Water and forest beauty of nature full version. The fate of nature is in the hands of man. Where forests are destroyed, the earth becomes sick

Forests on the Mountains

From the mouth of the Oka to Saratov and further down, the right side of the Volga is called “Mountains”. The mountains begin above the Oka, above Murom, stretch to Nizhny, and then down the Volga. And the further you go, the higher they are. Rarely do mountains intersperse - only where the river flows into the Volga from the right side. And there are few such rivers.

Places on the “Mountains” are full of petrified waves of a stormy sea: hills, hillocks, mounds, hills, and ridges* stretch in all directions between valleys, ravines, ravines and dry valleys; rivers and streams travel in all directions, making their way between the eels and encountering hills at every step... The rivers and streams on the mountains are all winding.

Since ancient times, that side was covered with dense forests; Mordovians, Cheremis, Bulgars, Burtases and other foreign languages lived in them; Over the course of five hundred years or more, Russian people began to settle in that direction. Konstantin Vasilyevich, Grand Duke of Suzdal, in the half of the 14th century moved his table from Suzdal to Nizhny Novgorod, named Russian people from foreign reigns and settled them along the Volga, along the Oka and along Kudma. So the chronicle says...

In the old days, condo forests grew on the Mountains; in some places they have survived to this day, mostly in those places where the Chuvash, Cheremis and Mordovians live. Those tribes love dense forests and dark groves, not one of them will touch a tree unless necessary; To lose a forest without a path, in their opinion, is a great sin, according to their ancient law: the forest is the dwelling of the gods. To destroy a forest is to insult the deity, to destroy his house, and to incur punishment on oneself. The Mordvins think so, and the Cheremis and Chuvashins think so.

And perhaps this is also why foreigners love their native forests, because in the old days, having neither cities nor fortresses, they defended their will for a long time in inaccessible wilds, first from the Tatars, then from the Russian people... Russian is not that, he is born the enemy of the forest: felling a century-old tree in order to cut out an axis or shaft from a branch, breaking a tree that is not needed for anything, peeling off the sticky, drying out a birch tree by releasing the sap from it or removing the birch bark for flooding - he doesn’t care. Centenary oaks even ґ nit, if only I could rob them of acorns for the pigs to feed. In the old years, when step by step Rus' recaptured the land from its old inhabitants***, it mercilessly destroyed forests as enemy strongholds. The habit remains; and now on the Mountains, where the indigenous Russian people live, not a cross with aliens, but of the pure Slavic breed, there are no more forests, only groves, bushes and erniks remain in some places... In other places it has become so treeless that no no rod, no string, no drumstick; such need that there is nowhere to cut out the whips, there is nothing to flog the boy with. Forests have been preserved on large landowners' estates, and even there they have become very thin in recent years. Forest felling in other people's dachas***** is not considered a sin by men and is not a matter of conscience. “Nobody planted a forest,” they explain, “this is not a garden. God himself grew the forest for the benefit of people, so cut it down as much as you need.”

P.I. MELNIKOV (Andrey Pechersky). On the Mountains. 1875-1881

*AND’zvolok, izvolo’To- sloping mountain, not steep long climb (“Praise the hill, lying on the rope”).
**Ro’a thread- here: to cut down, to cut down the forest. (According to V.I. Dahl.)
***Inhabitants- the first inhabitants of the region, a famous area.
****Ernik (Yornik) - a low-growing or completely overgrown bush forest.
*****Country house- small land property.

Where forests are destroyed, the earth becomes sick

The power of a country lies not in material wealth alone, but also in the soul of the people! The wider and freer this soul is, the greater the greatness and strength the state achieves. And what fosters breadth of spirit if not our amazing nature! It must be protected, just as we protect human life itself. Descendants will never forgive us for the devastation of the earth, the desecration of what belongs not only to us, but to them by right.

It is impossible to list all the disasters that come from the destruction of forests. In those places where forests are destroyed, the land becomes sick with infertility and dry ulcers of ravines. There is nothing more dismal than the sight of drying up dirty rivers, clearings, burnt areas, all these wastelands brought to life by the ignorance, carelessness and greed of man.

I imagine a man who, having made his way through the sands and burnt areas, after the exhausting heat, weather-beaten, burned by the sun, finally enters the depths of solemn and quiet forests, and his whole body is enveloped by the coolness of the foliage. The balsamic scents of forest flowers, herbs, pine needles and bark make fatigue disappear.

The great power of life is visible in everything: in the swaying of peaks, in the whistling of birds, in soft lighting. And in the evening, somewhere near the forest waters, a man sits down by a fire, and silence settles next to him. Stars, a hundred times brighter than those above the dusty canopy of the city, light up in the sky.

When looking at them, a person begins to understand all the greatness of the universe, begins to understand what well-deserved rest and peace of mind are. Night rises over the world, full of fresh smells, vague light, dew, and the cry of night birds. And there are hundreds of such nights, and dawns, and days, and evenings ahead...

Konstantin PAUSTOVSKY. A Tale of Forests. 1948

About forests

I said about water that it is “the beauty of nature,” almost the same can be said about the forest. The complete beauty of any area lies precisely in the combination of water and forest. Nature does this: rivers, rivers, streams and lakes are almost always overgrown with forests or bushes... Connecting forests with water is another great goal of nature. Forests are guardians of water: trees protect the earth from scorching rays summer sun, from drying winds; coolness and dampness live in their shadow and do not allow flowing or standing moisture to dry out. The decline of rivers, which is noticeable throughout Russia, is, in the general opinion, due to the destruction of forests.

I saw an example of how a significant village, sitting on a beautiful spring river (Bolshoi Suyush), which constantly raised the flour supply, lost water in one year. It happened very simply: during a severe stormy winter, the peasants, in order not to travel far, cut down the birch and alder forests (alder forest) for firewood, which grew densely near a round-shaped molasses*, from which more than twenty springs flowed, making up the Syuush River. The spring was dry; All the springs, exposed from the forest shadow, dried up in the summer, and the river dried up. Only in the third year, when the tall** alder grew up again, did the springs begin to open again, and only ten years later did the river flow as before.

This forest, this beauty of the earth, coolness in the heat, the home of animals and birds, the forest from which we build houses and with which we warm ourselves during long, cruel winters - we do not protect to the highest degree. We are rich in forests, but wealth leads us into extravagance, and with it we are not far from poverty: cutting down a tree for no reason means nothing to us... In many places where forests once grew, bare steppes remain, and straw has replaced firewood.

