Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 December 1877 — Climate Changed by Cultivation. [ARTICLE]

Climate Changed by Cultivation.

There is a general belief throughout our Western country that marked changes in climate are consequent upon the settlement of a region, and tnat, in fact, these changes become perceptible within a few years whenever a railroad is laid through a new oountry. Mr. Landsborough, an explorer of note, adds to the evidence in favor of this notion, by his observations in Australia. Keeping sheep is no longer so profitable there as it used to be, but, on the other hand, large tracts of land that were worthless before have latierly beoome fit for agriculture. There is a decided increase of forests and of moisture in parts of Australia, giving hope that eventually the whole interior desert may be reclaimed. The direct effect of sheep-raising has been to keep down the tall grass which formerly afforded material for destructive fires. The trees, young and old, had been periodically burnt by these fires, until jthe country becoming'almost treeless, its climate had been rendered arid and its soil sterile. If the facts in Australia can be established, they will afford the most remarkable instance yet recorded of climate being; modified by the labors find enrxornsdings of man.