CHAPTER IV. 
INFLUENCE OF FORESTS, UPON MOISTURE AND 
RAIN-FALL. 
Except in cases of most excessive drought, the soil 
of a forest is always moist, and the trees of wood- 
lands very rarely suffer from want of rain. The 
unfrozen earth becomes saturated by melted snow in 
Spring; the Summer rains are absorbed and retained 
by the loose soil carpeted with leaves, and the rapid 
evaporation of moisture is checked by shade. 
Forests thus become reservoirs of humidity, lessen- 
ing the dryness of the surrounding atmosphere, and 
aiding the perennial flow of springs and streams. 
Instances are on record of the drying up of springs 
and rivulets when the woods which shaded them were 
felled, and of their reappearance when the trees were 
suffered again to grow. The influence of woodlands 
in this respect must have been observed by every 
intelligent person who has bestowed any thought 
upon the subject. 
o* 
