96 SYLVICULTURE IN THE TROPICS hi 



to have quoted statistics to prove his case, and to have 

 advised that forests should be preserved for themselves 

 alone, or not at all, and that there can be no valid 

 reason against decreasing the forest area " where homes 

 and a well-fed people take the place of wild animals and 

 wilderness." 



Before going into the subject I may say that this 

 assertion has been most vigorously opposed by other 

 experts in America itself. It is perhaps useful to 

 mention here a few of the countries which were at one 

 time forest-clad, and are now suffering from the effects 

 of denudation in consequence of the clearance of the 

 forest areas. 



The case of the Mekran mentioned at the beginning 

 of this chapter is by no means a solitary one. The 

 reports of Central Asian explorers show how a vast 

 country, which was at one time capable of sustaining 

 a large population, now lies arid and deserted. The 

 same tale comes from Nubia and the Northern Sahara. 

 In all of these sand-drifts now cover the scenes of 

 ancient habitation. Greece, Italy, and Spain have all 

 suffered from the removal of forests, and several parts 

 of India bear witness to similar effects of deforestation. 

 Ribbentrop 1 quotes two statements by independent 

 witnesses in the Bellary district, where, in the space of 

 something over twenty years, the rainfall decreased from 

 about 45 inches to about 24 ; the formerly perennial 

 streams drying up in the hot weather, the tanks which 

 at first were never dry remaining low, and the climate 

 becoming sultry. This was attributed solely to the 

 destruction of forest for temporary cultivation. 



It has been ascertained that the atmosphere over 

 forests, up to a height which is said to amount to 1000 

 or 1500 metres (3000 to 5000 ft.), is charged with a 

 much greater amount of moisture than adjoining lands 

 which are not forest-clad. This is chiefly due to the 

 fact that tree roots are able to search for moisture far 

 deeper into the ground than other crops, and this fact 



1 Forestry in British India. 



