CHAPTER NINETEEN 



EVILS THAT FOLLOW THE DESTRUCTION OF THE 

 FORESTS 



We have already learned something about the poverty 

 of the people in those lands where the forests have been de- 

 stroyed. This poverty is due not so much to lack of wood 

 for fuel and other purposes, but to a whole serie's of troubles 

 which the removal of the forests has brought upon them. 



The burning of the humus, when a fire sweeps the forest, 

 is the next greatest loss to that of the timber itself. Where 

 there has been no fire, the ground under the trees is covered 

 with deca)dng leaves and stems which are slowly mixing 

 with the soil and becoming a part of it. The more there is 

 of this humus in the soil, the more thriftily plants will grow. 



Many people purposely burn over their pasture lands in 

 the fall, believing that this will make the grass better the 

 following year. They should know that every time this is 

 done the soil is made poorer, and that it kills the seeds 

 J)dng on the ground ready to sprout when the warm spring 

 days come. Instead of a better pasture there is more likely 

 to be a crop of almost worthless weeds. The ground is 

 full of worthless seeds which are always ready to take the 

 place of the grasses when they have a chance. 



Before the fire came, the roots of trees, bushes, and grasses 

 kept the earth from washing; and the humus helped to 

 hold the rainwater from running away rapidly, so that more 

 of it had time to soak into the ground. How well this is 

 shown on yonder hills which were once covered with brush. 

 A fire swept over these hills and burned every living thing. 

 What a barren appearance they presented after the heavy 



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