Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1872-12-05
Our Forests

w nat, we are TO 90 TOT WCOQ ana
timber In the next generation is becom-
ing a avery serious question 1t is esti
mated that eight millions of acres are
stripped of their forests every year to
supply the wants Of our present. populac
ton. If these eight millions were left
to grow up to wood again, or if as
large a territory were planted every
year, the fall of the forests would ex-
cite no alarm. BUT this is not the case.
There is absolutely no system, in our
preservation of forests, and almost every
landowner follows the impulse of jim
mediate profit. A very large proper
ton of our farming population use wood
for fuel, and the destruction Of forests
from this source is immense. On almost
every cultivated farm the breadth of
forest is steadily waning. If there be
any exception to this rule it is in the
older States, where the agricultural
population does not increase. Our rail
roads consume large quantities for fuel,
and the draft for ties is very large.
Every mile Of railroad calls for two
thousand ties, and these do not last
more than seven OF eight years. One
only needs to visit the lumber regions in
any Of the States to com rehend, the
rapid disappearance of forests from those
large tracts put down in the census re-
turns as uncultiyated lands The steady
advance in the price oflumber in all the
older States is probably the best meas
ure we have Of the extent of, the evil.
Concerning the influence of this de
struction Of the forests upon the rainfall
and the climate there is much discussion
and some difference Of opinion. There
can be no doubt that climate is softened
by the shelter which woodlands afford.
A belt of evergreens inclosing garden
in any of our Northern States will
virtually remove it three hundred miles
south. The ground is not frozen so
deep in winter, the snow disappears
earlier, and fruits and flowers can be
grown with certainty that can not be
raised outside. The advantages of
shelter are conceded by our best cult
vators. The rainfall may OF may not
be increased by the forests. 1t is con
coded by all that the rain which does
come is more evenly distributed, and
that there is much less liability of dam
age from foods OF drouth 1t is pretty
well settled in European countries that
the welfare Of the farming interests
demands that at least one fifth of the
whole surface of a country should be
kept in forest. More crops, and Of
better quality, can be drawn from four
fifths Of the land with this protection
than from the whole without it.
In the prairie States something has
been done from necessity to meet the
want of fuel and of shelter. Wood
grows with great rapidity, and plan
tations only six Or eight years old yield
steady supplies of fencing and fuel
Illinois has much more wood thai,
when the State was first settled, and
belts Of timber are rapidly increasing
This is true of the States further west
Kansas, with wise forecast, has be
gun to legislate for this interest, and
oferes special privileges to all those
who will plant trees TOR ten years to
come. California has just appointed
State Arboriculturist at sa ary of SIS
600 per annum. The Kansas Pacific,
Railroad employs an industrial agent,
who devotes special attention to the
planting Of various kind of trees on that
part Of the road which has been known
as the Great American Desert, and
where it was formerly supposed neither
farm crops nor trees would grow. The
experiments of r. S. Elliott are so en-
couraging, that there is little doubt of
the capacity of the soil snd climate to
gaow timber in all this region The
care of our forests demands immediate
attention in all the States Eventually
we shall have to come to the European
system, and have commissioners appoin-
ted by the legislatures who sha have
power to regulate the cutting of forests,
and to encourage plantations in districts
where there is not sufficient shelter It
would be better indeed if the end could
be accomplished by private enterprise,
but thus far nothing has been done to
correct the evil There are large tracts
in almost every township in the older
States turned out to pasture that do not
pay the taxes laid upon them The
public good, as well as the interest of
the owners, requires that these tracts
should be planted with forest trees
Amer. Agrtcutiura,st.