FORESTS IN THEIR RELATION TO RAINFALL. 225 



general way that the forest tends to conserve moisture and vapour, 

 which in the case of the open field, would be diffused into the 

 atmosphere." 



I quote another American author : — 



"An illustration of the effect of trees on moisture condensation 

 can be seen at and around Santa Monica. All along the nine 

 miles of country roads planted with shade trees by me, an investi- 

 gator can now see green grass and verdure. Nowhere else on 

 these plains is there anything green. The difference is due to the 

 condensation by the trees of the evening fogs along the coast. 

 When such occur, the trees dry the air and moisten the soil. 

 There is a regular drip of water from the foliage and the seeds of 

 the grasses and flowers have germinated and grown. The trees 

 and brush on the mountain do the same thing. Anyone who has 

 tramped through the brush on a foggy morning or after clouds 

 have rested on the mountains, knows that the condensed moisture 

 on the chaparral 1 will wet him more thoroughly than a sharp rain." a 



It does not rain all along the coast of Peru for say 50 

 miles inland from 28° S. to the equator, yet during the 

 months of May, June, July, August, September, every day 

 at 2 p.m. or thereabouts, there commences to fall a very 

 heavy mist, wetting one through if exposed to it, in a very 

 short time. During those months all the sandy wastes 

 are covered with a brilliant vegetation of flowers of various 

 sorts. At the same time these plains are covered with 

 sheep, goats, cows, llamas, alpacas, mares, etc., etc. No 

 running streams of water are necessary, sufficient moisture 

 being contained in the mists settling on the plants and 



1 Chaparral is the Spanish word for a thicket of low shrubs, and was 

 used by the Spanish-Californians to designate the thickets of scrub-oak 

 (Quercus dumosa) which are so noticeable a feature in the rocky ridges of 

 this region. It is now applied promiscuously to any low, dense brush of 

 prickly or rigid shrubs growing in similar situations, as well as to the 

 individual species of which the mass is composed. — " Stock-ranges of 

 North-western California," J. B. Davy, p. 31. 



2 " Forestry in California/' by Abbot Kinney. 



O— Nov. 5, 1902. 