All species of resinous trees, such as pine, spruce, fir, etc., are called red forest, or red forest. A forest consisting exclusively of pine trees is called a forest. All other tree species that lose their leaves in the fall and renew them in the spring, such as oak, elm, sedge, linden, birch, aspen, alder and others, are called black forest, or black forest. It includes berry trees: bird cherry and rowan, which sometimes reach considerable height and thickness. All species of bushes should be classified as black forest: viburnum, hazel, honeysuckle, wolf's bast, rosehip, blackwood, common willow grass, etc.

Red forest loves clayey, silty soil, and pine prefers sandy soil; on pure black soil it is found in very small numbers, except somewhere in the mountains where loam and stone flagstone are exposed. In those districts of the Orenburg province where I lived for more than half of my century, pine is a rarity...

Black forest consists of a mixture of different tree species, and this mixture is especially pleasing to the eye, but sometimes there are places with separate manes or tufts where one species predominates: oak, linden, birch or aspen, growing much more more in comparison with other tree species and reaching the volume of timber.

Bears, wolves, hares, martens and squirrels live more or less permanently in the black forest. Birds of prey also raise their children in the forests, making nests on the main branches near the tree trunk: large and small hawks, harriers, white-tailed birds, tailed birds and others. Owls, owls and long-eared eagle owls lurk and breed in the dense shadows of forest slums.

Forests and bushes growing near rivers in places that are flooded with flood water are called urema. Urems are different: according to big rivers and rivers of medium size, the banks of which are always sandy, the urema consists preferably of elm, sedge, willow, or willow, and occasionally of oak, reaching enormous growth and volume; bird cherry, rowan, hazel and large rose hips almost always accompany them, spreading a strong aromatic smell all around during spring flowering.

Sergey AKSAKOV. Notes of a rifle hunter of the Orenburg province. 1849-1851

* Pa’tochina - from sharpen in the meaning of exude, let flow, emit a stream (according to V.I. Dahl).
**Chivy - generous, plump, exuding abundance; alder is a tree capable of growth (according to V.I. Dahl).

DIAGRAM IV. FOREST GAME

FOREST

All forest game lives more or less in the forest, but some species never leave it. So, I will first examine and determine, as best I can, the difference between forests and forest species.

I said about water that it is “the beauty of nature”; almost the same can be said about the forest. The complete beauty of any area lies precisely in the combination of water and forest. Nature does this: rivers, rivers, streams and lakes are almost always overgrown with forests or bushes. Exceptions are rare. The union of forests with water is another great goal of nature. Forests are guardians of water: trees protect the earth from the scorching rays of the summer sun and from drying winds; coolness and dampness live in their shadow and do not allow flowing or standing moisture to dry out. The decline of rivers, which is noticeable throughout Russia, is, in the general opinion, due to the destruction of forests. *

* There are many villages that have forever lost water due to the destruction of the forests that once covered the heads of their rivers or spring streams. Some villages replaced them with wells, and some moved to other places. I saw an example of how a significant village, sitting on a beautiful spring river (Bolshoi Suyush), which constantly raised the flour supply, lost water in one year. It happened very simply: in a severe stormy winter, the peasants, in order not to travel far, cut down the birch and alder forests (alder forest) for firewood, which grew densely near the round-shaped molasses, from which more than twenty springs flowed, making up the Syuush River. The spring was dry; All the springs, exposed from the forest shadow, dried up in the summer, and the river dried up. Only in the third year, when the tall alder grew up again, did the springs begin to open again, and only ten years later did the river flow as before.

All species of resinous trees, such as pine, spruce, fir, etc., are called red forest, or red forest. Their distinctive quality is that instead of leaves they have needles, which they do not lose in winter, but change them gradually, gradually, in spring and early summer; in the fall they become fuller, fresher and greener, therefore meeting winter in all its beauty and strength. A forest consisting exclusively of pine trees is called boron. All other tree species that lose their leaves in the fall and renew them in the spring, such as oak, elm, sedge, linden, birch, aspen, alder and others, are called black forest, or black forest. It includes berry trees: bird cherry and rowan, which sometimes reach considerable height and thickness. Black forest should include all species of bushes that also lose their leaves in winter: viburnum, hazel, honeysuckle, wolf's bast, rose hip, black forest, common willow grass, etc.

Red forest loves clayey, silty soil, and pine prefers sandy soil; on pure black soil it is found in very small numbers, except somewhere in the mountains where loam and stone slabs are exposed. I don’t like the red forest, its eternal, monotonous and gloomy greenery, its sandy or clayey soil, perhaps because from an early age I was accustomed to admiring the cheerful variegated black forest and rich black soil. In those districts of the Orenburg province where I lived for more than half of my century, pine is a rarity. So, I will talk about one black forest.

For the most part, the black forest consists of a mixture of different tree species, and this mixture is especially pleasing to the eye, but sometimes there are places with separate manes or pegs, where one species predominates: oak, linden, birch or aspen, growing in much greater numbers compared to other tree species and reaching the volume of timber. When dissimilar trees grow together and form one green mass, they all seem equally good, but individually they are inferior to each other. The spreading, white-trunked, light green, cheerful birch is good, but even better is the slender, curly, round-leaved, sweet-fragrant when in color, not bright, but a soft green linden, covering with its basts and shod with its basts the Orthodox Russian people. The maple tree with its paw-leaves is also good (as Gogol said); he is tall, slender and handsome, but he grows little in the districts of the Orenburg province that I know, and he does not reach his enormous height there. Stocky, strong, tall and powerful, several girths thick at the root, there is a perennial oak, rarely seen in such a majestic form; the small oak tree does not have anything particularly attractive about it: its greenery is dark or dull, its carved leaves, dense and solid, express only signs of future power and longevity. Aspen * both in appearance and in internal dignity it is considered the last of the drill trees. Not noticed by anyone, the trembling-leaved aspen is beautiful and noticeable only in the fall: its early fading leaves are covered with gold and crimson, and, clearly different from the greenery of other trees, it gives a lot of charm and variety to the forest during autumn leaf fall.

