Connecticut western news., 1871-11-03
The Remote Cause Caa of the g. Western Fires. x Chicagoshas hlrnsd down, anal hole
 suuare miles pfk kwestefn land are sb1rnt

X Chicago has Mlrn6ds down, and Whole square. miles of ~estefn ,hnd are sbufnt up. That misguided COW and unhappy lamp have been berated enough, If the barn had been damp with recent rains perhaps the fire had golfe no farther. Certain is it that if the. roofteps had not been baked dIafY iby a sfifimef's. drought Chicago would not have mourned her lost children and ruined homes"
 Had not those Wisconsin fields been as sashes in the dry wind, had plentiful rains drenchedy the Michigan woods,~ the country would have been happier to- day, Everything there was as dry as finder say all the papers. .,.a.r ,s,..x
 Now whose fault was it ?s5s People with more piety than wisdom may say in mortified way ssWhat question! Do you arraign acts of Providence ?" No. There has been blame somewhere. We are not inclined to shift it upon Heaven. Men, not Providence, brought this, cal amity upon us. It is we who have crea. ted these dry summers. Had there been no drought there had been no. such wide ruin. m rtexasxSHA ySaE The time was when, such long -contin- ued dry seasons notsknoBn. Men can and do, change the character of eli mates We can cause the rain to fall or drive away the clouds. Men have alter ed the temperature and moved the dew point. The farmers of the northern states, are ill measure responsible for the series of dry sfanaers that l1ave-pre. vailed for the last tenryears.
 Meteofe4ogy is beginning to take a high position. We CbaveC mapped the winds and cantsignals sthe coming lstbsm to the sailorIahd ffa11ner The laws pf the weather are no longer a matter of guesszWork. Cause and efee6 are as sure in the clouds as on the ground. Ob- serving the effect we can trace the cause. Given this series by dry summers, science points to the cause-our denuded forests.
 In our foolish AmericaMhaste we have waste efuf1y cut down -tha- trees, dried up the springs s1Eaised temp efatufe, so that precip tatien of moisture .isreduced, and have driven the rain away in useless clouds or invisible vapor over the At 1antic. Chicago is burned down and we are solemnly saSipg Row heavy is the hand of Heaven 6pon Us" We have prayed for rain one day of the week, and driven it away with an axe on six.
 The mischief is dones rands the best thing we. can now do sto' exahine the matter with view te future prevention. How. shall we bring back the rain How restore our forests Simply by planting our woods aneW.s Rs dSl-i rssoxI ssIs a
 This IS not new or untried idea. Artificial woQdssare no longer novelty in Europe, There this whole matter is well understood. In parts of the Con. tinent foresters are appointed by gov. ernment.,a 1t is their duty to inspect all standing Schools culture are established. The habits oi the, trees are considered, theson exam [ined, and tree plantingS carfiedson over Hundreds of square miles! For every tree cut down one or more new ones must beNset. Nurseries, producing mil lions of young trees, do thriving busi ness-in supplying this material. Under the advice of the foresters the new forests sextend' yeartby yeaS o0R+he1rocky fiils of Scotland the oak, maple and chestnut are planted the wilowais setput by the million on the smarshS Slike sfpolders" O Holland; about Utrecht, and on tht sandy plains, of Zelderland, near Arn helm, the traveller passes artificial pine forests by the hour. 7>J A I In yiew-of~ these western fires it f high time we prepared to initiate ou transatlantic friends. At once the grea cost of such an pnderta kfng comes up Now we think it can be shown that tn thing, will, pay tos do it. + If there i | money in it 1t Ewhl get itself done fas enough.
 The land used for such forests is gen erally fit for nothing else. We hay millions of acres that are. barren waste an eYesore3and taxon the owners. B, examining the most fourishing tree growing in similar soil in. the, .neighbo1 hood we can decide what to plant. B
 sowing the seed or buying young tree a year old we can soon start forest tha in twenty years will dofiHg a. cash retufl that will cover the cost of plaating, in terest and taxes, and leave a margin c profit besides.
 -To come down t6 details, 'Ietsnle pfes
 ent an estimate prepared for 8 gentle
 man who bad a hundred acres of nearl
 valueless land in eastern Massac chusetts
 It was continual taxi and brougf '. no return WhateyeRo bulThe s.hmfw wya
 valued at fifty dollars an acre. The il
 terest for twenty years would be $6, 900 the taxes, $5, 900. 1.-The had nothing n the land he would be $6,ooo out .
 pocket at theend of that sti1aeg FeTher
 was feAce reunds tllesWhole. lets that
 was estimated it.wofild cost twenty do
 lars a year to maintain. Each acr would hold 800 trees or l5060O in al The trees could be bought for $1 ,5O
 The planting would cost 7 about. $6el
 The trees at the present price efqpost
 and sleepers would be worth. at. .leas
 seventy-fve cents each. To sum up: Interest .4ts1! ..?aST!sy:l .o lssIes1 ss n | 1r z. . '' =. = Po,O'
 Taxes. !!!..! ... ..... : !o < ? 1fA F. .... 5,0( , Fenclng--tD.L w9L sa. Gass sE<42lSzSs4. A , Oversight, at $50 per yearsYonDEs ... 1,0I P1a p1aty 5nonsaneF trees sr*GE..frs,s l,5
 .iI vsT io tszS.s ax4EtnEE &1A s1
 Fifty thousand trees at 75ots.4 !i.g. ..... 37, 7,5 Five per cent. ldsss A. s4&Esyx.sg ~ 7,3 stiaoyz a.w sa,s.es.o 70 fi.an yd ,ess1I ssollo
 coa+ s.sI15E ..s$22y!a1
 ttt .l-sI j, ,si$1h,,7 Tho oara vuo1115 ho