NOT DESTROYED BY TILLAGE. 193 



diminish with the moisture of the ground and air. 

 From this you will conclude, that the statement is 

 as unrighteous and false as its truth would be dis- 

 heartening, — that the long occupation of a country 

 and the continued use of its soil must end in the 

 gradual deterioration of its climate, and in the decay 

 of its fertility; — and you will see that wherever 

 these results have followed, they have come from 

 man's ignorance of the laws of God's earth, and 

 that they may be avoided by a wise economy, and 

 especially by careful provisions against the de- 

 struction of the forests. 