* The people say: bitter aspen and uses these words in an abusive sense. Aspen bark is definitely bitter, but hares prefer to gnaw on young aspen trees.

Overgrowth, or porosity, that is, the young forest is pleasant to the eye, especially from a distance. The green of its leaves is fresh and cheerful, but there is little shade in it, it is thin and so frequent that you cannot pass through it. Over time, most of the trees will wither from the crowding, and only the strongest will master all the nutritional value of the soil and then begin to grow not only in height, but also in thickness.

Blackening from afar, they stand tall, shady, old, dark forest, but by the word old one should not mean aged, decrepit, devoid of leaves: the sight of such trees in large numbers would be very sad. In nature, everything happens gradually. A big forest always consists of trees different ages: obsolete and completely dry in many others, green and blooming, invisible. Here and there in the forest lie huge trunks, first dried up, then rotten at the roots and finally broken by the storm of oaks, lindens, birches and aspens * .

* Oak lives for many centuries; linden is more than one hundred and fifty years old, birch is over a hundred years old, and aspen is less than one hundred years old. General sign old trees, even with green, but already sparse leaves, have the main branches hanging downwards; this sign is most noticeable in a birch tree when it is one hundred years old.

In their fall, they bent and broke the young neighboring trees, which, despite their ugliness, continue to grow and turn green, picturesquely bending to one side, stretching along the ground or curling up in an arc. The corpses of forest giants, smoldering inside, are preserved for a long time external view; their bark is overgrown with moss and even grass; I often happened in a hurry to jump on such a tree corpse and fall with my feet to the ground through its interior: a cloud of rotten dust, similar to the dust of a dry raincoat, enveloped me for several seconds... But this in no way disturbs the overall beauty of the green, mighty forest kingdom, growing freely in freshness, darkness and silence. The sight of a dense forest on a sultry afternoon is pleasant and refreshing. fresh air, its inner silence is soothing and the rustling of leaves is pleasant when the wind sometimes runs over its tops! Its darkness has something mysterious, unknown; the voice of an animal, a bird and a person changes in the forest, sounding different, strange sounds. This is some kind of special world, and folk fantasy populates it with supernatural creatures: devilish And forest girls, as well as river and lake pools - water devils, but it’s creepy in a large forest during a storm, although it’s quiet below: the trees creak and groan, the branches crack and break. Involuntary fear attacks the soul and forces a person to run into the open.

On the branches of trees, in thickets of green leaves and in the forest in general live motley, beautiful, multi-voiced, infinitely diverse breeds of birds: deaf and simple black grouse cavort, hazel grouse squeak, woodcocks wheeze on drafts, all breeds of wild pigeons coo, each in its own way, blackbirds squeal and clink glasses, orioles call to one another mournfully and melodiously * , speckled cuckoos moan, woodpeckers tap, hammering trees, woodpeckers trumpet, jays chatter; waxwings, forest larks, grosbeaks and all the numerous winged, small singing tribes fill the air with different voices and enliven the silence of the forests; Birds make their nests on branches and in hollows of trees, lay eggs and hatch children; For the same purpose, martens and squirrels, hostile to birds, and noisy swarms of wild bees settle in hollows. **

* Orioles have another, opposite cry or screech, piercing and unpleasant to the ear. Finding in these sounds a resemblance to the disgusting cry of bickering cats, people call the oriole wild cat.

** A hollow tree occupied by bees is called board. Having noticed a hole into which bees are climbing, it is hollowed out and lined in debt, so that you can take them out and freely get the honeycombs of fragrant green honey, known as liptsa. Airborne fisheries in the Orenburg province were previously very significant, but the increased population and ignorant greed in obtaining honey, which is often taken out all without leaving a reserve for the winter, are destroying wild bees, which are already exterminated by bears, big honey hunters, and some breeds of birds. and the severity of winter frosts.

There are few herbs and flowers in a large forest: dense, constant shadow is unfavorable for vegetation, which needs the light and warmth of the sun's rays; more often than others one can see the jagged fern, the dense and green leaves of the lily of the valley, the tall stems of faded forest gillyflower and the red clumps of mature stone fruit; the damp smell of mushrooms is in the air, but the most audible one is the pungent and, in my opinion, very pleasant smell of milk mushrooms, because they are born in families, nests and love pave(as people say) in a small fern, under last year’s rotting leaves.

In such black forests live, more or less constantly, bears, wolves, hares, martens and squirrels * .

* In some more forested districts of the Orenburg province, where species and resinous trees grow, deer, lynxes and wolverines are found; in mountainous places there are wild goats, and in the reeds and reedy urems of the Urals there are wild boars.

Between the squirrels there are very whitish, almost white ones, called for some reason gourds, And flying squirrels: the latter have on both sides, between the front and hind legs, a thin leather membrane, which, when stretched, helps them jump from tree to tree over a very long distance. During such a jump, similar to flight, I once killed a flying squirrel in the air, and it turned out that I shot beast in years. Birds of prey also raise their children in the forests, making nests on the main branches near the tree trunk: large and small hawks, harriers, white-tailed birds, tailed birds and others. In the dense shadows of forest slums, owls, owls and long-eared eagle owls lurk and breed, the mournful, strange, wild cry of which at night will frighten even a timid person who is late in the forest. What is so strange that people consider these cries hooting And laughing What the hell?

If you happen to be driving along a wooded road, through green copses and fragrant meadows, as soon as you reach them, the tailbone, which I just mentioned, appears high up. If he has a nest nearby, then he usually accompanies every traveler, even a passer-by, floating above him in wide, bold circles in the heights of heaven. He watches with his amazingly keen eyes to see if any small bird will fly out from under the feet of a horse or a person. With the speed of lightning, it falls from the sky onto the fluttering bird, and if it does not have time to fall into the grass, hide in the leaves of a tree or bush, then the tailbone will plunge sharp claws into it and carry it off to the nest to its children. If he fails to grab the prey, he will fly up in a steep arc and again do bet and will fall down again if the same bird rises again or another one is frightened. The tailbone hits from above, strikes like a falcon, which it completely resembles. Sometimes it happens that large children fly out to catch both coccyxes, the female and the cape, and then they can amuse any spectator and non-hunter. It is impossible to look at the speed, lightness and dexterity of this small, beautiful bird of prey without pleasant surprise and involuntary participation. It’s strange, but the most compassionate person somehow doesn’t feel sorry for the poor birds he catches! The process of this fishing is so good, elegant, and fascinating that you certainly wish the catcher success. If one tailbone manages to catch a bird, then it now takes the prey to the children, while the other remains and continues to float above the person, waiting for some profit for itself. It also happens that both tailbones, almost at the same time, catch a bird and fly away with them; but in a minute one will certainly appear to the person again. The coccyx is a mysterious bird: it catches wonderfully in the wild, but catches nothing when tame. I've tried many times bear tailbones (the same as training a dog), and nests and fledglings; it is very easy to endure them: in three or four days he will get used to it completely and will walk on his arm even without wabila(piece of meat); as soon as you whistle and wave your hand, as soon as the tailbone just sees the hunter or hears his whistle - he is already on his hand, and if the hunter does not extend his hand, then the tailbone will sit on his shoulder or head - but no living bird will take it. This feature of it is known to all hunters, but I did not believe it until I was convinced through many experiments that this was absolutely true. *

