Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1872-07-20
Exhaustion of the forest Products.


authorities Of California have en-,
gagged aprofcssional arboriculturist
at salary Of $4,000 por year, tc
attend to the setting out Of forest
trees in different parts OF the State
They never did wiser thing. Trees
should be judiciously distributed
everywhero-on the mountain side,
in the fields, along country roads,
in front of city residences, in parks
and gardens everywhere some, no
where too many.-Mobile Register.
1t appears that the people in some
parts Of Virginia arc canvassing the
expediency Of disseminating the
present system Of fencing. 1t was
stated by n statistician Of the ante
Jellum days that tho valuo Of the
fences in the country was equal to
the then national debt. Since the
obstruction of the former during the
war, and the immense increase of
the latter from the same cause, it is
presumed that the equality no Ion
ger exists. But with the pressing
and various demand for labor now
operative, and in consequence Of the
destruction Of suitable timber, the
restoration and keeping in repair
Of the fences has become very So
rious difficulty. The necessities of
the case and the discussion excited
will probably result in u moditica-
tion of the present fencing laws,
which compel the farmer to protect
himself against tho roaming stock,
which is allowed to Craze at large,
and the substitution Of the require
ment that every man shall confine
his own stock, and so do away, to
considerable extent, with the gen.
eral necessity Of fences. We have
spoken of the agitation Of this mat.
ter in Virginia, but have no idea
that the difficulty is confined to any
local circumscription; but, growing
out of the same circumstances the
previous waste and present scarcity
Of timber, the same embarrassment
must present itself, and be continu-
ally on the increase, unless met by
the same or similar remedial meas
ures.
simultaneously como complaints
from the lumber regions Of the con-
stantly increasing difficulty Of get
ting at tho timber, for as the enter
PRISE of the Iumbermen follows up
the shrinking skirts of the forest
with axe and sawmill they are led
farther and farther into tho recess
ses of mountain and swamp, and the
difficulty progresses Of operating
from distant bases ofsupply and re-
fitting appliances and ofgetting the
product to market.
Behind all this lies the alarming
but inevitable conclusion that the
forest wealth of the country is
about being exhausted. We have
rccklessly and wasteflllIy cut away
for fuel, for lumber, for fences, for
railroads, and merely to clear the
land when we had already more
cleared than we were able to cult
vatc, until the woods are nearly
gone. Everywhere is tho same
complaint, from Maine to tho Mis-.
sissippi, that the hard wood and
such us is suitable for economical
purposes, except the pine of the
Southern coast, is scarce and high
and becoming moro SO. Chicago
and ST. Louis, as well as New York
and Washington, feel this scarcity.
Stretching along with the slant
ing line of tho Alleghanics from
Pennsylvania to Georgia and Ala
bama is the chief residium of what
was once q continuous leafy shed
from the Atlantic to the Ohio, and
running into the cotton wood and
cane brakes of the South Mississip-
pi Valley. Particularly on the
west side Of the mountains and over
an area increasing in breadth as it
extends to the southwest, having
its greatest width probably about
the mouth of the Kanawha or the
Big Sandy, is the virgin and prim'
aval growth vigorous and integral.
Hence must the supply of oak,
maple, ash and poplar for the next
half century be drawn. The noun
tein sides, though too steep for cul-
tivation, are covered with noble
trees, which, in tho deep narrow
valleys, are still finer. The streams
are shallow, but sluggish in conse.
qusnce of the small declivity of
their channels, and thus cminently
fit for slack water navigation. Here
is the outlook for the cabinet and
agricultural implements factories,
and other industries into which the
consumption of wood largely enters,
and which supply tho Ohio and
Mississippi Valleys. On tho east
side of the Alleghanics we will have
to husband our resources TO find
some substitute for many employ
ments in which wood is now used,
and finally and best to plant and
cherish forest trees Washington
Patriot.
Missouri KANSAS & Texas Rail-
RoAD.-The Missouri, Kansas 4 Tex
as r. r is nearly graded to Boggy
Depot 81 miles north of here, and
they are now laying about one and
half miles of track per day.-Mr.
Scullen has gone North after from
three to five hundred moro hands
to put on the work from Boggy TO
Red River. Mr.. Scullen expects to
complete tho road to Buggy by the
18th of next month, and has his
headquarters now at that place.
The company will have three pile
drivers on the Red River Bridge,
and will push the work TO an early
completion. railroad enterprise
on this continent has moro energot-
ic and efficient men in every depart
ment, than the NJ. X. & Il. We arc
sanguine that less than twelve
months from to-day will see this
Il