The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1855-06-08
Spare KOUr Trees.

"CiviIization uses a vast amount Of wood al
though Tor macy purposes 1t Is being Iasi super
seeded but il is the necessary of wood that
is swe+ ping away the forests OF the United States
so much It's wanton destruction. We should
look TO the quences o: this. Palestine, once
well wooded and cultivated like garden, is now
a desert-the haunt OF Bedouns-Greece in her
palmy days, the land of laurel forests, is
desoIate waste. Persia and Babylon, the cradle
Of civilization, are now covered beneath The sand
of the deserts, produced by the eradication of their
forests. 1t is comparatively easy to eradicate the
forests Of the North, for they of grrgarous
| order-one class succeeding another; but The
tropical forests composed O! Innumerabe varieties
growing together IN the most oem"craric union
and equality, are never eradicaed. Even III
llIndostan, its many millions Of population have
! never been able 10 conquer the phoenix life OF lis
tropical vegetation. Forests act regulators
! preserving and rain from merIDg and eva
poratiOn, aud producing regularity in the flow
! OF he rivers that drain them. When they dIsap-
! pear, thunder storms become less frequent aud
/ heavier, The snow mes in the first warm days of
spring, causing ireshets and in the fall the rivers
| dry up and to be navigable. These ireeh
| cts and drouths produce also the malaria, which
/ is the scourge OF the Western bottom lands. For
ess, although they at first an obstacle TO civil
zatIon, soon become necessary to its continuance.
Oar rivers, not having their sources above the
snow line dependent on forests for their sup
ply to water, and 1t is essential 10 The future pros
! perity of the country that they should be preseTv
! ed.-Stuten Islander.
These are excellent Suggestions which deserve
to be carried out further, and VIC propose, there.
! fore, to add word two OF our own.
Trees not only useful IN The points ol view
! presented IN the above extract but in many OH
ers. There can be no doubt that they c"nrrlbu'e
| essentially 20 enrich the soil, and they ought.
therefore, to be carefully preserved by the farmer
Oh all his spare lands. So ought the leaves and
decay yiug wood, which ought either 10 be gathered
and spread over The cattle yards or De p"rmttro
to lie where they fall They ought never to he
burned. We pointed out some weeks ago the
unfortunate inIhlua,ion prevailing al the South on
the subject Of burning the woods-a practice that
makes war upon the continued effort of nature 10
enrich the soil
Trees contribute also to the health of man and
beast They afford shade from the burning
rays Of the sun in spring and summer, and thus
perform tho double office of promoting The comfort
and weli-beiug OF living creatures While prot cling
the earth from a wasleiuI evaporation OF It's m"is
lure. A pasture without trees or shade OF some
kind will put no flesh upon the bones Of grazing
anmaIs. Trees and other vegetation on the sur
face OF the earth also the phrrlc pois''r
known, for the want of better name, neaLtrta
skirt of woods ought, if possible, always to be
left between :" the seltlemen " and any swamp
marsh or other damp locality which may be II
, the immediate ne;ghborhood of the dwelling house
1t is well established that lnJudcIous clearIngs,
disregard of This caution have rend" red mAny
places previously healthy entirely unnhab!tabe
e Trees ought to be carefully preserved along h.
: margin of rivers by those dwelling ImmreiIa rI,
on, near the river banks, for they not only len'
to arrest the dense chilling iogs that arise in tn
y autumn, ard which, il not the prnxlmnte Cause "
intpr t1SP nd rIaInI
n tors OF nt0Luria; but margin OF trees along IN
banks Of the river contributes to preveat them from
+ the wasting effects OF rains and o"erfows. Wher
the river banks subject TO overflow, it is parti
It cuIarly important 10 preserve such ii mHrgn q
trees, iOr not only do the roots help TO hold tn
n soil in lis place, but the trunks and uDd rgrn~i
a form sort OF break water, reardng The curIen
: of The floods, and thus cause an increased nlu
. vial deposit. Where the margin cI the river
y lower than the land Immediately adjoining, "
- rather when the land is a drclVity towards tn
p river, 1t is ruinOus in the extreme 10 cut away IN
l. timber Immediately on the banks. The con>e
Il quence of doing is, that destructive washes an
h uuieS are formed and n few years not only
the best part of the soil swept away by the floods
. but the fields become tufrowed and cut up ID
to become unti!iab!e. Lamentable evidence
: The truth of what we have said IN this paragraph
- is to be seen within every four miles aIonG tn
course of our finest riyers-the Alabama, Ion
bigbee and Warrior. A man with thinking hen
on his shoulders, looks out, AZ he travels up an
|. down these streams, in amazement at The want {
foresight displayed on almost every river Plan's
r. lion he passes in lhe total disregard OF these OF
ri vious suggestions of common sense.
s But trees are not only usefuI-they are in III
l. hio hest degree Ornamental. Ii has been said "
:. believe by some one-Or if it has not, take
o upon us say ourselvcs-Ihal he highest ord"
- oil merely visible beauty mus fill the eye not onI
u with picture OF grace; OF just and hnrm"niou
IS proportion, but be suggestive also Of uuy-ihi
y is wise purpose we'll executed. Seen in III
light is there any object in nature more beautItl
'e than ma jestic forest tree-one OF our Am"rlc"
m live oaks, water oaks, clms or hlckOrIes W
i. name these as examples, tor the names o ou
Silva Americana are legion. No country on IN
globe is so rich in The variety and majesty oi /
r. forest growth as America, and out of the troplc
-, no part OF the continent is bountiiuy supple
N with this form of beauty as The Southern S;ales
ar the Union. There is hardly plantation in an
9 part OF the productive portions of Alabama In
,e did not at its first settlement afford silr for II
dwelling house in the midst of "A forest grow
n which would have been pronounced magnIhcIe
,r in Europe, and which. in q few years, might ha'
or been transformed. with very little labor, into e
le ornamental park of surprising beauty, which w"u
(v have added many hundred, if not thousand, de-
N lars TO the value Of rhf property. And yet "h
tho frat The settlement OF