* And yet this is not true! From the “Book of the Falconer’s Way” it is obvious that they were poisoned with their tailbones: so, we only do not know how to bear them. - Later writer's note.

Having lost all hope that the tailbone would catch, I usually released it into the wild, and for a long time they saw it flying around the house and heard a plaintive squeak, meaning that it was hungry. Whether the coccyx regained its former ability to catch in the wild, or whether it died of hunger, I don’t know.

Forests and bushes growing near rivers in places that are flooded with flood water are called urema. Uremas are different: on large rivers and rivers of medium size, the banks of which are always sandy, the urema consists preferably of elm, sedge, willow or willow and occasionally oak, reaching enormous height and volume; bird cherry, rowan, hazel and large rose hips almost always accompany them, spreading a strong aromatic smell all around during spring flowering. The elm is not so tall, but its thick, twisted stump can be up to three fathoms in circumference; it is picturesquely spreading, and the dim, dense green of its oval, as if embossed, leaves is beautiful. But the sedge reaches gigantic heights; it is stately, slender and leafy; its pale green leaves are similar to aspen leaves and just as easily sway on their long stems at the slightest, imperceptible movement of air. Its thick and at the same time light, soft, red inside bark is used for various small crafts, especially for floats for fishing nets, seines and fishing rods. Such urems are not dense, they have many deep flood lakes, rich in all kinds of fish and aquatic game. Everywhere along the banks of rivers and lakes, along sandy hillocks and slopes, preferably before other wild berries, it grows in abundance. blackberry(in some provinces it is called bramble), clinging to everything with its flexible, creeping, slightly prickly branches; in spring its greenery is decorated with small white flowers, and in autumn with black-blue or gray berries of excellent taste, similar in appearance and size to large raspberries. This urema is good: huge trees love space, do not grow often, under them and around them, according to the size of the shadow, there are no young tree shoots, and therefore all their majestic beauty is visible.

Urems of another kind are formed along rivers that cannot be classified as medium-sized rivers, because they are much smaller, but at the same time fast and full of water; along rivers that flow not in barren, sandy, but in green and flowering banks, along black soil, you rarely see elm, oak or sedge, birch, aspen and alder grow there; * there, in addition to bird cherry and rowan, there are many different bushes: viburnum, honeysuckle, hawthorn, willow grass, currants and others. I especially like these urems. Many trees and, preferably, tall bushes are pierced, woven and picturesquely entwined to the very top with tenacious shoots of wild hops and hung first with its green leaves, similar to grape leaves, and then with fawn, golden cones, similar to grape clusters, inside of which lurk small, round, bitter in taste intoxicating seeds. Many nightingales, bluethroats and all sorts of songbirds live in the green, densely growing bushes of such urema. Nightingales drown out everyone. Day and night their whistles and roars do not stop. The sun goes down and night lights They replace the tired nightingales of the day until the morning. Only there, with the light sound of a running river, in the midst of flowering and greening trees and bushes, in the warmth and fragrance of the breathing night, do nightingale songs have full meaning and charming power... but they have a painful effect on the soul when you hear them on the street, in the dust and the noise of carriages, or in a stuffy room, in the chatter of people's speeches.

* Alder is the fastest growing tree; it loves moist soil and usually grows thickly along the banks of small rivers and streams, but if the soil is swampy, it also covers mountainous slopes. Alder reaches quite a large height and thickness, but its wood is soft; fragile and fragile; however, carpenters use it, sawing it into panels, for gluing various furniture

Along small rivers and rivers, especially on low-lying and swampy soil, urems consist of only alder and tall bushes, mostly overgrown with small reeds. Occasionally, here and there lopsided birch trees stick out, which are not afraid of wet places, as well as dry ones. Such urems are especially dense, frequent and swampy, sometimes have quite small lakes and provide complete convenience for the hatching of children for all swamp and water game; all sorts of animals and creatures also find a safe refuge in them. *

* In the Orenburg province, an area overgrown with various small bushes, constantly flooded, and occupied by hollow water in the spring, is sometimes called a borrow; and the urema, consisting exclusively of tall bushes, growing densely, is called thala.

And this forest, so superficially and insufficiently described by me, this beauty of the earth, coolness in the heat, the home of animals and birds, the forest from which we build houses and with which we warm ourselves during long, cruel winters, we do not protect to the highest degree. We are rich in forests, but wealth leads us into extravagance, and with it we are not far from poverty: cutting down a tree for no reason means nothing to us. Let us assume that in real forest provinces, despite all the efforts of their not so numerous population, the forest will not be removed, but in many other places where forests once grew, bare steppes remain, and straw has replaced firewood. The same thing can happen in the Orenburg province. I’m not talking about the fact that peasants in general act mercilessly with the forest, that instead of dead wood and windfalls, which smolder uselessly and need to be taken care of because they are thick and heavy, peasants usually cut down young forest for firewood; that only the branches and tops of old trees are cut off for fuel, and the bare trunks are left to dry and rot; that they mow grass or graze flocks without any need where young forest shoots and even undergrowth have appeared. All this is not yet as destructive as boiling down potash and seat, or seed, tar: for potash, mainly elm, linden and elm are burned into ash, without sparing, however, other tree species, and for tar, birch bark, that is, the outer skin of birch, is removed. Although this shooting at first does not seem so disastrous, because the birch tree does not die suddenly, but if removed carefully, after ten years it grows new skin, which is removed a second time; but will hired workers be careful beat the birch bark, that is, skinning a birch tree? and not a single one, with the greatest caution removed The birch tree no longer reaches full development: it gradually weakens and dies before reaching its full age.

