18 RECOliD OF HORTICULTURE. 



clearing of the country of its forests had upon climate^ 

 soil, and the future welfare of the people. 



The report of said commission accords with facts well 

 known to every one who has investigated the subject, 

 and proves beyond a doubt that whenever a country 

 has been stripped of its forests, that the effect upon 

 climate and people is extremely deleterious, if not wholly 

 disastrous. 



Desert wastes have been made in the Old World by the 

 Vandals, who destroyed the luxuriant groves of those 

 countries ; and the Abyssinian deserts if again surrounded 

 with forests would become as fertile as they were in ancient 

 times. Man alone has cursed these lands with barrenness, 

 and from such examples we may learn a lesson that may 

 profit us by its frequent contemplation. 



In the pamphlet before us, many instances are cited 

 where a moist and humid climate has been changed to a 

 dry and arid one, merely by the destruction of large forests. 

 The cause of this is so apparent, that it is scarcely worth 

 an explanation, at least not in this brief notice of so excel- 

 lent a report. 



The gentlemen have not depended upon their own ob- 

 servations or practical knowledge of the subject under 

 consideration, but have collected the materials from vari- 

 ous sources, particularly from the essays and writings of 

 various authors in this country, with a few extracts from 

 abroad. If the people to whom this address is made 

 will act upon the suggestions contained therein, they 

 will not only materially benefit themselves, but future 

 generations. 



