Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-04-05


this wholesale destruction, recommends that
no land hereafter be disposed of for any
purpose, or for any consideration, pecuniaIy
or otherwise, without the insertion in the
warrant that the grantee shall keep at least
ten per cent. oft in timber. And If it has
no timber a deduction of twenty per cent.
on the price shall be made if the purchaser
shall plant so much of his land in timber.
II speaking of the consumption of timber
the Commissioner says:
"The dwellings of twenty millions of peo-
pie here are chiefly made of wood; the
outbuildings are almost entirely built of
wood; the fencing which costs actually
more than all the buildings, is of wood; and
all these are being continually consumed
by time. Railroads Consume timber i'm
mensely. Il has been estimated that each
day in the year trains run about three hum
dred Thousand miles, consuming one and a
half cords of wood for every twenty five
miles, making daily consumption of TWEEN
ty-0ne thousand six hundred cords. Sixty
thousand miles of miles of road require two
thousand five hundred ties to the mile;
! and assuming their life to be five years, an
annual consumption of thirty millions Of
! ties is required; and it may be safely said
that the waste 10 getting out ties is one
third Of the Tree. Add to this the fencing
of these roads, The half million Of telegraph
poles which each year will be required, and
the vast an cunt of destruction Of forests by
food and fire, and We must be startled into
the conviction that We must not only make
an effort TO stay the band Of ruthless de-
struction, but we must make an effort to
restore that which has already been de-
s'royed."
1t is gratifying, however, to know that
the people Of the Northwest are waking up
to the necessity of forest culture. In Iowa,
Illinois and Missouri timber is being grown
from seeds of trees found in the forests.
One hundred million of such trees are
thought to be planted annually in the prai-
RE States. Nursery men are now engaged
in shipping shrubs by the million. One
firm alone sent out from Wisconsin 9,OOO,-
600 trees in 1S69-70. About 1000 trees
are usually planted on an acre, and it is
thought that the planting is going on at the
rate of 10000 acres annually. The Euro
pean larch is becoming the faVorite. 1t
grows rapidly, and makes durable timber.
We suggested, some months ago, that the
Legislature exempt from taxation all the
old fields that should be planted in trees by
their owners; and we are 'gratificd to know
that the suggestion met with some atten-
ton 10y the thinking members. But our
people are not yet ripe for such action. We
call attention to it again, for the worn out
spots in our State are a standing disgrace
to the farmers Of Tennessee. If the hid
eousness of these fields could be yelled
by forest ofgreen, how much would be
added to the beauty of our State, and
how greatly would the land be improved in
few years.
We nope the press will take hold of this
matter and agitate it. Let these old fields
be reclaimed. There are enough if re-
claimed, to pay our State debt several times;
enough TO build a railroad through every
county, enough to educate the 1000 chill
dren between the ages of and IS in our
State that cannot read.