culture 

 IS c.illed for. rile I'l-ovinces of Canada 

 should iioi pennii the eNplt.itation of tim- 

 l'('- liiids witli,.nt making tlie condition 

 dial ihe lulls ill fores! tnicis shall never 

 ixconie bald heads, \nn sh;dl be kepi in 

 pcrpi'tnal \onih h\ Stale regulation and 

 resior.iiioii. We cannot afford t(. irille 

 Willi the alternative, which would in one 

 latal lapse invoke the <la> of devasla- 

 iioii ol hirest lands .-md cripple the price- 

 K-ss a>sci III ,,111- water powers. 



