FOBEST PROTECTION AND TREE CULTURE ON WATER FRONT- 

 AGES WITH Till': VIEW OF PROVIDING A CONSTANT AND 

 STKADV SUPPLY OK WATER, FOOD, SHADE, AND SHELTER FOR 

 FRESH-WATEK FISH. 



At the ( onferent e of the International Fisheries Exhibition, London, on Wed- 

 nesday, -'nlv isth - a paper on the above subject was read by D. Howitz, 

 |\,| | > onset \;.tor, and Commissioner for Denmark. It is in substance as 



follow 



Professional foresters take a great interest in this question, as it is of much 

 importance to the success of pisciculture, and to all fresh-water fishing. Its 

 value mav not at first appear so great as it really is, but it is sincerely hoped it 

 may become a question of interest to all, and a special subject for future legisla- 

 tion. It is the question of the protection, proper management, and cultivation of 

 forest and forest trees in localities where are found the sources of creeks, rivers, 

 and a supply of water to lakes and other fresh waters. The greatest part of the 

 forest land in Canada with which this question has to deal is in the possession of 

 the State, but there are no laws in existence giving a guarantee for the preserva- 

 tion and proper management of these forests. 



That the forests regulate the flow of the water in water-courses, and insure a 

 ;dv supply during dry seasons, while they prevent sudden and disastrous 

 floods, is a fact so often discussed and proved, that it need only be referred to 

 here. There is still a great deal of uncertainty as to the extent of the effect of a 

 forest on the rainfall, and it is only by very minute observations of forests, con- 

 sisting of the same species of trees in various altitudes, that series of trustworthy 

 -ults can be obtained. Still, there is no longer any doubt as to the effect of the 

 forest in conserving the water that falls, or that the humidity of the air above a 

 forest is considerably larger than that of the air of the open country. Experi- 

 ments in the south of France showed that the rainfall in a forest, as compared 

 with that in the open country, was in the proportion of 100 to 92.5, while the 

 evaporation in the forest was only one-third of the evaporation in the open. The 

 result of this is that the actual water received and retained from the atmosphere 

 is nearly 50 per cent, greater in a forest than that received and retained by the 

 plains. Numerous observations have also established the fact that the forests, as 

 ready conductors of electricity, influence the current of vapours, and that their 

 action is felt far above the actual height of the trees. Also that they condense 

 the clouds into rain by lowering the temperature, and act as bulwarks against the 

 severity of storms; all this we know by daily experience aud observation. That 

 want of forest protection may have most fearful results has been so often and 

 sadly proved, and I need only remind you of the disasters caused by great floods 

 and long droughts in Spain, South of France, Sicily, Chili, Peru, Mauritius, and 

 many other places, and you will grant the importance of the question. In the 

 Murcia \ alley the river was reduced to a succession of stagnant pools, which dur- 

 the summer heat developed malaria, fever, and miasmatic exhalations, detrimental 

 to life and health, and furnishing but scant and bad accommodation for the few 

 remaining fish. 



But as soon as the winter rains came, the river, in fact nearly all the valley, 

 became a raging torrent, destroying life and property, and all because the forests 

 on the ranges and mountains had been devastated, no legal restrictions protecting 

 them. As a question of national economy ; as a question of protection to life and 

 property ; and as a question of prosperity, forest protection has the greatest 



