Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1873-05-28
miscellaneous.
for the Watchman.
Our Lecture on Trees, No. >.
by J. MILTON srEARNs.
ny }. MILTON srEAnNs.


found in appropriate lattudes and eleya-
tious and circumstances. Yet the primeval
forests were Indigenous TO the primeyal
earth from the day when Eden's bowers
waved in the sunlight Of the morning. Yet
there is theory, that the vast primcyal
forests, that once were Of dense growth in
particular localities, were borne down as
with besom Of destruction by tide Of
fire, bearing as with burning food the
debris Of uphoayed mountaius, aud so the
fallen trees became deposits Of coal, charred
and petrifed under the earthly mass that
was poured over the site Of the lost forest.
Whoever investigates this theory will find
evidence that the fuel that grew, when to
man the earth was n vast solitude, has SO
been preserved to meet mans necessities in
these last days. You will see seemingly
the charred knots, and the grains Of woody
fibre, and even the ycar-circlcs Of the trees
in these coal formations aud their pctrilac.
tions.
1t seems, however, improbable that all
the coal found in the world had this veg
ctablc origin, The slate Goals seem to in.
dicate more Of a. mineral than vegetable
source while the bituminous coal may in
some cases have peirided wood concrete in
its beds, yet it seems TO have the same ori-
gin as the substances that support the com
buston Of volcanoes, and that have genar-
ated the strange deposits Of petroleum
which have been to 80 nany Of modern days
the lottery Of wealth or ruin.
As trees are the largest development Of
vegetable life, 50 their growth often re-
duires centuries to become Of sufficient size
for useful purposes, and the arts Of life.
la view Of this fact, the wanton destruction
Of primitive forests has beeen the occasion
Of regret to the people Of many countries.
| Great Britain was once covered with heavy
forests Its healhcn people counted them
as the shadows Of Gods temple, aud offer.
ed human sacrifice beneath their dark shades
The Deity, they thought, dwelt beneath theiI
canopy, aud delighted himself in cruelty
and blood. Poetry sung of the wild wood.
of Moryey, aud love delighted in the song
Of war, echoing from the depths Of forest
soitudes. The burning brands borne, in the
olden time by the followers Of Scottish
chieftains, indicated the spirit generated by
forest-clad hills, and the strategies Of wal
pursued in a wild and barbarous land
But 90 through Great Britain now, anC
where have her forests gomez Centuries
ago the forests cncroached so upon tn,
Kings highways that they sheltered foot
pads and robbers to such au extent that th,
law had to provide for their clearing away
several rods distance along each side Of th,
great thoroughfares. Such law was passeC
so late, think, as the 10Th century. But
beyond some royal reserves aud public parks
few forests are found in Englandi and ever
the Grampian Hills of Scotland are cover
ed with wild, brown heather like the sag
, brush of our American plains; and tree.
even at the mountain tops, are things Of tn
past. If the dark brow Of the might
mountain, of which Scott wrote and sung
has trees for its ornaments, it is because il
. declivites are inaccessible to the gatherer
of wood and lumber Hedge rows ar
: still found, as fences, dividing estates, an
but the estates in England must have gon
largely to ruin where forest trees have still
an unnurtured growth. The Duke of Suther
= land drove his ragged tenantry out to starva
. tion from the north ofScotland, that the cops
might become forest to shelter deer 70
his pleasure of hunting. have saie
along the coast Of Ireland for huudrc
miles or more, but the green Isle has it
carpet of grass with here and there a gar
den patch, and diapidated cottage, but
= is no louger forest-cad land. France
less pruned up on its plantation borders
, and there is a sort Of careless wildnoss i
> the groves that have stolen on to the MAI
Z vision of estates by descent has caused tn
. land to be laid out. with perhaps from twent
' to fifty feet on highway, and stretching
gin Of the ribbon fields, into which the d
; mile in depth. But trees, as ornamanti
: : are cherished especially as heir-ooms con
y ing down from former times Tho statue
>, of the great men Of the past, which orn'
} meut the park before the Palace Of Vci
n sailles, are less deeply regarded THAI tn
), groves, trimmed up as arcbways, oyershal
: owing the bouleyards and drives throug
: and around these royal dcmesnes TIL
! Bois BoIogne has been, from time lon
= past, the glory of Paris, aud Frenchme
: will sigh more for the destruction Of tn
!. park and its ornaments, than for the bloc
' that has been shed and the hecatombs {
! the dead slaughtered in the late war.
N 1t is only in Switzerland and Savo,
q on the declivties of the Alps, and the
!. spurs and foothills, that anything lik
a primitive forests are found in the south {
n Europe. 1t is only 10 this region that "
~ find trees manufactured into lumber for d'
q mestic purposes. Though, instead of siz
N able logs, for saving, we saw only mel
"a sticks, some six to ten inches in diamete
"A that had been cut far up the mountains, an
u slid down the steep decliyity for miles
i. the vicinity Of some public roadwa.
"a Years ago | read an account Of a slide col
"a structed for nine miles down one Of thes
|. mountains, in which the timber was place
n to carry itself down by its own weigh
At Such an outlay would only be warrante
|. where timber is oxseedingy scarce an
r. dear.
a. A singular phenomenon is witnessed {
20 the deciyities of Mount Blanc, overlookiu
is the village of Chamouny. Evergreen tree
d all along the margin of the great glacier
a. flourish from the lower plain to the heig'
as Of Monte Verd, some five to seven thousar
IN feet above-even TO the timber line, abo'
d. which vegetation is scarcely found, seemi!
G. to draw nourishmeut from the ice fields th
IS come down from the upper mountains 10 Il
very plains. Had | seen them | mig
perhaps qualify my observations by vie
Of the Black forests Of Austria And
re might take you to the forest Of Ardenues
I'd the vicinity of Brussels, and rehearse Il
ng associations Of these woods with the bait
Id Of Waterloo, so beautifully painted
Is Byron.
:, sfAnd Ardonnos waves above them her green onye'
dc Dewey with natures tear-drops, as they pass,
,e, meyng r M apss ,hSl ias 81
Ere evening 10 be trodden like the grass
20 Which now boneath them, but above, shall grow
W In lis next verdure, when this fiery mass
elf OF living ValoT rolling on the foe,
And burning with high hopes, shall monlder cold a
low"
OK The grass shows this forest to have be
nu but wooded lawn. Nor shall lead y
to the arctic zones Of Sweden and Norw'
.,snaa n 50 eth founI