Results of No Protecting Carpet of Vegetation 79 



remain to hold the soil. It does not need to rain heavily 

 there to cause the rivers to become muddy and swollen. 

 The soil which once covered the slopes has been carried to 

 the bays, and now there is land where ships floated two 

 thousand years ago. 



In Spain so much of the best soil has been lost that the 

 people now do not raise enough food to support themselves, 

 and much has to be imported from other lands. 



France is a rich country still, in spite of the cutting of so 

 much of the forest and the careless pasturing of the moun- 

 tain slopes. The people are industrious and hard working 

 and thus make a living in spite of the loss which they are 

 suffering. 



The Montenegrins are among the bravest people of 

 Europe, but their land is barren and they enjoy few luxu- 

 ries. Their country consists largely of limestone moun- 

 tains, from which they have been cutting the trees for hun- 

 dreds of years. There is but httle soil and that is to be 

 found in the hollows of the rocks. This soil is so precious 

 that every bit, be it ever so small, is carefully cultivated. 



In the mountains of Palestine and Syria the people have 

 so completely destroyed the trees and grasses which Nature 

 once planted there that it is difficult for them to raise enough 

 to live upon. The rivers are muddy after every rain, and 

 even tlie water from the melting snows picks up some of the 

 soil and flows away with a dirty, yellow color. 



When we reach China and Korea, we find that there the 

 people have been most severely punished for their care- 

 lessness. The mountain sides have been torn by the rains 

 and deeply guUied. The once smooth slopes upon which 

 grew trees and grasses are now a mass of sharp ridges and 



