St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1869-07-02
HENRY WARD BEECnER.
The UantOH Destruction Of Tine
Der.


III VI l. I hllS. CI1lk- OHIO.
If there is one subject upon which it
seems impossible for farmers to properly
reason, it is the Importance of saving
what little remains to us of our forests.
OHIO to-day has one mile of railroad for
every ten sections of land, with thousands
of locomotives and tens of thousands of
cars, and shops, depots, docks. bridges.
tanks, ties, sheds, and shanties, without
number. The shrill scream of the loco
motives whistle reverbcrating through
every forest proclaims its doom. And
Ohio is only Il sample of other timbered
states. In addition 10 their own wants
are the long, lank arms of the timDerless
regions Of the West stretched out for
supplies Then III addition to this are
the huckster-, hawkers. and runners.
that swarm through the land in search
OF ship timber, car timber, cabinet tim
Der, pipe, butt, oil and barrel slaves.
spokes, bent work, hubs, ax-heIveS, hoop
poles, oar-blades. hand-spikes, ship
knees, fork and rake staleS, hoe-handles.
ball clubs, police slaves, and walking
canes, 10 be sent far and wide Beside,
this :he demand for timber to build steam
ers, sail and other vessels. dock. and cle-
vatorS for our vast inland waters as well
rs for the seaport-, and the requirements
TO build our cities, villages. hamlets, and
farm m-buildings: to bridge our streams.
fence our fields, AMI warm our dwellin.-
and the thousand other unnamed uSes to
which timber Is daily applied, gives but
"A faint view of the demands for to-day.
But who shall compute the demand ot
Tomorrow Every cough from the To-
comotiye'S hoarse lun.s augmentS it
Still, in the face of all this. farmers all
over our land who are not pinched for
timber will argue, "Whv let the timber
cumber tue ground, which, if cleared.
would net - 10 SO profit per acre a
year This at interest would more than
buy our timber for al! purpose" And
80 farmers with scanty wool lots ar.
clearing acre after acre, and who shall
arrest ii The skilltul chopper in one
hour demolisheS the majestic oak that
has required the heavenly bencdictions OF
sunshine and showers tor three centuries
TO grow it. Two years ago an old
pioneer living in the interior of ONO told
me that could he nave the timber bacl,
on his 200 acre farm that nearly killed
HIM and his wife in gettin@ it OFT. it
would sell for $500 per acre. stanIing.
And it was true. told this 10 one OF
ny ncighbor, who WAS about to clear OF
his last timber on the plea that the use
"t the land would be more profitable to
him than to save the timber. Bnt |
might As well have told it to one of his
trees, for his men are now cutting the
last acre. The time has come when the
growing of timber throughout the pr,liri.
and older settled states should be en-
couraged, and entered upon in earnest.
The writer, i'll Il few experiments in
growing timber where he now resides.
has obtained the following results: Cot
ton wood, Is years growth, 50 feet
high, and Is ,nchcS in diameter >
feet above ground: Sycamore (Button-
wood about the same diameter, but no.
SO tail one sample Yellow Willow
showed the enormous growth of the an
nual rings of over inches in width
Locust of 20 years growth attained Il
diameter of II to II inches. tall and
symmetrical, and it is a hardy, durable.
and valuable kind of timber. Some
samples of Butternut, Black Walnut, ana
\ GellowOik, left Standing in the fields, show
about the same dimensions Much OF
the reserved timber is prematurelv dying.
which the owners would gladly prevent
if they knew the causes. Some OF the
causes are embarrassing and pasturing.
For it is fact beyond controversy thai
our primitive forest trees die in a short
time after the ground under them be
comes turfed over and hardened by the
tread of stock. And it i better econo-
my TO pelt the sheep and shoot the cattle
rather than to continue the practice
Another active agent in the dc>truc-
ton of timber is dtching. Timber
grown on wet land is very sensitive to
the spade Ditch around the woods
rather than through them, if possible.
Some argue that stone coal is prefer
able to wood for fuel Let those who
wish to breathe carbonic acid and the
fumes of sulphur, and have their bodies
begrlmmed with smut, their rooms black
ened, and the rain dropping from their
caves like ink, accept the coal The in
trinsic value of timber, the relative value
OF the different kinds, the near day IN
the future that will see our pine and
other forests exhausted with the accumG-
latng agencies OF destruction now at
work, the thermal notifications i!it
forests cNert upon the soil ami atm '~-
phcre, the certainty that the removal oi
the forests would repeat here what IL has
done elsewhere, i'll turning our beautiful
and productive country into barren
waste, are matters OF great moment, and
should come home to every lover ot his
country.-4gicalt@rast.
WHEN TO Crr GHAss,-lt Is often a
question which meadow to NOW first.
Usually, we prefer to cut that first which
Is newest seeded, because the grass and
clover will start up at once, and no harm