Of the entire plant kingdom, the tree represents more than others the visible phenomena of organic life and more excites participation. Its enormous volume, its slow growth, its longevity, the strength and durability of the tree trunk, the nutritional power of its roots, always ready for the revival of dying branches and for young shoots from an already dead stump, and, finally, its many-sided benefits and beauty should, it seems, , inspire respect and mercy... but the ax and saw of the industrialist do not know them, and temporary benefits captivate the owners themselves... I could never indifferently see not only a cut down grove, but even the fall of one large felled tree; there is something inexpressibly sad in this fall: at first the ringing blows of the ax produce only a slight shaking in the tree trunk; it becomes stronger with each blow and turns into a general shudder of every branch and every leaf; as the ax penetrates to the core, the sounds become duller, more painful... another blow, the final one: the tree will settle, break, crackle, rustle at the top, for a few moments it seems to think about where to fall, and finally begins to lean on one side side, at first slowly, quietly, and then, with increasing speed and noise, similar to the noise strong wind, will collapse to the ground!.. For many decades it has reached full strength and beauty, and in a few minutes it often dies from the empty whim of a person.

Every year nature conservation increasingly attracts the attention of the entire Soviet public.

It is now becoming increasingly clear that this is not an area that concerns only a few specialist circles or special interests. For love for native nature is an integral part of love for the Fatherland, that great feeling that has been inherent in the peoples of our country from time immemorial.

Nature conservation is primarily a pedagogical problem, since the education of the younger generation careful attitude to nature is at the same time an important factor in educating Soviet citizens in the spirit of patriotism.

Nature conservation is a national economic problem, since without a scientific solution our wealth may become scarce - after all, human impact on nature is continuously increasing.

Nature conservation is also an aesthetic problem, since communication with nature in all its diversity ennobles a person, teaches him to see, understand and appreciate beauty.

Nature conservation is a cultural and historical problem, since our descendants will judge the level of our culture also by the form in which we pass on natural resources to them.

Nature conservation is ultimately a political problem. In building a communist society, we must remember that it is conceived not only as a society of the highest justice, but also as a society thriving in an environment of abundant and beautiful nature.

It is known that significant damage to nature is caused as a result of ill-conceived or deliberately predatory human influence on it. This was noted long ago by Karl Marx, who, analyzing the book of the scientist Fraaz “Climate and vegetable world in time, their history,” concludes that “culture, if it develops spontaneously and is not consciously directed, leaves behind a desert.”

At the present time, when the historical XXIII Congress of the CPSU called on our people to make the maximum use of all the country’s natural resources, to discover hidden sources of values, it is necessary to study with particular care the ways of using living nature, and for this it is necessary to comply with all the rules for its protection, to understand the whole problem in its natural complex.

The beauty and harmony of nature ultimately find themselves in a dialectical unity with the usefulness of certain natural complexes both for the existence of people and for their own existence.

The best writers and naturalists of our country have long emphasized, for example, the inseparability of the beauty and benefits of the combination of waters and forests. Thus, the singer of Russian nature S. T. Aksakov wrote in 1851: “The complete beauty of any area lies precisely in the combination of water with forest. Nature does this: rivers, streams and lakes are almost always overgrown with forests and bushes. Exceptions are rare. The union of forests with water is another great goal of nature. Forests are guardians of water... The decline of rivers, which is noticeable throughout Russia, occurs, in the general opinion, from the destruction of forests.”

More than a hundred years have passed since these words were written, but even now in the central part of the country we are reaping the fruits of former excesses in forest management.

“Are the remains of ancient civilizations buried in the sands of the Sahara and Central Asia, do not speak and show convincingly enough what can result from careless handling of nature? After all, now in the sands of the Sahara they find the remains of cities, stadiums that could accommodate up to 60,000 spectators. Now the Sahara continues its attack on fertile lands. It is estimated that every year the borders of the desert expand by 1 km in all directions. And all this is the result of careless treatment of nature,” G. Bosset and A. Yablokov write in their brochure “Nature Conservation and Its Importance for Our Country” (Moscow, publishing house of the All-Russian Society for the Promotion of Nature Conservation and Gardening settlements, 1958).

It is absolutely clear that now, in an era of grandiose transformations of nature, it is necessary to treat natural resources with the greatest thrift. What is the reality like? It is this question that we intend to consider in as much detail as possible, without glossing over the shadow sides, for only a complete understanding of the shortcomings in the use of nature can help us eliminate them.

The living nature of our country is rich and enchantingly beautiful, but we treat it without sufficient care, without the filial love that it deserves. She generously gives us her wealth, but we tend to take more than is acceptable. We often take without taking into account the reproductive capabilities of nature and are upset that we are faced with a depletion of resources, for which we ourselves are to blame. And usually groundless conversations begin about the “restructuring” of nature, about its “enrichment,” etc. At the same time, we forget that we are supposed to rebuild what is bad, but is our nature bad? It is necessary to enrich what is poor, but is our nature poor? In addition, all these “perestroikas” and “enrichments” are prohibitively expensive and extremely labor-intensive. Obviously, it is more rational to follow the path of a reasonable attitude towards natural resources, bearing in mind the indisputable fact that protecting nature without proper use of its productive capabilities is meaningless and often harmful, and use without protection leads to complete impoverishment. This provision is taken into account in Soviet laws on nature protection. Strict compliance with these laws allows us to achieve the required harmony.

However, this is easier said than done. The idea of living nature as an inexhaustible storehouse of some fantastic “reserves” is too ingrained. There is obvious confusion here. It is possible to talk about reserves only in relation to, for example, minerals (coal, oil, etc.). After all, it never occurs to anyone to say: stocks of cows or sheep, stocks of wheat... We are talking in this case about livestock and offspring, about grain stocks. The same applies to self-renewing gifts of nature - animals and plants, which do not represent any reserves.

When a person walked into the untouched expanses of forests and steppes, on foot and poorly armed, he could hunt without thinking about the preservation and renewal of forests or wild animals. We have left this time forever. Both plants and animals in our country represent a state fund of values, which is equally subject to protection and economic use, such as livestock or crops. It is in this direction that we need to build our attitude towards these resources.

