Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1848-04-21
Vbe =, farm.


The following extract Of the Address of Hon.
GEO. p. MARSH, at the Rutland County Agri-
cultural Fair, deserves the serious consideration
Of the farmers of this State. There are few
things in which such want of forethoucht is
exhibited by farmers as in the treatment of their
woodlands. To furnish pasturage for sheep,
thousands of acres have within a few years
been cleared up that ought to have been devoted
permanently to the growth of wood Tie effect
Of tlis ;,,.o,tLriice IS eauy ielt, not only By
farmers themselves, but by the rapidly increas-
ing villages of the State. Fire wood has been
sold in Burlington, the past winter, for more
than four dollars per cord. And the rail roads
will soon make new and very serious demand
for fuel, to supply which, it may be necessary
eventually to construct branches, as in case of
canals, for feeders" Our venerable forest
longer, we are confident, be regarded as mere
cumberers of the ground :"
| There are certain other improvements con-
nected with agriculture, to which | desire to
draw your special attention. One OF these is
/ the introduction of better economy in the man
agement of our forest lands. The increasing
value of timber and fuel ought to teach us, that
trees are no longer what they were in our faith
ers' time an incumbrance. We have undoubt-
edly already larger proportion OF cleared land
in Vermont than would be required. with proper
culture, for the support Of much greater popu.
lation than we now possess. and every additional
acre both lessons our means for thorough hus-
b,ndry, by dsproportonately extending its area
and deprives succeeding generations of what
vpl,r Ia,
Of great value to them. The functions of the
forest, besides supplying timber and fuel, are
very various. The conducting powers of trees
render them highly useful in restoring the dis
turbed equilibrium Of the electric fluid they are
of great value in sheterlng and protecting more
tender vegetables against the destructive effect,
of bleak and parching winds, and the annua
deposit of the foliage of deciduous trees, an,
the decomposition OF their decaying trunks, form
an accumulation of vegetable mould, which
gives the greatest fertility to the often originate
.. barren soils on which they grow, and enriche
lower grounds by the wash from rains and tn
melting snows.*
I The Inconvenience resulting from want o
foresight in the economy OF the forest, are al
. ready severely felt in many parts of New EN-
land, and even in some of the older towns i
c Vermont Steep side hills and rocky lodges ar
but when in the rage for improvement they al
mprovldently stripped of this projections, tn
action of sun and wind and rain soon deprive
them of their thin coating of vegetable moul,
= and this, when exhausted, cannot be restored b
l. ordinary husbandry. They remain, therefor,
l. barren and unsightly llots, producing neitht
grain nor grass, and yielding no crop but a ha
vest of noxious weeds, to iniest with their sea
tered seeds the richer arabic grounds below.
- But this is by no means the only evil resultin
from the inludicious destruction of the wood
= Forests serve as reservoirs and equalizers
humidity In wet seasons, the decayed leave
and spongy soil of woodlands retain a larl
proportion OF the falling rains, and give back Il
moisture in time of drought, by evaporation
49, through the medium of springs. They TIN
both check the sudden flow of water from Il
surface into the streams and low grounds, al
- preyent the droughts of summer from parchir
our pastures and drying up the rivulets whit
water them. On the other hand, where too lar,
a proportion of the surface is barred of WOO
the action OF the summer sun and wind scorch
the hills which are no longer shaded or she
cred by trees, the springs and rlvuets that lou
their sunply in the bibulous soil of the forest d
appear. and the farmer is obliged to surrend
8, his meadows to his cattle, which can no long
find food in his pastures, and sometimes even
- drive them miles for water. Again, the verr
and autumnal rains, and the melting SHOWS
). winter, no longer intercepted and absorbed
the leaves or the open soil of the woods, !
falling everywhere upon comparatively Ina
and even surface, flow swiftly over the snoo
ground, washing away the vegetable mould
they seek their natural outlets, fill every raw
with torrent, and convert every river into