The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-10-06
Wtooleburp 8egister
The Destruction of our Forests.

was All IiilpOItanl ISSUE, one Oh the VIII
ncsses made the remark that u large
proportion Of the spruce lumber now
produced in Vermont. is manufactured
from logs varying from six to fourteen
inches in diameter. This reminds us
of the immense tracts of primitive for
ests, largely spruce and hemlock which
spread all over our Green Mountain
range only few years ago. Then no
one thought of cutting for lumber any
tree of less size than eighteen inches In
diameter. Those who have occasion to
pull down old houses, are often sur
prised at the excellence of the quality
of the lumber which had been used,
And when the degeneracy of our for
ests is referred TO, we find that the fact
Is universally recognized, The causes
OF this declension are perhaps the EN-
terprlse of lumbermen, the dying out OF
the older growth and the ruthless dis
regard of the importance of trees to the
welfare of the country, by the inhabi'
tants. 1t scarcely requires the proph-
cts ken to justify the prediction that
the time Is not far distant when the
name "Green Mountains" will become
n misnomer, as applying to the then
existing conditions.
How the decline of our forests will
affect the prosperity of our state Is 0
question of considerable Importance
The want of wood for our fires can be
supplied by the importation of coal
this relief, of course, subject to the con
tingencies of strikes, aud failures Of
mines, and various other possibilities
But we need not be especially alarmed
on that account. Together with the
possibilities of failure in the sources OF
our present supply of fuel, there are
also possibilities Of new discoveries OF
peat beds and other substitutes.
At first thought it would seem that
the failure Of our lumber supply might
he serious drawbacl; to our prosperity
if it did not Involve us in hopeless rus
In. For it is we'll known that the great
lumber tracts of Canada and the nearer
west are rapidly receding, and the item
of transportation is an all important
one when the question of competition
with other localities is figured down to
the nice point to (which it seems fast
tending. But upon maturcr reflection
1t may appear that in this respect we
have some compensations. We have
right beneath orr feet deposits of mar
bile. and an unlimited supply of the
materials needed for the making Of
brick, and iron ore within easy distan'
ces and ii is even now conceded that
if in this valley these materials fol
building purposes are somewhat more
expensive than wood, when we take
into consideration the greater value o.
the building constructed Of the more
durable materials, the comparison is
rather favorable than otherwise to the
former.
Why then should we not encourage
the destruction Of the forests or at leas
look upon their gradual disappearance
NTH oo",i,l""".~.-o
With all our inventions and resOur
ces we can never wholly dispense with
lumber. We can scarcely expect to
dnd a substitute for wood in the inside
finish of houses, and il is said that
where stone has been used for railroad
ties it was found not to work well and
the old wood ties have been re-substitu-
ted for the stone.
But there are more important consid-
erations than these. The valuable in
fluence of trees rs screens aud wind
breaks in winter should suggest the
importance of securing occasional tracts
of forest from the ruthless devastations
of the woodman's axe. Where there
are large tracts OF unbroken country
the cutting winds sweep 1iercely driv.
ing snow into drifts, leaving the bare
ground subject 10 the full action of the
hardest frost>, throwing out young
plants of winter grain, and injuriously
affecting the health of man and beast
Orchards and crops are benefited dur
ing the summer and the growing sea
son by belts Of forest trees. The de
structive blighting ofthe apple orchards
in Ohio and Indiana, is thought to re
suit from the rapid drying OF the ab
sorbinp currents of westerly winds re
lieved Of their moisture by the conden
sing power of the snow capped rock J
range. At anyrate the fact is undenia
bic that the apple orchards of Ohi'
have become failures since the forests
have been cut away, while thirty year
ago failure was seldom known. Ii
Western New York where the forest
have been allowed to remain, no sucl
change in the resultant crops is noted
1t is well known fact that Pales
tine, Syria, Greece, Asia Minor, an,
other portions of the old world, furnish
numerous Instances of the conversion
Of vast tracts of land, once fertile ant
productive, into arid sandy deserts, s.
far deieriorated a. to be almest ire
claimable by man, by the universal de
5truction Of the forests. Indeed W
may doubt whether these countries cal
be reclaimed from their sterilily b,
any other process than the planting @
vast tracts of forest trees, to bring bacl
the humidity which all must recogniz
as an essential condition offertilitv ant
productiyeness.
The theory of Mr.. Marsh that forest
tend to produce greater degree Of at
mospheric humidity and consequent.
more regular supply of rain, and tina
they prevent evaporation from tn
earth's surface and allow the withdraw
al of the moisture through the streams
thus keeping up these sources ofpowe