The fate of wild living nature is in the hands of man, and it must be treated like a businessman.

The negative impact of humans on nature increases as the population increases, roads improve, and technical equipment, in particular transport, increases. The danger of irreversible phenomena occurring in nature - the final disappearance of certain animal species, entire forest areas, etc. - is becoming more and more obvious.

We need not only laws on nature protection, but also a well-thought-out system for monitoring the implementation of these laws. And most importantly, it is necessary to educate a person as a friend of nature from childhood.

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The lesson on this topic is general, so it is advisable to organize an individual study of the studied material using the example of text analysis.

Everything is good in nature, but water is the beauty of all nature. Almost the same can be said about the forest. The complete beauty of any area lies precisely in the combination of water and forest.

Forests are guardians of water. Trees shield the earth from the scorching rays of the summer sun and from the drying winds. Coolness and dampness live in their shadow and do not allow flowing or standing moisture to dry out.

Red forest refers to all species of resinous trees: pine, spruce, fir and others. Oak, elm, linden, birch, alder and others are called black forest. The berry trees of bird cherry and rowan belong to it. All species of bushes, viburnum, hazel, honeysuckle, wolf's bast, wild rose, and common willow grass should be classified as black forest.

A spreading, white-trunked, cheerful birch tree is good. The maple tree with its paw-leaves is also good. The perennial oak tree is stocky, strong, tall and mighty.

The Russian forest is good in winter and summer, autumn and spring. The Russian forest is especially beautiful and sad in the early autumn days. Bright spots of painted aspen maples stand out against the golden background of yellowed foliage. Slowly circling in the air, yellowed lungs fall from the birches.

1. Read the text carefully. What style does it belong to? What types of speech are used? Give reasons for your answer.

2. Underline all homogeneous members of the sentence with a conditional line.

3. Place punctuation marks in the third and fifth paragraphs. Explain.

4. Rearrange sentences with a colon so that they need a dash.

5. Add another row of homogeneous members to the first sentence of the last paragraph.

6. Find offers:

A) with homogeneous definitions;

B) with heterogeneous definitions.

7. Rearrange the first sentence of the third paragraph so that it requires a colon and a dash.

8. Select generalizing words for homogeneous members from the last sentence of the fourth paragraph and the first sentence of the fifth paragraph.

9. Add homogeneous members to the last sentence of the text.

10. Make a reference table “in sentences”

With homogeneous members”, using the text from § 25. Illustrate the rules with examples from the text.

Sentences with homogeneous members 125

2. Rewrite using letters and punctuation.

1. The mournful song then froze... and then flashed again in the stagnant... stuffy air (A. Chekhov). 2. No nearby shores, no distant mountains, not even water, nothing was visible (V. Soloukhin). 3. Everything around was foggy... the forest, the lake, the sky was gray. 4. In the grass, in the dogwood and wild rose bushes, in the vineyards and on the trees everywhere, there were flowering flowers (A.). 5. The moon was shining with might and main and it was possible to see far away the surrounding area and the right steep bank and the scattered ... fragments of a bridge and a town with a water ... tower (S. Nikulin). 6. Everywhere above and below the larks sang (A. Chekhov). 7. Not only the forests were asleep, but also forest lakes and lazy ones forest rivers With fresh water(K. Paustovsky).

3. Record a poem from dictation. Emphasize one thing

Native members of the conditional line. For what purpose are they used?

Called in the text?

TO THE HOMELAND Thank you for the seas and for the land, for the crystal air, for the sunny snow. For filling my soul with love and captivating my heart forever. In happy unity with the vast earth - Both my joy and my triumph. Thank you that I am related to you by blood: Such a relationship exalts me. It’s bright and cheerful from the wide open space! Plains, taiga and gray ocean. Thank you for the authenticity of earthly happiness. For everything that has come true and is ahead. And the word repeated thousands of times again and again ripens in the chest.

(L. Shchipakhina)

4. Linguistic game - competition. Students are offered

You can write down in your notebook the numbers of those sentences in which

Available at homogeneous members generalizing words. Wins

The one who made no mistakes.

1. On the reddish grass, on the blades of grass, on the straws, the threads of autumn cobwebs glittered (A. Chekhov). 2. Scary, frantic, angry - that’s what youth was like (O. Berggolts). 3. To handle the language somehow means to think somehow: imprecisely, approximately, incorrectly (A. Tolstoy). 4. You cannot hide from me, you cannot hide the splendor of deeds and things, the power of the earth, young and hot

(A. Bezymensky). 5. Hot rays flood a round flowerbed with flowers, dark green lilacs, garden alleys (A. Chekhov). 6. gave Gogol two of his themes: about the auditor and about dead souls(N. Sher). 7. Young trees of all species: spruce and pine, aspen and birch - grow together and closely (K. Paustovsky). 8. Vladimir Soloukhin is not only a poet and poet, but also an excellent prose writer, publicist, and critic (M. Agatov). 9. Dobrolyubov admired the heroes of this work: the girl Elena, the Bulgarian Insarov (N. Sher). 10. Scarlet light spills across the mirror water, through the curls of the willow tree from dawn (I. Nikitin). (Answers: 2, 3, 6, 7, 9)

All forest game lives more or less in the forest, but some species never leave it. So, I will first examine and determine, as best I can, the difference between forests and forest species.

All species of resinous trees, such as pine, spruce, fir, etc., are called red forest, or red forest. Their distinctive quality is that instead of leaves they have needles, which they do not lose in winter, but change them gradually, gradually, in spring and early summer; in the fall they become fuller, fresher and greener, therefore meeting winter in all its beauty and strength. A forest consisting exclusively of pine trees is called a forest. All other tree species that lose their leaves in the fall and renew them in the spring, such as oak, elm, sedge, linden, birch, aspen, alder and others, are called black forest, or black forest. It includes berry trees: bird cherry and rowan, which sometimes reach considerable height and thickness. Black forest should include all species of bushes that also lose their leaves in winter: viburnum, hazel, honeysuckle, wolf's bast, rose hip, black forest, common willow grass, etc.

