CHAPTER VI 



INFLUENCE OF FORESTS ON CLIMATE AND LOCALITY 



Two leading papers have recently brought before the 

 public the subject of influence of forests on the climate 

 of the surrounding locality. A leading article in the 

 London Times 1 gives a vivid description of "Mekran," 

 which is the name given to the long coastal region 

 stretching almost from the Indus to the entrance of the 

 Persian Gulf. 



" The greater part of Mekran," it says, " is desolate 

 and forsaken, a land desiccated by nature and shunned 

 by man. ... In the more arid parts the traveller comes 

 upon forests of dead trees, which in that dry climate 

 have stood still and stark for ages. Yet Mekran cannot 

 always have been either so dry or so deserted." After 

 describing the traces of great cities, of innumerable 

 tombs on the hillsides, of vast masonry dams for storing 

 water, and terraces for cultivations which are now dry 

 and bare, without even a blade of grass, it adds : 

 " Climatic changes have been at work, as in Central 

 Asia, and perhaps deforestation was a contributary cause." 



The other article, which appeared in the Allahabad 

 Pioneer? is on the subject of a statement made by the 

 Chief of the Weather Bureau at Washington, in which 

 he declares that " forests have no effect either upon the 

 amount of rainfall or upon the severity of floods." 



Mr. Moore, the official in question, is also reported 



1 May 3, 1911. 

 2 December 9, 1910. See also Indian Forester, vol. xxxvii. Nos. 3 and 4. 



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