The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1872-01-06
Destruction of Timber.

lolSSt Ny hic III w ibcuuSlu, NlluueSOth
and Michigan reviyes the question,
which had already been suggested be-
fore these fires, namely, whence is the
future demand for timber to be suppli-
ed ? What with the rayages of the flames
and those Of the woodlands axe, con-
tinned now far more than century
throughout the Union, it is becoming
a matter Of difficulty to find forest
which contains the timber required for
building and engineering. The wood
has been felled with thoushtlessness
but little short of downright folly, when
it is considered that available trees ro-
quire from thirty TO sixty years to at
tain to maturity SO that tree once
felled cannot be replaced by the gene
Grafton which witnesses its fall. The
men of 1871 are depriving those Of 1900
of their chance Of obtaining sufficient
supply of timber, except at an expen-
siye rate. They might be excused for
doing this if there existed pny impera-
tive necessity for the destruction Of that
invaluable article, at the rate at which
it is nov going on; but there is none,
and according to the reports of obser-
want travellers, who have recently visit
cd the forest regions Of the West, it
will not be long before the whole of the
vast region between the Mississippi and
the Pacific will de denuded. Very few
seem to think it necessary or advisable
to liant young trees or seed in the place
Of those felled, aud so every year the
climate is changing, the rivers are dry
ing up, aud the whole character of the
country is becoming affected. There
never was people SO reckless Of their
noble gifts as the American, especially
where the spirit Of gain prompts them,
aud in this matter Of the destruction of
our vast forests they seem to lose sight
Of the fact that the after. consequences
Of such short.sightedness will be felt
very severely by our agriculturists and
others. 1t is well known that wher-
ever the land has been denuded of for.
est trees periodical droughts follow, as
surely us the sun rises and sets. For
ests retain moisture iu the earth, while
vast tracts of cleared land become
parched and dry. One of the immedi-
ate injurious consequences is the dry.
ing up OF small streams. 1t has, indeed,
been frequently stated 10 the western
papers that the Mississippi, the Mis-.
souri,, the Illinois, and ether large
streams have become shallower Of late
years, and without going SO far as some
of these papers have in the expression
Of their apprehensions, it is easy to
perceive thatthe cause of this decrease in
the volume of water is manly owing to
the destruction Of the forests. A sim.
liar denudation Of the country Is one
cause Of the rareness Of rain iu Egypt,
and the Government there has taken
the subject into serious consideration
Some years since the then Pasha; under
the advice of some French engineers,
caused a large number Of trees to be
planted on the banks of the Nile, iu
hopes that through their growth a
change in the climate might be produc-
ed, so that rain might be made TO fall.
The growth Of these trees has produced
the desired change, aud of late years
rain has more frequently fallen in the
valley of the Nile. NJ. DeLesseps has
planted trees along the Suez Canal, both
for shade aud for moistenipg the atmos-
phere, with decided SUCCESS. 1t has
been asserted that the enormous accu-
mutation OF sand, which has buried
cities and monuments in Egypt and
Mesopotamia, was occasioned by the
ruthless destruction Of the primeval
forests by the invading hosts who SO
often made irruptions into those couu-
tries. The decay of Spain has been
also, but perhaps unjustly, attributed
to the same cause at all events, rs
regards that peninsula, it is we'll known
that other causes, such as the expulsion
Of the Moors and the Jews, and the in.
fux Of the precious metals from this
Continent, largely contributed to it.
But very recently the late Imperial
Government Of France, caused an in.
quiry to be made BY scientific men as
TO the results of clearing the forests in
the south Of that country, and the
unanimous opinion of these gentlemen
was that very serious change had been
effected in the climate thereby it had
become hot aud dry, and consequently
unsuited 10 certain branches of agricul
ture which had formerly been very
fourishing. Droughts had become
frequent aud destructive, aud hailstorms
sometimes took the place of rain. The
same phenomenon is now observed ID
our Western States, and it has been
stated that, during the past year, on
the pacific coast, the drought has been
such that no more than one-fourth ol
the wheat crop has been lost. This is
directly attributable to the destruction
Of the forests in California aud Oregon
which has been carried on there during
the last twenty years on gigantic scale
The New York Evening Post properly
asks whether it is not time that a sub
ject ofsuch paramount Importance should
be discussed 10 Congress aud in the
Legislative bodies of every State and
whether some stringent laws should no
be enacted to compel the individuals
aud the companies which are destroying
our majestic American forests, to re
plant the waste places with trees where
ever agriculture does not claim the land
1t also suggests that legislative meas
ures should be taken, with the coopera
tion of the Canadian authorities, as tn,
people of the Dominion are fores
destroyers like ourselves, and, it may b
added, will one day have to suffer, a