For the most part, black forest consists of a mixture of different tree species, and this mixture is especially pleasing to the eye, but sometimes there are places with separate manes or tufts where one species predominates: oak, linden, birch or aspen, growing in much greater numbers in compared with other tree species and reaching the volume of timber. When dissimilar trees grow together and form one green mass, they all seem equally good, but individually they are inferior to each other. The spreading, white-trunked, light green, cheerful birch is good, but even better is the slender, curly, round-leaved, sweet-fragrant when in color, not bright, but a soft green linden, covering with its basts and shod with its basts the Orthodox Russian people. The maple tree with its paw-leaves is also good (as Gogol said); he is tall, slender and handsome, but he grows little in the districts of the Orenburg province that I know, and he does not reach his enormous height there. Stocky, strong, tall and powerful, several girths thick at the root, there is a perennial oak, rarely seen in such a majestic form; the small oak tree does not have anything particularly attractive about it: its greenery is dark or dull, its carved leaves, dense and solid, express only signs of future power and longevity. Aspen, both in appearance and in internal dignity, is considered the last of the construction trees. Not noticed by anyone, the trembling-leaved aspen is beautiful and noticeable only in the fall: its early fading leaves are covered with gold and crimson, and, clearly different from the greenery of other trees, it gives a lot of charm and variety to the forest during autumn leaf fall.

Overgrowth, or porosity, that is, a young forest is pleasant to the eye, especially from a distance. The green of its leaves is fresh and cheerful, but there is little shade in it, it is thin and so frequent that you cannot pass through it. Over time, most of the trees will wither from the crowding, and only the strongest will master all the nutritional value of the soil and then begin to grow not only in height, but also in thickness.

Blackened from afar, tall, shady, old, dark forests stand, but the word old should not mean aged, decrepit, devoid of leaves: the sight of such trees in abundance would be very sad. In nature, everything happens gradually. A large forest always consists of trees of different ages: those that are outdated and completely dry in many others, green and blooming, invisible. Here and there in the forest lie huge trunks, first dried up, then rotten at the roots and finally broken by the storm of oaks, lindens, birches and aspens.

In their fall, they bent and broke the young neighboring trees, which, despite their ugliness, continue to grow and turn green, picturesquely bending to one side, stretching along the ground or curling up in an arc. The corpses of forest giants, smoldering inside, retain their appearance for a long time; their bark is overgrown with moss and even grass; I often happened in a hurry to jump on such a tree corpse and fall with my feet to the ground through its interior: a cloud of rotten dust, similar to the dust of a dry raincoat, enveloped me for several seconds... But this in no way disturbs the overall beauty of the green, mighty forest kingdom, freely growing in freshness, darkness and silence. The sight of a dense forest on a sultry afternoon is pleasant, its clean air is refreshing, its inner silence is soothing and the rustling of leaves is pleasant when the wind sometimes runs through its tops! Its darkness has something mysterious, unknown; the voice of an animal, a bird and a person changes in the forest, sounding different, strange sounds. This is some kind of special world, and folk fantasy populates it with supernatural creatures: goblins and forest girls, as well as river and lake pools - water devils, but it’s creepy in a large forest during a storm, although it’s quiet below: the trees creak and groan, branches crack and break. Involuntary fear attacks the soul and forces a person to run into the open.

On the branches of trees, in thickets of green leaves and in the forest in general live motley, beautiful, multi-voiced, infinitely diverse breeds of birds: deaf and simple black grouse cavort, hazel grouse squeak, woodcocks wheeze on drafts, all breeds of wild pigeons coo, each in its own way, blackbirds squeal and clink glasses, orioles call to each other mournfully, melodiously, speckled cuckoos moan, variegated woodpeckers tap, hammering trees, yellowjackets trumpet, jays chatter; waxwings, forest larks, grosbeaks and all the numerous winged, small singing tribes fill the air with different voices and enliven the silence of the forests; Birds make their nests on branches and in hollows of trees, lay eggs and hatch children; For the same purpose, martens and squirrels, hostile to birds, and noisy swarms of wild bees settle in hollows.

There are few herbs and flowers in a large forest: dense, constant shadow is unfavorable for vegetation, which needs the light and warmth of the sun's rays; more often than others one can see the jagged fern, the dense and green leaves of the lily of the valley, the tall stems of faded forest gillyflower and the red clumps of mature stone fruit; The damp smell of mushrooms is in the air, but the most audible smell is the pungent and, in my opinion, very pleasant smell of milk mushrooms, because they are born in families, nests and love to nest (as the people say) in small ferns, under last year’s rotting leaves.

In such black forests live, more or less constantly, bears, wolves, hares, martens and squirrels.

Among the squirrels there are very whitish, almost white ones, called for some reason gourds, and flying squirrels: the latter have on both sides, between the front and hind legs, a thin leather membrane, which, stretching, helps them jump from tree to tree for a very large distance. distance. During such a jump, similar to flight, I once killed a flying squirrel in the air, and it turned out that I had shot an aged animal. Birds of prey also raise their children in the forests, making nests on the main branches near the tree trunk: large and small hawks, harriers, white-tailed birds, tailed birds and others. In the dense shadows of forest slums, owls, owls and long-eared eagle owls lurk and breed, the mournful, strange, wild cry of which at night will frighten even a timid person who is late in the forest. What is so surprising that people consider these screams to be the hooting and laughter of a devil?

If you happen to be driving along a wooded road, through green copses and fragrant meadows, as soon as you reach them, the tailbone, which I just mentioned, appears high up. If he has a nest nearby, then he usually accompanies every traveler, even a passer-by, floating above him in wide, bold circles in the heights of heaven. He watches with his amazingly keen eyes to see if any small bird will fly out from under the feet of a horse or a person. With the speed of lightning, it falls from the sky onto the fluttering bird, and if it does not have time to fall into the grass, hide in the leaves of a tree or bush, then the tailbone will plunge sharp claws into it and carry it off to the nest to its children. If he fails to grab the prey, he will fly up in a steep arc, make a bet again, and fall down again if the same bird rises again or another one is frightened. The tailbone hits from above, strikes like a falcon, which it completely resembles. Sometimes it happens that large children fly out to catch both coccyxes, the female and the cape, and then they can amuse any spectator and non-hunter. It is impossible to look at the speed, lightness and dexterity of this small, beautiful bird of prey without pleasant surprise and involuntary participation. It’s strange, but the most compassionate person somehow doesn’t feel sorry for the poor birds he catches! The process of this fishing is so good, elegant, and fascinating that you certainly wish the catcher success. If one tailbone manages to catch a bird, then it now takes the prey to the children, while the other remains and continues to float above the person, waiting for some profit for itself. It also happens that both tailbones, almost at the same time, catch a bird and fly away with them; but in a minute one will certainly appear to the person again. The coccyx is a mysterious bird: it catches wonderfully in the wild, but catches nothing when tame. I have tried many times to breed coccyxes (the same as training a dog), and nests and fledglings; it is very easy to endure them: in three or four days he will get used to it completely and will walk on his hand even without a lure (a piece of meat); as soon as you whistle and wave your hand, as soon as the tailbone just sees the hunter or hears his whistle - he is already on his hand, and if the hunter does not extend his hand, then the tailbone will sit on his shoulder or head - but no living bird will take it. This feature of it is known to all hunters, but I did not believe it until I was convinced through many experiments that this was absolutely true.

