The Conquest of the Desert 



farm is too well known to need any special 

 emphasis. All over the country those land- 

 destroying dongas — due to torrential rains 

 sweeping over the naked veld — could be largely 

 checked by afforestation. In the United States 

 it is estimated that about 200 square miles of 

 fertile soil are annually washed away in the 

 brooks and rivers. As we stood spellbound 

 before the rushing Orange River at Kakamas 

 our guide remarked with a smile of satisfaction : 

 " Yes, the Transvaal may have her gold, but we 

 have here her richest soil — thirty feet of solid 

 silt." Then, again, the forest waters the farm. 

 Local showers are much more frequent in the 

 neighbourhood of woods than in the open 

 country. And since the leaves and branches 

 break the force of the falling drops the rain falls 

 softly on the soft forest floor and percolates 

 deep into the soil. There is likewise much less 

 evaporation around a forest belt, because the 

 air is cool and still. Springs also are fuller 

 than in treeless regions. Moreover, the forest 

 tempers the farm. Hear the testimony of an 

 Illinois farmer : " My experience is that in cold 

 and stormy winters fields protected by timber 

 belts yield full crops, while fields not protected 

 yield only one-third of a crop. Twenty-five or 



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