The Middlebury galaxy. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1848-1850, 1848-07-25

serve as reservoirs ana eQuallZerS OF numlQlty.
In wet seasons, the decayed leaves and spongy
soil of woodlands retain a large proportion of
the falling rairs, and give back the moisture
IN time of drought, by evaporation or through
the medium Of springs. They thus both check
the sudden flow Of water from the surface in
to the streams and low grounds and prevent
the drought of summer from parching our pas
lures and drying up the rivulets which water
them. On the other hand, where too large a
proportion of the surface is barred of wood, the
action of the summer sun and wind scorches
the hills which are no longer shaded or shell
tered by trees, the springs and rivulets that
found their supply in the bibulous soil of the
forest disappear, and the farmer is obliged to
surrender his meadows to his cattle, which
can no longer find food in his pastures, and
sometimes even to drive them miles for water.
Again, the vernal and autumnal rains. and
the melting SHOWS of winter, no longer inter-
cepted and absorbed by the leaves or the open
soil of the woods, but falling everywhere upon
a comparatively hard and even surface, flow
swiftly over the smooth ground, washing away
the vegetable mould as they seek their natural
outlets, fill every ravine with torrent, and
convert every river into an ocean. The sud-
denness and violence of our freshets increas-
es in proportion as the soil is cleared; bridges
are washed away, meadows swept of their
crops and fences, and covered with barren
sand, or themselves abraded by the fury of
the current, and there is reason to fear that the
valleys of many OF our streams will soon be
converted from smiling meadows into broad
wastes of single and gravel and pebbles, des-
erts IN summer, and seas in autumn and spring.
The changes, which these causes have wrought
in the physical geography of Vermont, within
a single generation, are too striking to have
escaped the attention of any observing person,
and every middle-aged man who revisits his
birthplace after few years of absence, looks
upon another landscape than that which form
ed the theatre of his youthful tolls and pleas
urcs. The signs of artificial Improvement are
mingled with the tokens of improvident waste,
and the bald and barren hills, the dry beds of
the smaller streams, the ravine furrowed out
by the torrents offspring, and the diminished
thread OF interval that skirts the widened chan
mel of the rivers, seem sad substitutes for the
pleasant groves and brooks and broad mead
ows of his ancient paternal domain. If the
present value of timber and land will not justi-
fly the artificial re-planting of grounds injudi-
ciously cleared, ut least nature ought to be al
lowed 10 re-clothe them with a spontaneous
growth of wood, and in our future husbandry
more careful selection should be made of
land for permanent improvement 1t has long
been practice in many parts of Europe, as
well as in our older settlements, to cut the
forests reserved for timber and fuel, at stated
intervals. 1t is quite time that this practice
should be introduced among US. After the
first telling of the original forest it is indeed
long time before its place is supplied, because
the roots of old and full grown trees seldom
throw up shoots, but when the second growth
is once established, it may be cut with great
advantage, at periods of about twenty-five
years, and yields material, in every respect
but size, far superior to the wood of the prinl-
tive tree. In many European countries, the
economy of the forest is regulated by law,
but here, where public opinion determines, or
rather in practice constitutes law, we can only
appeal to an enlightened selfinterest 20 intro
duce the reforms, check the abuses, and pre-
serve us from an increase of the evils have
mentioned.
There is branch of rural industry hitherto not
much attended to among us hut TO the social and
economical importance ofwhich We are beginning
TO be somewhat awake i refer to the agreeable
and profitable art of horticulture. The neglect OF
this art is probably TO be ascrbed 10 the opinion
that the products of the garden and the fruityard
are to be regarded rdrher rs condiments or gar
rishings than as nutritious food, rs something
calculated to tickle the palate not TO strengthen
the system as belonging in short TO the depart
ment of ornament, not to that OF utility. This
is an unfortunate error. The tendency Of our
cold climate is TO create an inordinatc appetite
for animal food, VIC habitually consume much too
large proportion Of that stimulating alimcnt.
This, when we compare the relative cost OF CIV
en- quantity Of nutrifive matter obtained from an
imals and vegetables. seems very Indifferent c.
economy, and considerations of health most clear
ly Indicate the expediency of increasing the pro
portion of our fruit and vegetable diet. We can
not in this latitude expect to rival the pomona of
more favored cimes, but in most situations, we
may, with little labor or expense, rear such Il
variety of fruits as to supply our tables with a
succession of delicious and hcalthful viands
throughout the entire year. 1t is for us happy
circumstance that most fruits attain their highest
perfection near the northern limit of their growth,
and though the fig and peach cannot be natural
lied among us, we may, to say nothing Of the
smaller fruits successfully cultivate the finer va
rietics of the apple the pear and even the
grape.
Another mode of rural improvement may be
ftly mentioned in connection with this last. |
refer to the introduction of better style of do
nestle architecture, which shall combine conven-
fence; warmth, ana rcaSOilaOc cInDcilisHineIti ~
well arranged and well proportional building
costs no more than n misshapen disiUnted struct
ure, and commodity and comfort may be had at
as cheap rate rs inconvenience and confusion.
Neither is little expenditure in ornament thrown
away-The paint which embelishcs tends also
to preserve, and the shade trees not only furnish
a protection against the exhausting heats ofsum-
mcr. but they serve, if thickly planted, TO break
the fury of the blast Of winter and in the end they
furnish better material for fuel or mechanical
rises than the spontaneous forest growth The
habit of domestic order, comfort, and neatness
will be found to have a very favorable influence
on the manner in which the outdoor operations
of husbandr1 arc conducted. a farmer, whose
house is neatly and tastefully constructed and ar
ranged, will never he a slovenly agriculturist.
The order of his dwelling and his courtyard will
extend to his stables, his barns his granarics and
his fields His beasts will be well lodged and
cared for, his meadows free from stumps, and bri
ars and bushes, and the strength Of his fences
will secure him against the tresspasses Of his thrift
less neighbors urruly cattle. Another consider
lion, which most strongly recommends attention
to order and comfort and beauty, in domestic and
rural arrangements is that all these tend to foster
a sentiment, Of which the enterprising and adven-
turous Yankee has in general, far too little-I
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