cannot, however, as we have learned, change
the amount of rain that falls, nor can we make it warmer or colder.

How, then, are these poor people to blame for the condition of their
country? The troubles which overtook them came from two things. In the
first place they did not know how to take care of their rich land, and
in the second place they were greedy and wanted to become wealthy faster
than they ought.

Why does the rain, which once made this country fruitful, now wash away
the soil and make it barren? It is because in those earlier times much
of the land was covered with cool forests. The rain then fell more
gently because of the forests. More of it soaked into the ground and the
springs were larger. Now the rains are delayed by the hot air of the
thirsty land until, when they finally do come, the water falls in
torrents. Such rains or cloudbursts, as we often call them, carry away
the unprotected soil faster than Nature can renew it.

[Illustration: _Bailey Willis_
The shallow, rock-filled river along whose banks the trees have been
destroyed.]

The strangers in the land, under whose rule it became poor, thought they
knew better than Nature. They did not look upon her as the great wise
mother of them all. Soon after these people came into possession of the
land, they found that in other places there was a demand for their
grain, cattle, and wool. They began to increase their fields and herds.
To do this it was necessary to cut down the forests which had stood so
long. It seemed to them too bad to leave valuable land covered only with
trees.

The people began to look askance at the birds, for they thought they
were eating too much grain. Because they did not know what good the
little creatures were doing, they killed them. Since most of the birds
nested in trees, they got rid of them faster by cutting down the trees.

The steep hillsides were finally cleared of trees and the soil began to
wash, and the rocks soon appeared. No plant food was given to the soil
to replace that taken by the growing plants, and the crops soon began to
show the effect of starvation. The cattle began to suffer for lack of
food. They ate the grass down so closely that much of it was killed.

The rainwater, instead of feeding the springs, now ran swiftly away. The
clear, steady rivers turned to muddy floods during the rainy season.
They swept through the valleys, washing away houses and crops. In the
summer they dried up