38 Conservation Reader 



their grain, cattle, and wool. They began to increase their 

 fields and herds. To do this it was necessary to cut down 

 the forests which had stood so long. It seemed to them too 

 bad to leave valuable land covered only with trees. 



The people began to look askance at the birds, for they 

 thought they were eating too much grain. Because they 

 did not know what good the Httle creatures were doing, 

 they killed them. Since most of the birds nested in trees, 

 they got rid of them faster by cutting down the trees. 



The steep hillsides were finally cleared of trees and the 

 soil began to wash, and the rocks soon appeared. No plant 

 food was given to the soil to replace that taken by the grow- 

 ing plants, and the crops soon began to show the effect of 

 starvation. The cattle began to suffer for lack of food. 

 They ate the grass down so closely that much of it was 

 yUed. 



The rainwater, instead of feeding the springs, now ran 

 swiftly away. The clear, steady rivers turned to muddy 

 floods during the rainy season. They swept through the 

 valleys, washing away houses and crops. In the summer 

 they dried up so that the fish died. 



When these people at last discovered their mistake, they 

 strove by hard labor to repair the damage which they had 

 done through years of ignorance and greed. This was such 

 slow, difiicult work that the land still remains a dreary place 

 in which to live. It is known as the Land of the Poor 

 People. 



