Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-02-06
Trees on Farms.

There is no country richer in trees than
america their very superabundance "a pro
duced vague impression in the public mind
that they are supeIhUities, very good for ma
King lumber, rails, Or 6rewood, but nothing
more. 1t seldom occurs to ANYBODY that tbese
cuuberers Of the ground full g. an essential and
important office in the economy Of nature
that regions deprived of woodlands are almost
exclusively barren wastes and deserts. that
Trees exert an equaliEing influence upon the
climate, that can only be appreciated by those
who have travelled over the burning sands of
the desert, or braved the cold winds from DO.
lar seas.
hV-ry one knows, who has been upon our
western preiries, that there the sun 5 heat Ia
summer Is greater, and the winters cold more
intense than la the wooden countries, in the
same latitude, even when not Influenced by
altitude or bodies Of water. Highly wooded
Countries, in low degree of latitude, are
more lnhablta5le, as far as temperature is
concerned, than many Of those in higher de
grees that are divested OF trees Where srbo-
real vegetation is abundant there is alveys
more or less moisture in the soil. Daring no
period Of the year is the ground completely
dry, So that it is evident that this class Of
pants does not extract more moisture from
the soil than the smaller plants; while the
shade which trees give hinders the eyapora.
ton produced by the direct solar rays.
Cleared land always suffers first Ssripc The
prevalence OF drought, where the drairaSe Is
equal on that and wooded. In the winter
frosts do not penetrate so deep inc the earth
In the woods as they do in the c,pen clearing
the soil In the former remains soft, while thar
ot the latter is e-bound fas a foot or mora
and this independent Of abe layer of Ieavas
and snow. The obsey,s.ion is a common one,
that the woods are werner in winter than the
ciearlngs and ducing the whole year the tenn
psrature oi tbs soil is more equal in the form
er taan ID the latter. Tracts of barren land
suffer the greatest extremes Of Temperature
In the arabian desert, IN summer the burn-
ing simeon sweeps over the sandy plains: in
winter, the cold northern winds do tie same
covering the mountains and hills with snow
This is peculiarly true Of that portion. once
the Kingdoms OF Assyria and Babylon.
Trees nave, TO certain extent the same
innuence as mountain ranges, in attracting
showers OF rain ocr own country is an exams
PIE o. thls II the valley CT the Mississippi
there aIS no extensive elevations of Iand.
nolalng 10 attract showers or condepse cIou5s
~ Sl'h the exception Of the trees The Rocky
Mountains on the aest, and tie Alleghapies
Vi lne east oTy the winds from both these
points by c0ndensing the moisture they con.
tam So mat this valley has to depend almost
ehtireiy upon the south and north wind, with
ie" points OF variation, for the necessary
NNNNUS Va iatu' oelIS Oh ueeS running Irgm
east to west would 10 doubt intercept the
moisture OF these clouds Nature has, TO some
extent, acted in this manner; the belts Of tim
her un"n our western prairies generally have
this direction.
In Europe, plantations of trees are con-
sidered quite essential for protecting the land
and crops from sweeping winds; hedges have,
in lesser degree, the same effect. When We
reflect that the inhabitants of countries with
q less thermal range than our own consider
such protection indispensable, II becomes an
absolute necessity that we should adopt means
to produce like result Evaporation from
the surface of tho soil must Oe retarded: a DIV
wind will, in three hours, absorb more than
the sun will in ten, aud return none in the
form of dew. The rapid changes which the
plants composing our crops undergo are yery
Injurious a certain mean of temperatpr. and
moisture, with little variation, being essen
tai to the most perfect DEVELOPMENT of the
pisnt a2d seei.-Ohio Farmer, Dec. 20.