The Petroleum Centre daily record. [volume] (Petroleum Center, Pa.) 1868-1873, 1869-11-10
A Country without Trees.

have passed the United States will becomes
country without trees. And this proba-
bility is danger in the full sense Of that
word, for treeless country is the equiva-
lent Of an arid desert land, in which agri
culture is an imposibility.
Throughout the Union simber is being
cut in order to supply the enormous demand
without any regard to the effect of thus de-
nuding the country, This Is particularly
true of the Atlantic States. As trees disap
pear, especially from the heads of the grea-
water courses, whence much of our lumb bet
/ comes, the rivers lessne in volume, the annur
al fall of rain throughout the cleared dis
trict diminishes, and as . consequence tn .
AGRICULTURAL product is reduced. Perfectly
| accurate statistics show such results as these
in Euro pean countries, from large portion
Of which the standing wood has been swept
away
In France whole districts have been rem
dered sterile through scarcity of trees. Very
ately in India the Government has found it
necessary to restrain the clearing ofjunsle
and in Rajpootana, and in some parts OF
tie country forests have been planted under
is direction. The lessening extent of tim
Der covered country has left the land sub
Jecl TO long draughtr, and when there is
rain, it comes in tke form of fresnets there
being no forests to distribute the moisture
Should the destruction of timber in tbi,
country con ,inue with its present rapid :
ity. and no provision be made for the plant.
| ing OF forests to replace the loss all the State
Will probably be CONS rainl ess region like
Arizona, where crops can he grown only by
| the aid Of expensive artificial irrigation OF
he soil.
The present consumption Of wood in the
United States is enormous. One hun
dred and fifty thousand acres of the best
timber is cut every year to supply tho de
mand for railway sleepers alone. For
railroad buildings, repairs, aid cars, the
annual expenditure in wood is thirty-eight
millions of dollars. In single year the
locomotives in the United States consume
lfty-six millions of dollars worth ofwood
There are in the whole country more than
four hundred thousand artisans in woods and
II the value of their labor is Que thousand
dollars year, the wood industry Of the
country represents an amount of nearly five
hundred millions Of dollars per annum.
1t will be seen, therefore, how extensive
are the interests dependent upon the pre-
duction OF lurnAor. Probably laws win htv
eventually to be enacted by the State Leg
islatures to prevent such destruction of tue
forests as will lie likely to result in naiura,
INJURY to the country; and it may be neces.
sary to encourage the planting OF forests to
meet the demands of the future A man
who plants forest tree is hardly likely to
live long enough to reap any reward for hi
labor, and until some announcement be
given ty the State, few snch trees will ever
be planted Men are not public s,irite
enough for it. We believe that there is a
law for the encouragement Of the planting
of forest trees in Iowa. There the farmers
have an incentive in the cessity of protect
ing their crops against the high winds which
frequently prevail. They take small cotton
wood trees from the river valleys, aud trans
plant them in hedges on the western side
their farms and fields, as the highest winds
IN that region come from the west
1t is tue that in some parts the coun-
try land from which wood has been cut ia
subsequently, devoted to its growth again
Bnt this is only for small trees intended for
hoop-poles which attain sufficient growth
IN ten or twelve years; and even this custom
is restricted to but few districts Most of
the land which is cleared is never again de-
voted to timber growing