

CHAPTER XL 



WINDS. 



AN important and manifold influence on the distribution 

 of forests, and of different kinds of forest trees, is exercised 

 by the winds. By means of these seeds of trees are widely 

 dispersed ; they are thus borne to bare spots in the forest, 

 and to bare lands beyond ; and the winds thus contribute 

 where local conditions are favourable, to give extension to 

 the distribution of forests, and of different kinds of forest 

 trees. But frequently their operation is also destructive. 

 By successively stripping a tree, young or old, of its 

 foliage, the tree is starved and it dies ; by bringing breezes 

 from the sea charged with salt they kill many kinds of 

 trees, and thus prevent the growth of such along the coast ; 

 by breaking off a bough or a twig they give access to 

 moisture, and to germs of fungi, either of which may 

 prove fatal to the tree ; by blowing vapours from a kiln 

 they may occasion the death of an extensive forest patch ; 

 by spreading a forest fire they may devastate a whole 

 country side ; and by a gale or cyclone they may lay low 

 trees the growth of centuries. 



But not less important, on the other hand, is the action 

 of forests as a windbrake giving shelter to dwellings and 

 cultivated fields ; and in arresting malaria ; and in prevent- 

 ing the drifting of loose sand, which otherwise might render 

 sterile fertile lands. In view of such effects the conserva- 

 tion and extension of forests has in many countries been 

 made subject of legislation and government administration 

 in which the rural economist is not less directly interested 

 than is the student of forest science. 



In some countries to -the south of Norway much atten- 



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