137, 203 
[Price. 
Reclus says, ‘‘ Trees, after they have received the water upon their foli- 
age, let it trickle down drop by drop on the gradually softened eaith, and 
thus facilitate the gentle permeation of the moisture into the substratum ; 
another part of the water running down the trunk, and along the roots, at 
once finds its way to the lower strata.’”’ (The Earth, 225). 
The facts are abundant in proof that to part with the trees is to lose the 
springs they protect, the running streams the springs supply, and the vol- 
ume of the broad river. These lost, all the charm of the landscape has fled, 
and then this source of man’s refinement and civilization has also left the 
world. With loss of rains and springs the fruitfulness of the earth also 
passes away. Grass fails for flock and herd, and the bread of life for 
man is no longer sure, and only because man has betrayed his trust. 
Australia affords corroborative testimony. In the Tribune of December 
1st, I find this statement: ‘‘ Mr. Landsborough, an explorer of note, says, 
‘Keeping sheep is no longer so profitable there as it used to be, but on the 
other hand, large tracts of land that were worthless before, have Jatterly 
become fit for agriculture. There is a decided increase of forests and of 
moisture in parts of Australia, giving hope that eventually the whole in- 
terior desert may be reclaimed. The direct effect of sheep-raising has been 
to keep down the tall grass which formerly afforded material for destruc- 
tive fires. The trees, young and old, had been period:cally burnt by these 
fires, until the country becoming almost treeless, its climate had been ren- 
dered arid and its soil sterile. If the facts in Australia can be established, 
they will afford the most remarkab!e instance yet recorded of climate being 
modified by the labors and surroundings of civilized man.’ ”’ 
Trees, better than all else, protect the slopes from washing into gullies, 
and the loss of the soil by rains. A carpet of grass will do much to protect 
the earth from washing ; but is not impervious to the beatings of storms, 
and the small beginnings of erosions ever enlarge their channels by under- 
mining the roots of grass. The sides of our hills and the sodded slopes of 
railroads show this. The forcc of the unintercepted drops of the driving 
rains dees the work of excoriation. The leaves of the sheltering forest 
break the force of the rain, and the arrested waters trickle in slow drops to 
the ground, and gradually soak into it without washing the soil. The cov- 
ering of the fallen leaves also prevents disturbance of the soil, and the 
leaves growing above, and those dead below as well, intercept the rays of 
the sun, and check evaporation. The retained waters must find their exit 
by the springs. 
The forests in due proportion are also shelter and protection of the grow- 
ing crops of the farmer from the force of driving storms. They are a shel- 
ter for grazing cattle, and shelter for house and barn, and man and beast 
thus kept warmer thrive better. Trees also shelter trees, and northwardly 
planted belts largely increase the growths of nurseries and orchards. 
Now what is the due proportion of woodlands? A Duke of Burgundy’s 
rule, as quoted by Dr. Oswald, is, ‘‘One-third to the hunter, two thirds to 
the husbandman.’’ William Penn’s direction to his colonists was, that 
