6 
from which any statistics can be gathered. And though this 
may in some part be ascribed to the e.Khaustiitg of the nec- 
essary chemical constituents for the production of wheat by con- 
stant cropping, yet the results which are found to follow when the 
forests are again replanted, are such as to force the conclusion that it 
is in great part, if not wholly, due to their destruction. 
The peach, which was grown in all parts of Southern Michigan, is 
now confined to a narrow belt along the eastern shore of Lake Mich- 
igan, where it is protected by the never freezing waters of the lake 
Portions of France, Italy, Belgium and Holland, which were rendered 
barren by the cutting of the woods, have again been reclaimed to 
agriculture by the restoring of the trees. Wherever a country has 
been denuded of its timber, it is found that the summers are hotter 
and much more dry, that the winters are colder and more severe, that 
the changes from hot to cold and from cold to hot are much more 
sudden, that frosts are more frequent, and that in every way the 
climate is rendered excessive. It is from this reason that crops and 
fruits that were once easy to raise, under the protection of the woods, 
are found to be failures after their destruction. 
I One of the first and soonest noticed results of the loss of timber is 
the failing of springs and the shrinkage of streams. There is hardly 
a locality in which any considerable portion of the trees have been 
cut but what the decreased flow of water in the brooks and rivers is 
fully apparent, and many of the large streams upon which large mills 
at great expense have been erected, and upon which the farmers have 
depended largely for their water, have become in many months of the 
year totally dry. Such streams are also apt in the rainy months to 
become torrents, and often work dire distress to those to whom in 
former days they had proved but constant benefactors. Springs, also, 
that for years have been never- failing, gradually cease to flow, often 
causing great expense to farmers in the construction of wells and 
cisterns. Countries deprived of the production of their forests are 
visited by frequent and severe hail-storms, doing often times immense 
damage to growing crops and fruits. Trees also exercise a great in- 
fluence in the general humidity of the air, protecting by their their 
shade the quick evaporation of moisture from the earth by the sun, 
and also shield the soil from the effects of the winds, thus rendering 
the benefits of rains of a much longer duration, and mitigating the 
severity of droughts. In fact, the benefits of trees in acting as wind- 
breaks cannot be overestimated. Dussan maintains that the 
“Mistral,” the dreaded northwest wind of France, is the result of 
the devastation of the forests, and that it can only be guarded by the 
replanting of timber belts. The southwest winds that are frequent in 
Wisconsin and Iowa, are a great cause of injury to the farmer, and 
can be neutralized only in a like way. 
Many portions of Wisconsin consist of a light, sandy soil, and 
when this is denuded of its forests, and the spare undergrowth of 
grass and small shrubs is exposed to the united influences ot the sun 
and winds, it may be expected that the adjacent fertile lands will be 
covered by driftings of light sand, such as will in time render them 
