Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1868-03-06

l NOD0Dv.
From tie Iowa Homestead
| rlAhes ana Hedge eGrowing - lev,
AsO0R NoeoRoh Advantages and De
Gect0A
~ JOSEPH l.. BrDp.
-.
Before king Of the PRACTICAL production
Of timber belts, evergreen screnes, ornsmen
tai trees and shrubs, and hedges, it may b
well 70 consider briefly the natural advanta
gee BY which ve ere favored, and also ,h
best way to remedy our defects. A lit'i
careful consideration win without doubt de
termine the fact, that no extended portion o
our globe has fewer natural disadvantages
not TO be rsmedisd BY ths act Of man, sha,
shs State Of Iowa. Our peculiar sdvants
ges may he briefly enumerated on follows
First, We have about thiry>six millions o
acres Of the finest uudulating prairie, taken
Is . body, in the world. Secondly: Oul
dry atmosphere is ~ pure and salabrious q,
that among the New Nnglsnd hills. Third.
E: We suffer less from severe Summer
drought than our sister States to the east o.
west. Fourhly: We have iDlsnd streams
By the dozen, giving unlimitsd water power
aud facilities for extended homs manufac.
turing.
The list Of defects Is short, but their ma
tsre Is such % to demand immediate and
energetic Efforts 70 reuedy them.
First: the amount of forest timber in the
State Is entirely inadequate for even present
wants for fencing, fmel, railroad ties, bridg-
Is. mechanical psrposes. &c. The supply
We have is also badly Distributed.
Second: Our vintry winds and storms
are 80 little DISTRACTED D timber belts, or
other natural obstacles that upon the open
prairie, unsheltered BY artificial groves, they
are ferce in The extreme.
Other minor diflcuhies las unequal distri-
button Of stone, &c. may be suggested, but
they ere Offset BY dozens Of compensa>
ting, bountiful provisions Of nature.
Supposing my specifications TO lie in the
main correct, LET us give them little atten>
ton in detail. First, Of our vast expsnse Of
unsettled prairie. Few. even of our State
n sidents fully realize the extent Of the choi
cess rolling prsirie-fsrtile as garden, vet
hardly trodden bY the foot Of man within our
limits. Whole States like that of Connect
cut, might BE carved ont, and yet Rhode
Ialaud or two lef. Near twenty millions of
acres Of snshoru gasaeas" are left in JUS,
such primitive beauty ~ when Bryant looked
upon them twenty years ago. Little woa-
der that his grand lines we're suggested br
them.
+" These are the gardens cf the desert, these
The unsho-n feids, boundless and beautiful,
For which the speech Of England has no name.
The pssiries. Lc! they stretch
In airy uadulatiss, far away,
As IL the ocean in his gsstcst swell,
stood stu, with ali hts rosnaed blilows 6xed,
And 0otionlsss feretds."
These lands have D peculiar value, too,
from the fact thst lhey are almost entirely
free from the malarious marshes which b.
seee ssch large porticno or Tndiaaa - M
~ Neither ksvs ~ sveas exteas Of ske
thia-eoiled "opcnines'' peculiar 70 Wiseon>
sin and Minnesota. Still again We have
very few acres Of the light "wasA," soil
peculiar to the land vest OF the Missouri.
Why these enormous tracts, adapted pc.
caliarly for the support Of dense popula.
ton, remain in their virgin richness aud
beauty, while tens of thousands of settlers
are crowding yearly back to the very shad>
ows Of the Rocky Mountains, win be seen as
We get farther on.
Secondly, Of OR dry air and consequent
healthy climate. The natural want of soft
humid atmosphere must be conceded as one
Of our chiefess blessings.
With our vast extent Of rich allavial soil,
b I'd we the moiss atmosphere of the English
lslancs, the decomposition OF the dense veg.
etablc growth that would ensue, would give
rise to an amount Of miasn,, making home
here neither safe nor desirable, while Cur dry
air is eminently favorable to health and Ions
gevity yet in connection with the rapid cur
rent peculiar to our unsheltered prairies, it
initiates somewhat against crop growing.
fruit growing, and gives rise to the chief ob>
lection We hare referred to in our list Of dis
But 90 soon Is our farms become clothed
aud sheltered BY timber belts and hedges,
svergreens, wind screens, orchards, shade
lreea, &e-, Our cir will be 90 modified both
ia humidiay and temperature, rs to be esi>
nently favorable to the production of every
cereal, fruit and shrub, adapted to our lati>
lude.
Third, Of our freedom from long coaiinu.
ed summer drough. That 10 should be
more exempt from the effects Of long con.
linued drought than our neighbors both to
he east and west, may Be received BY some
with dosbt. That It is scientific fact how.
ever is beyoad dispute. By . wise sad won.
derful provision Of nature, ve are favored
with copious showers, and even storms, from
The west and south, Ct . time Of special need !;
from which The 6saees both east and vest re
ceiye little beae6t. When Tie rsfrsshing
effects Of oar sprisg rains are about exhaust.
ed, and the air above our great treeless
plains is becoming daily more heated and
ranhed, the avalanche Of waters fr m the
melted SHOWS awsy at the north, come pour
ing down The Missouri Dy looking at the
map It will be seen this noble river makes .
great curve to tho northward into British
America. aud receives from its tributaries
10 that northern region, The nelted suows
And ice frcm mountain slopes aud forests,
nearly equal in extent 10 the whole of Eu-
rope. BY the great cuvves Of the river and
lhs late psriod 1t which she saows ere melt.
ID, the great food flls to overAowine the
bostoms and bayous of the Missouri during
lhe whole Of june, and generally cf July.
That our dry and parched cir Of those
months, should greatly dr;ak up BY evapora.
hon . portion Of the dood, would be evident.
bat that The showers thas formed should be
mostly poured over our favored State results
from another peculiar con6g uratioa Of ma
turc. West of thu Missouri the slope Is up>
ward, regular plateau TO the summit Of The
From The river "A and
southsard the inclinasioa il downward.
While this favors tho disection of showers,
they ere still more Influenced by the regular
current from the south and s7uih west, at the
hass Of Tie Rocky Mountain plateau, said to
b deviation u the regular trAde Winds Of
the tropics. So It comes TO pass, that while
our nsiehhors Of Kansas and Nebraska are
parched with drought, orr 6elds are :. laugh.
ing with golden harvest" nousishsi b. aban.
dAnt rains.
With The extensive incsesss Of timber up>
on our prairiss, aud : more humid air &c.
salting from . les rapid evaporation, We
may count On still mors regular supply Of
rainfall. both from IL June foods Of the
Missouri, and 70 sc0e ezlens from tie Miss.
issippi. and the great lake, o. he east.
FouNhly, Of 01r manufacturing facilities !;
viii the one radical want sapplicd TO wh:ch
attsntion i 70 BE- directed in these papers,
no one Of ths Unitsi Staass 10 hssAer sdapt.
q hy nature 70 omasahetsriag purposes than
Iowa.
Aud even The present. seaseity of timber
in large povtions Of osr ssate i no insurers