103 
The following statement may be literally true, although the regularity of 
movement of the cloud referred to is remarkable ; and with the size of the tree and 
the quantity of water rendered available we have nothing to do. 
In an old work, mention is made of a celebrated tree in Ferro. which is said to have furnished 
drinkable water to the inhabitants of the island. According to the statement, every morning the sea 
breeze drove a cloud towards the wonderful tree, which attracted it to its huge top, and the water flowing 
from its foliage uninterruptedly, drop by drop, was collected in cisterns.* 
Mr. J. Burtt Davyt speaks of the heavy summer sea-fogs, drifting high 
overhead across the narrow stretch of bluff land, which are intercepted in their 
course by the trees on the summits of the ridges ; or, when they lie low, roll along 
the broad river valleys and more numerous canyons opening into the redwood 
forests, saturating the tree tops, and by their means also the soil below, with 
abundant moisture. 
I again quote Professor Hazen : 
There is a class of visual observations which seem to show an effect upon rainfall by the forest. 
Probably many have seen heavy clouds pass over a plain, but which only precipitated as they passed over 
a forest ; also, in a hilly region, it is a frequent phenomenon that fog and low-lying clouds hover near a 
forest, and not over an open plain. One also notes very often, in passing into a forest on a damp day, 
that the trees drip moisture, possibly condensed from the moisture evaporated from the damp earth 
underneath. Observations of this nature, however, cannot ordinarily be checked by instrumental means, 
but show in a 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 investigator 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 chaparralj will wet him more thoroughly than a 
,, * 
sharp rain.g 
It does not rain all along the coast of Peru, for, say, 50 miles inland, from 
28 degrees 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, &c. No running streams of water are necessary, 
sufficient moisture being contained in the mists settling on the plants and flowers. 
The cattle and all the animals get fat during their stay on the " Lomas," as they 
are called. I was indebted to the late Mr. Charles Ledger, of " Cinchona 
Ledgeriana " fame, for the above particulars. He was long resident in Peru. 
J. Croumbie Brown, op. cit,, p. 31. 
t " Stock-ranges of North-western California." Bulletin No. 12, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 
J Chaparral is the Spanish word for a thicket of low scrubs, and was used by the Spanish-Californians to designate 
the thickets of scrub-oak (Qnercux dumoaa) which are .so noticeable a feature in the rocky ridges of this region. It is now 
applied promiscuously to any dense brush of prickly or rigid shrubs growing on 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. 
i5 " Forestry in California," by Abbot Kinney. 
