Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1871-10-25
DESTRUCTION or FORESTS.

DESTRUCTION OF FORESTS.
The attention of thinking people is be-
ing called to the destruction OF forests III
this country and the consequent chsnSe Ill
climate In this State we have great III
terest in the subject. Our forests nave
been wantonly destroyed by lnmoermeh
and settlers, vet we have large tracts oil
woodland that may and should be pre-
served. There are clearings made all
over the State, where the land is such that
il is worthless for farming, either on ac-
count of the poor character of the soil or
the abundance of rocks that cover 1t,
which should never have been cleared,
and which should now be allowed to re-
turn as rapidly as it will to its forest
state. What woodlands we have. should
be managed prudently. and all waste
lands that win bear trees and are not fit for
agriculture should be carefully turned to
their original wooded condition. The fol-
lowing article from the New York Post is
worth the notice of our readers:
While the FIRST news of the northwestern
fires in Wisconsin. Minnesota and Michigan,
suggests the necessity of speedy relief to the
homeless citizens, in greater need OF succor
than even the tens of thousands in Chicago,
it also suggests forebodings of serious climatic
changes These changes are inevitable If,
without replanting, forest after forest isswept
away by the blows of the woodlands axe and
by the wholesale destruction wrought by
FIRE. Any one passing the Alps into North
ern Italy and proceeding as far south as Ma.
Piles, or travelling from old CASTLE down to
Cadiz and Malaga, or visiting Sicily and
Greece, and still farther to the east. Palestine
and the EHphrates valley, cannot shut his
eyes to the causes which have brought about
the decline of empires. Foremost among
these causes has been the deliberate destruc-
ton Of forests. In the south of France the
disastrous consequences became SO evident
that the late imperial government submitted
the question to the most searching inquiry,
and the unanimous opinion by scientific OBJ
servers was that the climate of a country is
subjected to a serious change the moment the
mountains are shorn of their moisture-artract-
ing forests. Suffering from prolonged
droughts and destructive foundations, e coun
try deprived of its woodlands finds its agri-
cultural interests in constant danger, and
sinks at last to q precarious state of depend
ancy on the grain-production of other coun-
tries. a
There is now but one opinion on the sub
ject of the downfall of nations of the EuPhra-
ties valley. The prolonged droughts enfeebled
the physical. and therefore the moral, nature
of the inhabitants. When the Romans land
ed in Spain the country was inhabited by for
ty millions of comparatively prosperous peo-
pie, the Iberians. The country was then well
wooded but during the Roman and subse-
$tsy dtx - fba snf1, nd
ton, the destruction of forests was continued
in the most merciless manner, and not tree
has been replanted to this day. From forty
millions, the population during nineteen hun
dred years, dwindled to niue millions at the
commencement of the present century! In
CASTLE, especially on the plains, the traveller
may not see tree during whole day jour-
ney. Hailstorms, drouths lasting without a
drop of rain from April to October, or sudden
and destructive foundations are the conse-
quence. The same thing is observable in
every land of Southern Europe where the
conditions are similar.
We are prosperous nation now. The en-
tire failure Of any crop throughout the land is
unknown among us, yet it cannot be denied
that scorching and prolonged drouths, espec-
tally outside the Gulf-stream influences, are
yearly more frequent. These northwestern
fires are an illustration of this fact, having
had their origin in this cause. The sensitive
nature of our leading staple, cotton, should
not be forgotten. A long season of dry
weather after the plant is foot from the
ground will not do il much harm, but con-
tinuation of rain and of occasional inunda-
tons may easily reduce crop from five mill
ions of bales to three millions. The longer
we proceed Unfortunately to destroy for
ests, without replanting a single tree, the
more capricious the climate will become from
Maine to Rio Grande. On our Pacific coast
this year the drouth has been such that more
than quarter of the wheat crop is lost. TAX
ing example in their distress from the Romans
and the Mosrs of Spain, the farmers of that
State purpose to obtain irrigation by aque
ducts through the wheat regions. The de-
struction Of forests in California and Oregon
has been on a gigantic scale during these
twenty years, and the consequences begin to
be felt already.
Is it not time that subject of such para
mount importance should be discussed in
Congress and in the legislative bodies of ev-
cry State? Is it not time that some stringent
laws should be enacted to compel the individ-
uais and companies that are destroying our
majestic American forests to repeople the
waste places with trees wherever agriculture
does not claim the landf Legislative meas
ures should be laken, too, with the co-opera-
ton of the Canadian authorities, as the peo-
pie Of the Dominion are forest-destroyers
like ourselves.