1 Fes., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 127 
and for the balance we must look to Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. The 
outlook is not inspiriting. Our colonies are already importing timber to the 
amount of £18,000,000 per annum. That is bad enough in itself. But inex- 
tricably interwoven with the question of timber supply is another matter which 
might at first sight seem to be quite unconnected with it. What effect will the 
stripping of a country of its forests have upon its climate? It is not quite a 
foregone conclusion to the expert that extension of forests increases the 
rainfall. But it is certain that districts well clothed with plants and. trees ave 
a climate which is thereby rendered more temperate and uniform. The reason 
is not far to seek. In the daytime a large amount of the sun’s rays, which 
would otherwise reach the earth’s surface and heat it, is expended on the vege- 
tation. At night the radiation of the heat from the ground is checked, and 
thus the rate of fall of temperature is decreased. The constant evaporation 
which is always going on from leaves, &c., plays its part in the general 
phenomena, for by it the atmosphere is made cooler. In this way the forests 
affect the humidity of the air. With moist air there can be neither excessive 
cold nor excessive heat. Nor must it be forgotten that in tropical regions 
trees have an influence on the spread of malaria, and will often afford con- 
siderable protection to a district from the assault of destructive storms. 
Can we, therefore, conclude that by afforestation or by disforestation we 
are able to influence appreciably the climate ofa district? The answer is that 
not only can we do this, but zpso facto we can affect the adjacent districts. Let 
us take an illustration. Bosnia is a country enjoying the possession of vast 
forests, and is separated from the sea by great mountain ranges rising in the 
Dinaric Alps to some 6,000 feet. Herzegovina, to the south of Bosnia, has 
hardly any forests at all. To the west of Herzegovina, towards the middle of 
the Adriatic, is the island of Lissa, name of ill-omen in the records of the 
Italian Navy. The summer temperature of Bosnia is from 4 to 8 degrees 
Fahr. cooler than in the more southerly Herzegovina, and nearly 2 degrees 
below that of the sea-girt Lissa. Or, again, take the shores of the Caspian. 
On the western coast we have a great forest region. On the east extend 
countless acres of desert sand and stone. The result is a summer cool and dry 
at Lenkoran, but intolerable on the opposite coast of the great inland sea. 
Thus, results of the most unexpected and far-reaching nature may be the out- 
come of the ill-considered disforestation of a country. In the course of the 
last thirty years the hard-worked members of the Indian Forest Service have 
done work that can only be characterised as invaluable. It is possible that in 
the comparatively near future the forests of the Indian Peninsula may be 
among the most valuable assets of the Indian Government. It is to be hoped 
that Australia, the home of the karri and jarrah, is alive to the consequences of 
uncontrolled denudation. Jorestrial meteorology may some day be as pressing 
a question as any that a Government may have to face. From the purely 
sentimental point of view, the destruction of recent years is enough to make 
Dante turn in his graye. 
THE SPRUCE FORESTS OF CANADA. 
Canadian spruce forests, says Mr. J. C. Langelier, Superintendent of 
Forest Rangers of Quebee, will supply the world’s demand for pulpwood alone 
for 840 years, on the basis of 1,500,000 tons annually of manufactured pulp. 
The latter amount is equal to about the present total annual production of the 
United States. The extent of the spruce forest remaining untouched in the 
four provinces is given as follows:—Ontario, 52,818,420 acres; Quebec, 
144,363,454; New Brunswick, 11,224,540; and Nova Scotia, 10,853,544: acres. 
Out of over five billion feet board measure of spruce timber consumed for all 
purposes in 1900, 130,400,000 feet B.M. represented pulpwood; and of this 
30 per cent. was exported to the United States.—Engineering News. 
