Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1871-12-21
OF TIMBER.

The recent wholesale destruction Of
forest by fire in Wisconsin, Minnesota
and Michigan revives the question,
had already been suggested be-
fore these fires, namelys whence is@the
future demand for timber to be sup
What with the ravages Of the
flames and those of the woodman's ak,
now for more than a cen
fury throughout the Union, 1t is be-
coming q matter Of difficulty to find a
which contains the timber re-
qu!red for building and engineering.
The wood has been felled with a
thoughtlessness but little short of
downright folly, when 1t is considered
that available trees require from 80 to
co years to attain to maturity so that
a tree oncc felled cannot be replaced
by the generation which witnesses Its
fall. The men of 1871 arc depriving
those OF 1900 o their chance Of obtain
Ing a sufficient supply Of timber, ex-
cept at an expensive rate. They might
be excused for doing this II there ex-
listed any imperative necessity for the
destruction Of that invaluable article,
at the rate at whichit Is now going OH;
but there Is none, and according to the
reports Of observant travellers, who
have recently visited the forest regions
of the West, 1t will not be long before
the whole of the vast region between
the Mississippi and the Pacific will be
denuded. Very few seem to think 1t
necessary or advisable to plant young
trees or seed In the place Of those
fclled, and so every year the climate is
changing, the rivers are drying up,
and the whole character Of the country
is being affected. There never was a
people so reckless Of their noble gifts
as the American, especially where the
spirit Of gain prompts them, and In
this matter of the destruction Of our
vast forests they seem to lose sight Of
the fact that the after-consequsnces Of
such short-sightedness will be felt very
severely by our agriculturlsts and
others. It Is we'll known that where
ever the land has been denuded Of
forest trees, periodical droughts follow
as surely as the sun rises and sets.
Forests retain moisture In the earth,
while vast tracts Of cleared land be-
come parched and dry. One Of the
immediate injurious consequences Is
the drying up Of small streams. 1t has,
indeed, been frequently stated in the
Western papers that the Mississippi,
the Missouri, the Illinois, and other
large streams have become shallower
Of late years, and without going so far
as some Of these papers have In the eS-
preston Of their apprehensions, 1t is
easy to perceive that the cause Of this
decrease In tho volume Of water is
mainly owing to the destruction of tie
A similar d%enudation Of the
country Il one cause Of the rareness of
rain In Egypt, and the Government
there has taken the subject into serious
consideration. But very recently the
late Imperial Government Of France
caused an Inquiry to be made by scieE-
tifc men as to the results of clearing
the forests In tho south Of that country,
and the unanimous opinion of these
gentlemen was that o very serious
change had been effected In the climate
thereby ; 1t had become hot and dry,
and consequently unsulted to certain
branches ofagrlculture which had for
merly been very f%lourishing. Droughts
had become frequent and destructive,
and hailstorms sometimes took the
place Of rain. The same phenomenon
Is now observed In our Western States,
and 1t has been stated that, during the
present year, on the Pacific coast, the
drought has been such that more than
of the wheat crop has been
lost. This Is directly attributable to
the destruction Of the forests in Call
and Oregon, which has been
on there during the last twenty
years on a gigantic scale. The New
York Evening Post properly asks
whether 1t is not time that a subject of
such paramount importance should be
discussed In Congress and in the Legis-
latlve bodies of every State; and
whether como stringent laws should
lot be enacted to c~ompelithe indlvld-
,als and the companies which arc de-
our majestic American for
,sts, to replant the waste places with
trees wherever agriculture does not
,laim the land. 1t also suggests that
legislative measures should DO taken,
With tho cooperation of the Canadian
authorities, as the people Of the Do
are forest ~destroyers like our
and, It may DO added, will one
day have to suffer, rs we shall, from
heir recklessness in this respect.
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The CALIFORNIA SENKToRsHP.-On
tuesday last the California Assembly