LESSONS FROM CHINA 



19 



forestation. It matters not whether this 

 deforestation is clue to the actual reckless 

 cutting of timber, to the fires that inevi- 

 tably follow such reckless cutting of tim- 

 ber, or to reckless and uncontrolled graz- 

 ing, especially by the great migratory 

 bands of sheep, the unchecked wandering 

 of which over the country means destruc- 

 tion to forests and disaster to the small 

 home-makers, the settlers of limited 

 means. 



Short - sighted persons, o r persons 

 blinded to the future by desire to make 

 money in every way out of the present, 

 sometimes speak as if no great damage 

 would be done by the reckless destruc- 

 tion of our forests. It is difficult to have 

 patience with the arguments of these per- 

 sons. Thanks to our own recklessness in 

 the use of our splendid forests, we have 

 already crossed the verge of a timber 

 famine in this country, and no measures 

 that we now take can, at least for many 

 years, undo the mischief that has already 

 been done. 



But we can prevent further mischief 

 being done; and it would be in the high- 

 est degree reprehensible to let any con- 

 sideration of temporary convenience or 

 temporary cost interfere with such action, 

 especially as regards the national forests 

 which the nation can now, at this very 

 moment, control. 



DEVASTATION OF OLD WORLD 



All serious students of the question are 

 aware of the great damage that has been 

 done in the Mediterranean countries of 

 Europe, Asia, and Africa by deforesta- 

 tion. The similar damage that has been 

 done in eastern Asia is less well known. 



A recent investigation into conditions 

 in North China by Mr Frank N. Meyer, 

 of the Bureau of Plant Industry of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, 

 has incidentally furnished in very strik- 

 ing fashion proof of the ruin that comes 

 from reckless deforestation of mountains, 

 and of the further fact that the damage 

 once done may prove practically irrepa- 

 rable. 



Not many centuries ago the country of 

 northern China was one of the most fer- 



tile and beautiful spots in the entire 

 world and was heavily forested. We 

 know this, not only from the old Chinese 

 records, but from the accounts given by 

 the traveler Marco Polo. 



Pie, for instance, mentions that in visit- 

 ing the provinces of Shansi and Shensi 

 he observed many plantations of mul- 

 berry trees. Now there is hardly a 

 single mulberry tree in either of these 

 provinces, and the culture of the silk- 

 worm has moved farther south, to regions 

 of atmospheric moisture. 



As an illustration of the complete 

 change in the rivers, we may take Polo's 

 statement that a certain river, the Hun 

 Ho, was so large and deep that mer- 

 chants ascended it from the sea with 

 heavily laden boats ; today this river is 

 simply a broad sandy bed, with shallow, 

 rapid currents, wandering hither and 

 thither across it, absolutely unnavigable. 



But we do not have to depend upon 

 written records. The dry wells and the 

 wells with water far below the former 

 water-mark bear testimony to the good 

 days of the past and the evil days of the 

 present. 



Wherever the native vegetation has 

 been allowed to remain, as, for instance, 

 here and there around a sacred temple 

 or imperial burying ground, there are still 

 huge trees and tangled jungle, fragments 

 of the glorious ancient forests. The 

 thick, matted forest growth formerly cov- 

 ered the mountains to their summits. 



All natural factors favored this dense 

 forest growth, and as long as it was per- 

 mitted to exist the plains at the foot of 

 the mountains were among the most fer- 

 tile on the globe and the whole country 

 was a garden. Not the slightest effort 

 was made, however, to prevent the un- 

 checked cutting of the trees or to secure 

 reforestation. 



DESTRUCTION THROUGH AGES 



Doubtless for many centuries the tree- 

 cutting by the inhabitants of the moun- 

 tains worked but slowly in bringing about 

 the changes that have now come to pass ; 

 doubtless for generations the inroads 

 were scarcely noticeable. But there came 