Forests and bushes growing near rivers in places that are flooded with flood water are called urema. Uremas are different: on large rivers and rivers of medium size, the banks of which are always sandy, the urema consists preferably of elm, sedge, willow or willow and occasionally oak, reaching enormous height and volume; bird cherry, rowan, hazel and large rose hips almost always accompany them, spreading a strong aromatic smell all around during spring flowering. The elm is not so tall, but its thick, twisted stump can be up to three fathoms in circumference; it is picturesquely spreading, and the dim, dense green of its oval, as if embossed, leaves is beautiful. But the sedge reaches gigantic heights; it is stately, slender and leafy; its pale green leaves are similar to aspen leaves and just as easily sway on their long stems at the slightest, imperceptible movement of air. Its thick and at the same time light, soft, red inside bark is used for various small crafts, especially for floats for fishing nets, seines and fishing rods. Such urems are not dense, they have many deep flood lakes, rich in all kinds of fish and aquatic game. Everywhere along the banks of rivers and lakes, along sandy hillocks and slopes, preferably before other forest berries, blackberries grow in abundance (in some provinces they are called brambles), clinging to everything with their flexible, creeping, slightly prickly branches; in spring its greenery is decorated with small white flowers, and in autumn with black-blue or gray berries of excellent taste, similar in appearance and size to large raspberries. This urema is good: huge trees love space, do not grow often, under them and around them, according to the size of the shadow, there are no young tree shoots, and therefore all their majestic beauty is visible.

Urems of another kind are formed along rivers that cannot be classified as medium-sized rivers, because they are much smaller, but at the same time fast and full of water; along rivers that flow not in barren, sandy, but in green and flowering banks, along black soil, you rarely see elm, oak or sedge, birch, aspen and alder grow there; there, in addition to bird cherry and rowan, there are many different bushes: viburnum, honeysuckle, hawthorn, willow grass, currants and others. I especially like these urems. Many trees and, preferably, tall bushes are pierced, woven and picturesquely entwined to the very top with tenacious shoots of wild hops and hung first with its green leaves, similar to grape leaves, and then with fawn, golden cones, similar to grape clusters, inside of which lurk small, round, bitter-tasting, hop seeds. Many nightingales, bluethroats and all sorts of songbirds live in the green, densely growing bushes of such urema. Nightingales drown out everyone. Day and night their whistles and roars do not stop. The sun sets, and the night lights replace the tired nightingales of the day until the morning. Only there, with the light sound of a running river, in the midst of flowering and greening trees and bushes, in the warmth and fragrance of the breathing night, do nightingale songs have full meaning and charming power... but they have a painful effect on the soul when you hear them on the street, in the dust and noise of carriages , or in a stuffy room, in the chatter of human speech.

And this forest, so superficially and insufficiently described by me, this beauty of the earth, coolness in the heat, the home of animals and birds, the forest from which we build houses and with which we warm ourselves during long, cruel winters, we do not protect to the highest degree. We are rich in forests, but wealth leads us into extravagance, and with it we are not far from poverty: cutting down a tree for no reason means nothing to us. Let us assume that in real forest provinces, despite all the efforts of their not so numerous population, the forest will not be removed, but in many other places where forests once grew, bare steppes remain, and straw has replaced firewood. The same thing can happen in the Orenburg province. I’m not talking about the fact that peasants in general act mercilessly with the forest, that instead of dead wood and windfalls, which smolder uselessly and need to be taken care of because they are thick and heavy, peasants usually cut down young forest for firewood; that only the branches and tops of old trees are cut off for fuel, and the bare trunks are left to dry and rot; that they mow grass or graze flocks without any need where young forest shoots and even undergrowth have appeared. All this is not as destructive as boiling down potash and the seat, or sidka, of tar: for potash they burn mainly elm, linden and elm into ash, without sparing, however, other tree species, and for tar they remove birch bark, that is birch top skin. Although this shooting at first does not seem so disastrous, because the birch tree does not die suddenly, but if removed carefully, after ten years it grows new skin, which is removed a second time; but will hired workers carefully beat the birch bark, that is, remove the skin from the birch? and, moreover, not a single birch tree removed with the greatest care reaches full development: it gradually weakens and dies before it reaches its full age.

Of the entire plant kingdom, the tree represents more than others the visible phenomena of organic life and more excites participation. Its enormous volume, its slow growth, its longevity, the strength and durability of the tree trunk, the nutritional power of its roots, always ready for the revival of dying branches and for young shoots from an already dead stump, and, finally, its many-sided benefits and beauty should, it seems, , to inspire respect and mercy... but the ax and saw of the industrialist do not know them, and temporary benefits captivate the owners themselves... I could never indifferently see not only a cut down grove, but even the fall of one large cut tree; there is something inexpressibly sad in this fall: at first the ringing blows of the ax produce only a slight shaking in the tree trunk; it becomes stronger with each blow and turns into a general shudder of every branch and every leaf; as the ax penetrates to the core, the sounds become duller, more painful... another blow, the final one: the tree will settle, break, crack, rustle at the top, for a few moments seem to think about where to fall, and finally begin to lean to one side, at first slowly, quietly, and then, with increasing speed and noise, similar to the noise of a strong wind, it will collapse to the ground!.. For many decades it has reached full strength and beauty and in a few minutes it often dies from the empty whim of a person.