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Chapter I. 



PHYSICAL IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS. 



As has been stated already in the introductory notes, a new 

 country is almost invariably covered with dense forests, which are 

 gradually cleared away by the first settlers to make room for agri- 

 culture and to improve the general salubrity of their surroundings, 

 This process continued without restriction in these provinces until 

 the forests receded for the most part to those regions topographi- 

 cally or climatically unfit for agriculture, and even here they have 

 often been destroyed by physical causes resulting from the wholesale 

 clearance of forests elsewhere. Forests are Nature's means of dealing 

 with the meteorological forces. It is believed that all rain clouds 

 are derived from the sea and are driven over the land where they 

 deposit their moisture, becoming poorer in moisture-content the 

 further they travel inland until the point of exhaustion is reached. 

 A forest air and soil are always far damper than that of a cultivated 

 or barren plain, and the continuous transpiration of a forest creates a 

 wet halo which serves to enrich the winds with moisture and increase 

 their precipitation. The geographical position of forests is, there- 

 fore, of great importance especially in the case of an inland country. 



Forests by means of their foliage, root system, and litter serve 

 as a protection to the earth against erosion and the rapid run-off of 

 water, thereby causing a more even and regular supply to the rivers 

 of the country. Forests are consequently of great physical impor- 

 tance on mountains and hills in checking the rapid wastage of water 

 and preventing floods which cause the erosion of the country far 

 down stream. It is not claimed that forests can prevent floods 

 caused by exceptional meteorological conditions, but it is certain 

 that without their mitigating influence the floods are more severe 

 and destructive. There is no doubt that in olden times most of 

 the big rivers of these provinces were used to a far greater extent 

 for navigation ; at the present time the floods are generally too 

 dangerous to negotiate during the monsoon months and during 

 the rest of the year they are too shallow for craft. It has been 

 calculated that the surface wastage from a deforested hillside is seven 

 to thirteen times the uater wastage from a similar forested hillside. 

 The great variations in the flood levels of the rivers of these prov- 

 inces is partly due to water being taken off for irrigation but also 

 very largely attributable to excessive forest clearance. 



The close relation of forests to stream flow and inland naviga- 

 tion is fully appreciated in America ; in India, where irrigation is so 

 important, it is surprising that it should have received so little 



