The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1869-07-23
TREES ON THE PRAIRIEs.

j. w. Foster has recently written
work on the Mississippi Valley from
which we copy the following:
Sin the United States, the destruction
of the forest is going on at an accelerat
ed rate. The lumber trees in Maine, IL
accessible positions, are nearly exhaust
ed, and twenty years will accomplish
the same result with regard to the ex
tensive pinerics of Michigan and Wis
consin. The white pine is the most val
liable lumber tree of America. The east
with which it is wrought; its freedom
as compared with most trees, from
shrinking. swelling and warping; anC
its durability when properly protected
by paint, make it the principal tree EN-
! plOyed in the construction of a vast ma
jority of houses and even fences and
sidewalks. To one who realizes how
rapidly the sources of supply are be-
coming exhausted, and the prodigalitI
with which it is used, it cannot be but
disheartening. 1t is u tree of slow
growth, and the surface Oh which il
grows, when disrobed, is untitled fol
profitable agriculture. The annual re-
ceipts at Chicago alone Ga city which
has sprung up within tile lifetime of a
| generation) are in excess of 100000. 00O
feet of lumber, 400,000,000 of shingles,
and "a, 100000 of lath. Possessing Il ma
teriaF within easy reach, and oil the
banks of canal, known as the Athens
| limcStone-a double compound of car
1 Donate of lime and ma9n"sia-unequal
ed for tagging and building, and hav-
/ ing river whose dredgings are capa-
| bic of conversion into brick, it is a SIN
gular fact which strikes every stranger
within her gates that Chicago should
exhibit such an extent of plank walks
| and NvnnInn nf
the most superficial character, which
must soon give way to those more solid
and enduring. The products of the lake
| pincries are distributed over nearly half
! Il continent. From them are built the
| farm houses of the pioneers upon the
solitary prairie, aud the bridges which
span the waters of the Kansas and the
| Platte.
The destruction of hardwood timber
is going OH ut Il pace equally rapid. The
| railways require annually. i'll construc-
ton and maintenance, at least 10000 GOO
of ties. Nothing strikes the emigrant
from the Atlantic slope, OIL returning
after years of. absence, so fOrcibly as to
see those hills which, in his youth, were
forest-crowned, now bare and desolate,
and the streams i'm which he was accus-
toned to fish now dwindled to mere
| trickling rills. The Pacific railroads
which traverse for long distances the
valleys of the kaw and Platte, have con-
sumed in their construction nearly ev-
cry stick of timber, and i'll four years
will have consumed nearly all the fire.
wood. Transportation is economical
by stripping each tie of its bark and al
lowing it to undergo the process of sea-
Soning before its conveyance to the
place where required. The beautiful
| black walnuts of the Kaw valley, fit for
gun stocks and cabinet-ware, have been
remorselessly sacrificed to these base
purposes. Public policy requires that
this wholesale destruction Of the forest
be arrested. AS sanitary measure, in
thronged cities. the sidewalks should be
firmly laid in stone or brick, instead of
plank, which serve as coverings to res
eryOirs ofstagnant waters, screened from
the evaporation ofthe sun. a "balloOn"
house, as proVerbially known through.
out the West. can be hastily thrown up,
but ono of brick stone is, the end. far
more durable and economical. Tics can
be treated, at an incOnsiderable expense,
with Kerosene or coal tar, so that their
durability shall be protected for a quar-
ter of century; but we have yet to
learn the name of the corporation that
has resorted to the process. The mar
ayers of such roads, particularly, as the
Union Pacific, where transportation is
so far and so expensive, would have
consulted the true interests of their
stockholders if they had placed the iron
on ties thus prepared.
In the first settlement Of the country,
so far as relates to the Atlantic slope,
the Appalachian Region, and the Ohio
Valley, the forest was the great obstacle
to be encountered. The settlers attack
ed it as though it were common ene-
my. To fell, to girlle, to ''Iog,' and TO
burn, those noble forms of vegetation
whose origin stretches back to remote
ages, was a preliminary work to that
of planting, sowing, reaping and bar
vesting. But that necessity no longer
exists.
Our people find themselves possessed
of Il country vast in resources, but inn
perfectly developed. On every side,
they see avenues leading to the exertion
of human skill aud energy. They are
restless, eager iii pursuit of gain, and
bound by few local attachments. In
their investments they look for imme-
date returns. If they build a house or
subdue farm, it is in reference to its
market value should they desire to mi
CRATE. If they plant trees, they say,
two generations must elapse before they
attain their growth. Ifappealed to, that
their acts will be commended by poster
ity, they will probably answer, i'll the
language of the bluff English statesman,
''confound posterity! What has il ever
done for us!'' Bat this is narrow,
selfish spirit. The future has claims up
on the present generatiOn-that they
shall not despoil the fair heritage which
is entrusted to them as an usufruct, but
transmit it to future generations, not
only unimpaired, but beautified and
adorned"