Importance of tree

        Trees are useful to man in three very important ways. They provide him with wood and fruits. They give him shade and help to prevent drought and floods. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world man has not realized that the third of these services is the most important. In his eagerness to draw quick profit from the trees, he has cut them down in large numbers. Only to find that with them he has lost the best friend he had. Two thousand years ago a rich and powerful country cut down its trees to build warships with which to gain itself  an empire. It gained the empire but without its trees its soil became hard and poor. The country found itself faced by floods and starvation. Even where a government realizes the importance of a plentiful supply of trees, it is difficult to persuade the villagers to see this. The villagers want wood to cook their food with and they can earn money by making charcoal or by selling wood to the townsman. The villagers are usually too lazy or too careless to plant and look after new trees. So, unless the government has a good system of control or can educate the people the forest will slowly disappear. The roots of the trees break the soil and allow the rain water to sink in. They also bind the soil and thus prevent its being washed away. Where there are no trees the rain falls on hard ground and flows away in the surface causing floods and carrying away with it the rich top soil in which crops grow well.