WHEN THE FORESTS ARE GONE 



Teachers of geography and others interested in such matters will find 

 a wealth of good material in a large volume by George P. Marsh 

 Entitled "The Earth as Modified by Human Action." The following 

 paragraphs give a vivid idea of conditions in certain parts of France. 

 It is the part of wise people to profit by the experience of others, to 

 take warning from others' misfortunes. 



' ' When the forest is gone, the great reservoir of moisture stored up 

 in its vegetable mould is evaporated, and returns only in deluges of 

 rain to wash away the parched dust into which that mould has been 

 converted. The well-wooded and humid hills are turned to ridges of 

 dry rock, the debris from which encumbers the low grounds and 

 chokes the watercourses, and except in countries favored with an 

 equable distribution of rain throughout the seasons, and a moderate 

 and regular inclination of surface the whole earth, unless rescued 

 by human art from the physical degradation to which it tends, be- 

 comes an assemblage of bald mountains, of barren, turfless hills, and 

 of swampy and malarious plains. There are parts of Asia Minor, of 

 northern Africa, of Greece, and even of Alpine Europe, where the 

 operation of causes set in action by man has brought the face of the 

 earth to a desolation almost as complete as that of the moon ; and 



mm 



The Alps. France. Following the revolution the mountains were denuded as a 

 result of reckless lumbering, excessive grazing by sheep and fire. The soil has dis- 

 appeared and the streams are alternately raging torrents and dry channels At great 

 expense masonry dams have been constructed to prevent the debris covering valulable 

 agricultural land below. 



