96 
Most of what follows is based upon a paper read by me before the Royal 
Society of New South Wales in 1902, republished in the Agricultural Gazette of 
New South Wales for September, 1906. 
A thoughtful paper by Mr. Walter Gill,* Conservator of Forests of South 
Australia, is well worthy of perusal. He deals with evidence gathered from official 
reports and other sources, in different countries, in regard to the effects of forests 
and their destruction on the rainfall and available moisture generally. The paper 
is temperately worded, and contains much sound advice, which should be well 
pondered over by " every individual member of an intelligent democracy." 
Let me invite attention to Bulletin No. 7 of the Forestry Division of the 
United States Department of Agriculture, entitled " Forest Influences." It 
contains masterly papers by Professors M. W. Harrington and B. E. Fernow, to 
which I am much indebted. 
There is so much postulation, theory, and uncertainty of observations in 
regard to the whole subject, that I am unable to classify the statements as rigidly 
as if I were dealing with exact science. I have, however, avoided repetition as far 
as possible. 
2. THE HISTORICAL METHOD. 
(a) General Observations : 
Popular writers usually rely upon the historical method in support of their 
well-intentioned arguments on this question, but although this method has been 
superseded by the scientific method, which relies on observation and experiment, it 
is proper to deal with historical evidence at this place. 
Loffelholz-Colberg published, in 1872, a comprehensive catalogue of publications on forest questions 
which is, of course, now much out of date. His list begins with Fernando Columbus, the son of 
Christopher Columbus, who attributed the heavy rainfall of Jamaica to its wealth of forests, and the 
decrease of rainfall on the Azores and Canaries to the removal of their forests. In the sixteenth and 
seventeenth centuries the subject was already attracting the attention of the French Government, and in 
fact Governmental interest in the subject goes back to the time of the immediate successors of Charlemagne. 
It is interesting to read over the abstracts of opinion which are recorded by Liiffelholz-Colberg. Every 
variety of opinion can be found there, from those which attribute to the forest almost everything 
which is desirable in climate, and even endow it with a powerful influence on morals, to those who believe 
it to be entirely without influence ; and from those who think that its influence does not extend beyond its 
own margin, to those who would attribute the deterioration of the climate of the Old World to the removal 
of the forests of the New. 
Leaving out of account the solutions which are purely sentimental or purely theoristic, the 
conclusions usually consist in finding a country which has been once wooded, but from which the forests 
have been removed, or one which was once open, but later became wooded. The <-limate at the beginning 
and end of the time involved is then ascertained or assumed, and the changes in the climate are attributed 
to the change of the forest cover. The uncertainties of this method are so great as to make it generally 
useless. It is seldom possible to be sure of the early forest condition of any particular country. (M. W. 
Harrington, op. cit.) 
" Deforestation in South Australia ; its causes and probable results." Adelaide meeting, Aunt. Assoc. for 
Adv. of Sconce (1893). 
