Evils Following the Destruction of Forests 127 



such as the m^nzanita 

 and chaparral, spring up 

 and cover the surface after 

 a forest fire. Nature does 

 not seem to want the sur- 

 face left bare and usually 

 has something at hand, 

 even though it be nothing 

 better than brush, with 

 which to clothe it again. 

 As the years pass humus 

 begins to collect upon the 

 ground and finally re- 

 stores it to much the 

 same condition it had be- 

 fore the fire. Now, if by 

 any means seeds can reach 

 such places, scattering 

 trees will first spring up 

 in favored spots and, after a time, the trees will become 

 thick enough and large enough to shade the ground and 

 the brush will be killed out. 



The cutting of the forests, especially from the steeper 

 mountain slopes, has in many parts of the world changed 

 water, one of Nature's most valuable gifts,, into an agent 

 of destruction. Throughout the Eastern and Southern 

 states the floods are higher in spring and lower in summer 

 than they used to be, because of the removal of so large a 

 part of the forests that once covered this whole region. 



In the West it is even more necessary that the forest 

 cover be disturbed as Httle as possible. One reason is that 



American Forestry 

 The work of the water where the forest has 

 been cut away. 



