Litchfield enquirer., 1842-01-06
WESTERN PRAIRIES.


 orEr;u of the Prairies of the Vest"
 "The prairies of Texas form a peculiar feature of its surface, and we often hear the inquiry made, why are not these vast plains covered with forest trees, instead of grassF Various arc the causes assigned for the ori- gin of the prairies. Some believe the, were | cleared of ancient forests by the unknown | race of men who built tho mounds and fnrIi- 1 fieations which are scattered from inc Rocky ! Mountains to the Atlantic. But this opinion | is refuted by the fact, that most of these Wounds and Notifications are found cmoo- I somed in deep forests. and trees that have buffeted the storms of many centuries are ol- ten found growing upon their summlis.- Others believe the peculiar quality ot the soil of the prairics is not adapted to the growth of trees. and is only capable ot sup. porting growth of grass or the smaller spe- cies of plarts. But this opinion is contra. dicted by the fact, that isolated trees are ot- ten found growing luxurian,ly in the very midst of a prairie and at distance of scVe- ral miles from the forest. Others, and a. mong them Gen. Pike, who traversei almost the whole section of the country where pra- fries abound, advance the opinion that they are caused by the dryness of the soil and ariiness of the climate. Gen. Pike asserts that the forests found near the streams are wholly supported by the moisture dittused from the streams through the mterstices of the soil: and the humidity of the air border ing the streams. But as the hills which are often found extending into the prairies are generally covered with trees, we think ihIs opinion cannot be correct. There must be some other and more general cause.
 When we examine the country through which the prairies extend, we find every where evidences that it has been in com. paratively recent period, the bed of sea or immense lake. The lodges of rocks are fil- led with marine shells; the loose stones, wherever they are found, are round and smooth as if they had been subjected 10 the action of marine currents, and the soil where no stones are fourd, is deposited like sedi- .ment from largo body of muddy water.- Often in digging wells, we first pass through a bed of black vegetable mould, then bed of clay, then bed of sand, and not unfre- quently at the depth of sixty or seventy feet' we find the bones of animals imbedded m the earth. These facts indicate that the soil of the praires has been formed from the sedi- ment of water. MT. Mcclure and other ge- ologists imagine that an immense lake or sea in ancient times extended from the Alle- ghuny to the Rocky Mountains, embracing an area whose diameter from east to west was about 1900 miles, and from north to south about 1900 miles-and that the waters of this lake have been gradually discharging by the Mississippi, the Hudson, and St. Law renee; the only rivers that have broken through the mountains that once surrounded this immense basin of water.
 Now if this opinion is correct, the bed of this immense lake as it gradually emerged from the water, would exhibit the same chan ges in its vegetable productions, that the del- Ia of the Mississippi now exhibits. First, it would be covered with dense growth of reeds and coarse weeds, as it become more elevated and dry, grass would supplant the banks of the streams, and gradually SUD- planting the grass. ovcrshadow the soil with forests. This vegetGble soGr, if we may SO term it, between the forest and the grass is still going on, and it is a common remark -amnnn arni7aartq.e hptdfreS where fhev are ,s so situated as to be ~avAv'es~a .--!-o-S of the fires, that often devastate large prai- ries. Iftheseprairies were uninhabited and left undisturbed by man, doubtless in the course of a few centuries they would be SUD- planted by forests. In the more elevated sections, where the rocks indicate that they have been for ages elevated above the bosom of the waters, few prnires are found, and those few are very small; the country is al. most entirely covered with forests. In the Atlaatic States where the primitive and old. or secondary rocks abound. it is worthy of remark that prairies are unknown"
 Efects ef Free Trade among the Shoemokers. A Lynn Shoemaker has lately been show. ing, through the columns of tho Boston At. las, the effect of free trade on shoemakers.- The facts stated by him arc important to be remembered by the trade. Here in the country, we know that our shoemakers have hard work to compete in prices with the boots and shoes of Lynn, and other places on the seaboard. ThSlatter have nearly driv. en the former out of the market. The Lynn shoemaker says that they are to be entirely broken up and driven from the field, when the duty is reduced 20 per cent that as the duties now are they are nearly ruined. The French boots and shoes, which are we'll and fashionably made, and last long, are now i'm. ported and sold at prices less than the Lynn folks can sell. The boots, which sell in this country at $7 50 per pair, can be imported and sold at $4. duties and charges added Tho importation ofthese boots and shoes last year numbered 72,933 pairs of ladies shoes.. being an increase of over 400 per cent. m eight years; and of gentlemep's boots, l6I,- S4S pairs, being m increase of exceedingal sixteen hundred per cent. in eight years. This is great increase. If, under the preS- ent duties, the increase and effect has been as stated, what will be the effect on the setl- board or country shoemalsefs. under ne ra. duced duty, or under the operation of free trade Can shoemakers prosper! The Lynn shoemaker thus speaks as to the effect on himself and others there-" For myself. | I shall say with the lawyers, noli contend. ere," and shalt pull up ssakes here in Lynn, and emigrate westward into Middlesex couu. ty whera nyvn vaPx, y,passxy Eo rv,a >,, s,;.h