The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1870-01-08

into marshes, aud these, by 4 CONTINUANCE oI the
same process, have finally become dry prairies; ;
but very large proportion of our dry prairies
abound in true humus, while many are scantily
furnished with vegetable matter. Such is the
character of ali our sandy prhres, striking ex-
ample OF which Is found ucs. prkin. in this state
stretching clear away to the banks of the Mack
inHw, and even beyond it. or the same eharac-
tea slso, the praries at PEORIA at Chiilicnthe
at Lacon, at Hennspin, and at Henry. and TWEEN
| ty theirs which could name il. Illinois. THIS
50 IS as permeable to the sphere, is as acces-
81 to oxygen as any soil capable of sust aiming
v. table life.
"urely these prairies not treelesS because
Ia. seeds OF aborescent plants deposited on or III
them are not accessible TO the oxygen necessary
| To their development, which is, IN fact. the only
reason which the writer asst ms for the absence
of trees on the pralrieS. lie says, immediately
after my last quotation The termination of
seeds OF arborecent plants needs the free access
al oxygen Tor its developments, and the trees,
especially IL their youth. absorb by their roots
great amount OF an, and demand a solid point ~
attachment 10 Tx themselves. MOREOVER the
acid of this by Its particularly antssptic proper
Ties promotes the vegetation of peculiar group
OF plants principally nerbaceous." The truth Is,
ali the vegetation found ON the high prairles re.
Iuires the accessibility OF oxygen to its roots for
Its proper nutrition--nav, its vitality. Transfer
the GRASSES on the rolling prarieS into the
| swamps or even the humid soil of the swales
and they will die il burned with fire Tbs
vegetation upon the pr,ires changes as they he
come dryer. no matter from what cause. Arafi-
cal draining produces this effect with apprentice
rapldity. This, 40 doubt, is not entirely OWING
to the absence of stagnant water in the soil, but
also to the absence OF certain salts, which have
been washed out hy atfording passage to the
water percolat'ng throw h the soil Although /
cannot assert from actual anaiy that this change
takes place in the constituent Of the soil by the
process of draining, think it is not a hazardous
conjecture to suppose So nor is it more unreason-
able to suppose that the pores left vacant by
draing OFT the water are directly filled by air,
and so Is the soil ut once supplied with
abundance OF oxygen necessary TO the vitality of
| IA new class OF vegetation, which succeeds the
old. The difference In the vegetation found on
the different prairies, different parts of
the same prairie, testies to the different cou>tt
uents in their soils. So us the soil is raised
above the water, atmospheric air will penetrate
it, more and more, in almost She exact ratio that
it becomes drier. Both mechanical and chemical
changes are thence continually going on, and
are the continents OF the soil continually chang
ing, and does the cuarac ter of the vegetation
found upon item change, so that the soil will
always be covered with sume class Of vegetation,
TO which it Is adapted Bat it does not follow
! adapted to sustain, will be tound there Indeed,
but very few may he looked for. The selection
of those that are found aud the exclusion of these
absent, are determined 10y causes quite indepen-
dent ~ the continents OF the soil. They are
depend.n, upon accidental causes,
The theory under consideration also assumes
that the ,ubsoli Of the prairles l. uniformly clay
A more Intimate aCQuaintan &c with the prairies
would have corrected this apprehension. The
| =
gravel and sometimes upon rock aud sometimes
this grave! snts III, at greater or less depth,
rests upon either stratum of clay or upon rock.
! An example of the former may be fo1ud on the
east -lde OF the Du Ph1e river, above Paintieid,
| III this state,-where we have the exceptional
case of the entire absence of timber along the
borders of IA considerable river for many miles,
| and IN many pl 'es along the Fox river Also
near Lisbon and at Joliet find the soil rest.
ing upon rock, with no clay interposed. Near
Lisbon, particularly, this Is found on the high,
rolling prairie, FAR away from the river bottoms
and from timber. l night cite many similar ex-
anples, but it is unnecessary. The vegetation
GOVERN. all these, when not controlled by the
humidity OF the soil, i, substantially the same,
but neither the surface or the subsoi has in gen.
eral anything to do with absence of arborescent
vegetation.
| That the prairies--that il, the iaud Itself
haze been formed under water, except the very
| limited portion of the surface which has been
added from decomposed animal and vegetable
matter since their emergehce, will not DC ques-
| toned by any one OF the least observation; bat
| that is not the main question involved in the
| present inquiry. Why are they not covered with
| forests: 1t is the cause Of this feature which
| Prof. LesQuereauX undertakes to explain His
| theory VI territorial formation is introduced
solely for the purpose Of explaining this phenom-
enon, and winch 1t fails to explain at least to my
| satisfaction.
If the Grand Prairie of Illinois was formed
| under water, from which it emerged by slow
| process OF elevation or by subsidance OF the
waters, theory TO which I am prepared to
assent, or II it was formed pecemeal by having
ore section of shallow water, and then another,
cut off from the main body by the accumulation
| Of deposits by the agitated waters, as described
in the theory under consideration, then the lands
now covered by the immense forests lying north
and east OF us, IN Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana
| and Ohio, and of the general altitude, were
formed III the same way; and if this process of
formation Is the true cause why trees are not
found on our praires, then the same cause should
have produced the same effect there But more
if this theory be correct, then the latest forma-
tons OF land should be nearest the great bodies
Of water from which they have been detached
and less congenial to the growth OF trees, and we
should expect to find the forests most remote
from the waters. Now the very reverse OF this is
teund, in fact, 10 be the care At one single
point alone does the Grand Prairie abut on Lake
Michigan, and that for the shert distance OF four
miles south OF the mouth OF the Chicago river
The great forests of Indiana are in the north par,
OF that state, and we must so south OF those
forests to find her large and luxuriant prairies
&, | Northwestern lnrut