The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-03-09
FARMERS COLUMN.
ORIGIN OF PRAIRIEs.

what he deems to be the CAUSE Vi 'ne
nrairies of the West. 1t has been ana
still IS doubtless, vexed question ana
,,oau ever remain such; that Is, the tlme
nav never come vher the learned and
scientific will agree upon the cause OF
II ia estimated that about seven elgthf
of the surface of Iowa is prairie, or was
60 when the State was first settled. Iney
moi confined to the level surfaces, bur
~ro sometimes even quite hllly and
hrokep. and it has just been shown thai
+bev are not confined to any particular
var;etv Of soil, for they prevail equally
mon AIluvial, Drift and Lacus'ralI SOILS
Indeed, we sometimes mo a slng'e pIa!r
ie whose surface contains All 1ii0so Faiie
tics portions of which may De respec
lively sandy, graveliy. clayey ana ioany.
Neither are they confined TO tine region
&c mar does their character seem at all
6anendent upon the formations which
nn6orlie them, for within the State OF
Iowa they resi- upon all formations, from
+hoea of 4zoic to those of Cretaceous age
;nf lusive. which embrace almost all kinds
of rock such as euartzite, friabie sand
stone. magnetism limestone, common
limestone, impure chalk, clay, clayey ana
oordy eha,es. &c. Southwestern Mime
oo+o 1s almost one continuous prairie upon
the drift which lies directly upon, no:
onlv the hard S"uix quartzite but also oil
rectIy upon the granite.
Tins. whatever the origin Of the prair-
les may have been, we have the posl''Ve
assurance that their present exls' ence I'D
Iowa and its Immediate vicinity IS not
due to the influence Of climate, the cnar-
acter or composition o. the SOIL, nor 10
fine character OF any of the underlying
formations. 1t now remains tn say WITH
out he least hesitation, that the re1I cG''se
of thu nresent eristence of the prndraes an
lima az the prevalence Of the Gnnu0t fires.
II these had been prevented nifty years
aoo Iowa. would now be timbered instead
of a prairie State.
Thus far we have stated facts and what
are deemed to be Legitimate deductions
from them. The following are offered
only as suggestions. We have no evil
dence to show or suggest that any OF
+he prairies ever had a growth OF trees
mon them; notwithstanding the fact that
those at least of the eastern part OF the
GREAT prairie region wi support an
ehnndant growth of trees after they are
introduced, if protected. from the rfes
There seems to be no good reason why we
should regard the forest as any m"re
natural or normal condition oil the surface
than the pralries are, 1T seems the more
natural inference that the Occupation o.
the surface by the forests has taken place
nv dispersion from orig nal centres, ana
that they pncroached upon the unoccu
nien surface until met and checked by
the destructive power OF the hres.
Then arise questions like the following,
not eosiJv answered and for which no an
kwers are at present proposed When was
ar. first introduced upon the pra'rirs,
and how? Could any one put human
ooencv have introduced annual fires np1l
t1emY if they could have been introdu
ced only by the agency OF man why oln
the forests not occupy the pralries pefore
man came to introduce his 1ies, since we
ace their great tendency 10 encroacn upon
tho nrairies as soon as fires are MADE 10
ceasee The prairles, doubtless, existed
90 such almost Immediately after the
c,ose of the Gal lal epoch. Did man
then exist and possess the use OF IRE 1na'
he might have annually burned 'ne
prairles of SO large part OF the conll,
rent and thus have constantly prevented
the encrCachment of the forests 1t may
be that these questions will never be sat
isfactorily answered; but nothing Is more
evident than that the forests would soon
occupy very large proportion OF tue
prairie region of North America |, the
nrairle fires we're made to cease, ana n'
artificial Efforts were made 20 preEep'
their growth and enar' achment.