Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1851-01-09

| Certainty. Now all rs doubt and uncertain
~. Cold, backward springs have beccm,
the rule instead of the exception Thos,
who remember the operations CT The sal
b1sh' forty or fifty years ago, and compar,
them with those oflhe present day, will per-
reive the same VaTiableness and uncertain
| ~
The uncertainty in regard TO the different
! kinds of fruit, affords another evidence Of a
change OF climate. These now seldom fol.
! low their former certainty aud SingulaTity.
! Witness eSpec ally the plum and the peach.
| The writer well remembers when the former
| were raised in almost unlimited quantities
! without care or labor, in parts OF the coun-
| try where. for mIny years. the cultivation
of them has been entirely abandoned rot
because the trees do not bear, but because
they do not live to bearing age, or, if they
do are soon destroyed, by the ''black knot"
The latter it is we'll known, grew almost
! spontaneously, and produced abundanlly in
former years, 10th in this State and in 9th =
ers aIjacenl-whilst now their growth is
very problematic al here, and in some places
their cultivation is almost wholly rein>
pushed. might also mention the uncer>
tainty attending the cultivation of the pear,
and its frequent degeneracy. Are we GER
tain that the pear>tree blight is not an eff
feet Of the sane general cause?
"The clearing of the country" We are in
formed, s'has had the effect of drying up the
springs, streams, lakes &c in Germany"
The same has been the effect in Spain, the
Cane Verd Islands, sc. Large districts in
Syria. Persia. and in Northern and North>
eastern Africa, which are now desert or
nearly so, are known to have once been rich
and populous countries, filled with magni6>
cent cities. The same effect is being pro-
duced in our own country The fall OF our
Great v eslern Lakes, and the gradual fails
ure of many of our rivers and smaller
streams, are we'll known. Streams that
were once valuable for mill purposes. when
flowing through woody districts, are now
almost useless from the scarcity and irreg-
ular supply of water. Springs that former
" seldom ceased 10 flow are now dry during
the greater part of summer. Wells have
failed within the last few years, that were
never known 20 fail before. Summer Grouths
are also believed to be more frequent and
severe, in some parts of the country, than
they formerly were when the Gland was full
Of trees"
"Jhat remarkable man, Humboldt, has
reduced it almost to demonstration, that
the streams of country tail in proportion
10 the destruction of its timber-and of
course, if the streams fill, our seasons will
be worse: they must become drier and dri>
er in proportion. Every one who can count
back 20 years, knows that the streams have
failed considerably, and that the seasons
have been getting drier and drier every
year. Humboldt, speaking of the valley Of
the Aragua, in Venezuela, s, A. says, ',the
lake recedcd as agriculture advanced. until
beautiful plantations Of sugar cane, banana
and cotton trees were established on it's
banks, which, year after year, were farther
from them. After the separation of the
Province from Spain, and The decline of ag-
riculture amid the desolaling wars which |
swept over this beautiful region, the process |
of clearing was arrested, the old lands grew
up with trees with that rapidly so common
in the tropical regions, and in a few years
the inhabitants were alarmed by a Use of
waters, and an inundatiou of their planta.
TONS" Cultivate trees and preserve the
forests, then, for the sake of their utility.
am aware that the general opinion is,
that our winters are becoming more mild,
and that the change is therefore FOR the bet>
ter. The first part of THO opinion may be
true, and yet the inference may not be cor>
rector, if correct in generals, i, may not
be in particulars, The evils resulting from
the destruction of 1.-The forests may still be
realities, and the benefits, (if any there be)
resulting from the "change for the better''
may be more than counterbalanced by the
production, oe the existence of those evils.
Trees and forests moderate the severity
of winter by tempering the violence of
winds, and by preventing the drifting of
the snow, they protect the earth from the
severity OF the cold, and at the same time
from loss of heat by radiation. They mod
crate the Intense heat of summer ty their
shade, and by evaporation from their leaves
and by disturbing the uniformity of radiation
or reflection from the earth's surface, are in-
strumentai in the production of cool and re-
iresning breezes, and doubtless contribute
much towal de promoting summer Showers
Thus preserve and cultivate them. III.
Lithfeld, Oct 80 1850.