, 1873-08-29


aro doing so adding thus greatly to tho hoa'1tg
as uoll M tho value Of thofr farms. Near
drIggHvl1o for instance, In slia State, thoro In
largo border Of black walnut tfoos p1nhtel adi1o
twenty-five years ago, nov perhnpa hlty feet
high, and with foot or luoro Of diameter ut tho
baao Tho nouev value Of this grove must
amount to d worry considerable sum, mud no
doubt II tha land could have boon mado to yiold
largor return In tho culture Of anytling else,
Turn to lilo report Of tho Board Of Trade for
tho yoar 1879, and we can form aomo idea Of tho
yoarly wnsto upon tho forests that surround
Lakos Michigan and Huron. This city alono
received 1,1s9, 2s3 foot Of lumber in 1879, Boz
sides abinglos 1at],, pickots. and codnr pobta in
vaat quantities. Tho amount Of lumbor that
gooa down tho Detroit River, tho St. Lawrence,
tho GRIND Trunk and other railways, on ita way
eastward, must he immoiso, and tho pinorioa at
the hoad of tho mississippi and its tributaries
arc rapidly disappearing to supply tho demand
tor lumber In tito rapid1y-doveloping statou
through which 1t runs. Unlcsa our pooplo uso
moro brick and stono in tho construction Of thoir
buildings, ills plain that in a fow years moro
tho wasting away Of onr forests will forco them
to do It, bosidos the bringing Of calamitios
which have bofa1len other conntrics for Ike
cauBo. Already tho Nov England States, with
tho exception OF Maine md most Of tho Middle
stntcs, havo boon stripped Of their timber. 4
| quarter Of century will find Maine noarly ~
Destitute as tho others. Along tho Ottawa and
In tho districts that surround Lake Huron, thero
aro still immonso groves Of Pine, but oven they
! oannot last many years.. In Northern Michigan,
Wisconsin, and Minnesota. splendid groves Of
pino still oxist but already, noar tho atroams
and lako shores, Bhd inroada havo beon
mado upon thom, and now railways arc
pouetrating. thom in nll directions, and
soon tho vast forests Of gplonds1
pines and oakH that hayo dcded tho blasts
OF winter for centuries will DO soon no
moro In all tho land. Tho fall OF these old mon
archs before tho woodman'a morolesa AZ is q
spectacle OF melancholy md absorbing inserosl
to him who can estmntolho effects Of their losE
upon the welfare and tho prosperity Of tho coun'
try. 49,.
But tI,ero il another Wow which our awful cn
lanlty of October, 1871, forces upon uH In thlE
connection. Those forests aro plled mp betwooI
brick or stono walls, and loaded down with mill
ions Of values in goods Of al sorts, drawn from
ovory land md overy cline, only to tompt ths
tlovourihg clements to lap them up ami
sweep thom awny in d tempest Of lro
We aro destroying onr splendid forests OH th'
one hand only to have our cities burned up OF
tho othor, Built, as they arc. go largely o
wood 1t needs only roasting OF two months il
q summers sun. and thens a tempest md
large fire we'll under way to windward. to bun
up ovory city upon tho continent. Henco n
people ever practiced moro reckless crimina
waste than no. 1To know tho dangers t.
which VIC aro exposed both from til
radical chango our climate will suffer from til
obstruction OF our forests, and tho burning u
of our otios, into whose construction they 8
largely euter and yet no effort is made to aver
the calamitieH that nallat inevitably follow. Who
Chicago, Boston, or any other city burns III
and loHcs Its hundreds Of millions. charge 1t t
mans avarico aud stupidity In not building wit
more substantial material, aud not to tho ayenf
ing hand Of m oycrrullng Providence.