Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1848-06-15
Aoritultural.
FOREST TREES IN VERMONT.

" AgticultuGal SoV"V
The functions of the forest, besides
supplying timber and fuel, are very va
rious. The conducting power oil trees
renders them highly useful in restoring
the disturbed equilibrium of the electric
fluid, they arc Of great value IN shelter
mo and protecting more tender vegeta-
HES against the destructive effects of
bleak or parching winds, and the annual
deposit of the foliage of deciduous trees,
and the decomposition of their decaylnS
trunks, form an accumulation of veSeta-
BILE mould, which gives the greatest fer
iiIity to the often originally barren soils
on which they grow, and enrlches low
er grounds by the wash from rains and
the melting SHOWS. The inconvenien-
cies resulting from "a want of foresight in
the economy of the forest are already
severely felt in many PARTS of New Eng
land, and even in some of the older
towns in Vermont. Steep hill-sdes and
rocky lodges are well suited to the per-
manent growth of wood, but when in
the rage for Improvement they are i'm
providently stripped of this protection,
the action of sun and wind and rain soon
deprives them of their thin coating of
vegetable mould, and this, when exhaus-
ted, cannot be restored by ordinary hus-
bundry. They remain therefore barren
and unsightly blots, producing neither
grain nor grass, and yielding no crop
but a harvest OF noXious weeds, 10 infesl
with their scattered seeds the richer ara
bic grounds below. But this is by 10
means the only evil resulting from the
Inudicuus destruction of the woods
Forests serve as reservoirs and equailzers
Of humidity. In wet seasons, the de-
cayed leaves aud spongy soil Of wood
lands retain large proportion of the
falling rains, and give tack tie moisture
in tlmc OF drouth, by evaporation or
through The medium of springs. They
thus both check the sudden flow OF wa
ter from the surface into streams and
low grounds, and prevent the drou9his
of summer from parchlng Cur pastures
and drying up the rIvulets which water
them. On the other hand, where too
large proportion of the surface is barred
oi wood, the action of the summer sun
and wind scorches the hills which are
no longer shaded or sheltered 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 10 longer find food 10 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 intercepted 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 natu-
raj outlets, fill every ravine with a tor.
rent, and convert every river into an o.
ceH1. The suddonness and violence ol
our ireshets increases in proportion as
the soil is cleared bridges are washed
away, meadows arc 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 suon be converted from
smiling meadows into broad wastes of
shInglc aud gravel and pebbles, deserts
IN summer, and seas IN autumn and
spring. The changes which these caus-
es have wrought III the physical geogra
ply of Vermont within single genera
ton, are too striking TO have escaped
the attention Of any observing person,
and every middle aged man, who revis-
lis his birthplace after n few years OF alb
sence, looks upon another landscape
than that which formed the theatre of
hls youthful tolls and pleasures. The
Signs oil artificial improvement arc min
Sied with the tokens of improvident
waste, and the bald and barren hills, the
dry beds OF the smaller streams. the ra-
vines iurrowed out by the torrents of
spring, aud the diminished thread of in
tcrvaI that skirts the widened channel of
lhc rivers, seem sad substitutes Tor the
pleasant groves and brooks aud broad
maedo US Of his ancient patcrnul domain.
If the present value Of timber and land
wlIl not justify the artificial re-planing
ofgroumds injudiciousIy cleared, at least
nature ought to be allowed TO re-clothe
them with spontaneous growth of
wood, and in our future husbandry a /
more careful selection should be made OF
land Tor permanent Improvement. Ill
has long been practice in many parts
OF Europe, as well as in our older settle
ments, to cut the forests reserved for
timber and fuel at stated intervals. II 4
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 lis place is supplied.
because the roots of old and full grown
trees seldom throw up shoots, but when
the second growth is once established. il
may be cut with great advantage, at pc
RODS OF about twenty-five years, and
yield material, in every respect but
size, far SunprlOr to the wood of tho