Decrmbee 18, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



869 



furnished in very striking fashion proof of 

 the ruin that comes from reckless deforesta- 

 tion of mountains, and of the further fact 

 that the damage once done may prove prac- 

 tically irreparable. 



So important are these investigations 

 that I herewith attach as an appendix to 

 my message certain photographs showing 

 present conditions in China. They show 

 in vivid fashion the appalling desolation, 

 taking the shape of barren mountains and 

 gravel and sand covered plains, which 

 immediately follows and depends upon the 

 deforestation of the mountains. Not many 

 centuries ago the country of northern China 

 was one of the most fertile and beautiful 

 spots in the entire world and was heavily 

 forested. 



We know this not only from the old 

 Chinese records, but from the accounts 

 given by the traveler Marco Polo. He, for 

 instance, mentions that in visiting the prov- 

 inces of Shansi and Shensi he observed 

 many plantations of mulberry trees. Now 

 there is hardly a single mulberry tree in 

 either of these provinces, and the culture 

 of the silkworm has moved further south, 

 to regions of atmospheric moisture. As an 

 illustration of the complete change in the 

 rivers, we may take Polo's statement that 

 a certain river, the Hun Ho, was so large 

 and deep that merchants ascended it from 

 the sea with heavily laden boats ; to-day this 

 river is simply a broad sandy bed, with 

 shallow, rapid currents wandering hither 

 and thither across it, absolutely unnavig- 

 able. 



But we do not have to depend upon writ- 

 ten records. The dry wells, and the wells 

 with water far below the former water 

 mark, bear testimony to the good days of 

 the past and the evil days of the present. 

 Wherever the native vegetation has been 

 allowed to remain, as, for instance, here 

 and there around a sacred temple or im- 



perial burying ground, there are still huge 

 trees and tangled jungle, fragments of the 

 glorious ancient forests. The thick, matted 

 forest growth formerly covered the moun- 

 tains to their summits. All natural factors 

 favored this dense forest growth, and as 

 long as it was permitted to exist the plains 

 at the foot of the mountains were among 

 the most fertile on the globe, and the whole 

 country was a garden. 



Not the slightest effort was made, how- 

 ever, to prevent the unchecked cutting of 

 the trees or to secure reforestation. Doubt- 

 less for many centuries the tree-cutting by 

 the inhabitants of the mountains worked 

 but slowly in bringing about the changes 

 that have now come to pass; doubtless for 

 generations the inroads were scarcely no- 

 ticeable. But there came a time when the 

 forest had shrunk sufficiently to make each 

 year's cutting a serious matter, and from 

 that time on the destruction proceeded with 

 appalling rapidity; for, of course, each 

 year of destruction rendered the forest less 

 able to recuperate, less able to resist next 

 year's inroad. 



Mr. Meyer describes the ceaseless prog- 

 ress of the destruction even now, when 

 there is so little left to destroy. Every 

 morning men and boys go out armed with 

 mattox or axe, scale the steepest mountain 

 sides, and cut down and grub out, root and 

 branch, the small trees and shrubs still to 

 be found. The big trees disappeared cen- 

 turies ago, so that now one of these is never 

 seen save in the neighborhood of temples, 

 where they are artificially protected; and 

 even here it takes all the watch and care of 

 the tree-loving priests to prevent their 

 destruction. 



Each family, each community, where 

 there is no common care exercised in the 

 interest of all of them to prevent deforesta- 

 tion, finds its profit in the immediate use of 

 the fuel which would otherwise be used by 



