Notes on the Influence 



[No. 



II. Notes on the Influence exercised by Trees in inducing Bain 

 and preserving Moisture : arranged by Assistant Surgeon 

 Edward Balfour, Madras Army, 



"With tlie exception of a few localities in Southern India the 

 whole country seems destitute of trees, "Whether they have dis- 

 appeared under the hands of man while none were planted to 

 supply tlieir places, or whether they never existed, nothing so 

 much strikes the attention as their general scarcity. 



Having passed over a large part of the peninsula this bareness 

 reminded me of the great influence that trees are believed to ex- 

 ercise on the composition of the atmosphere and on the quantity 

 of water that falls on the earth's surface, and impressed with the 

 belief that no small benefit would accrue to the country, and to 

 the Government, were trees planted in particular localities, along 

 roads and on lands which from their height or other causes can- 

 not be brought under cultivation, I thought it might be useful to 

 arrange the meteorological facts bearing on this point that have 

 been recorded by different observers ; for if a candid examination 

 of these facts lead us to acknowledge their correctness, we can- 

 not but look upon the cultivation of trees as of vital importance 

 in such a country as India, where, under -a tropical sun, the 

 atmosphere is so likely to become loaded with miasmata and 

 the fertility of the land is so much dependent on the supply of 

 water. 



Aware of the great falls of rain, which in several parts of In- 

 dia amount to 120 inches during the year, it might at first sight 

 appear inexplicable to us wdien informed of the very limited quan- 

 tity that other places receive ; and, amongst others, " that less rain 

 falls at Behary than at any other place in Southern India, for 

 during the year 1838 only Hi inches fell." But our surprise 

 diminishes on learning " that towards the centre of the Ceded Dis- 

 tricts the surface of the plain presents a monotonous and almost 

 treeless aspect bounded by the horizon, and unbroken save by a 

 few rocky elevations that stand forth abruptly from the sheet of 

 black soil like rocks from the ocean. The country from BeUary 

 to Tarputtry and from Pennacoondah, Ghooty and Adoni to the 

 Kistnah is much of a similar nature. Sir Thomas Munro might 



