, 1874-09-27

os bushels Of wheat, II, COO 90 bushels Of rye
~ . noSEea OF oats, 600, GEO bu1hela Of pea.
10 the value OF s47 o00 Co., e4oOu bushes Of clorer
SEED oSo0oo bushels Of other Eras%eeed IL oo0 tan,
o. hs:al 900 ooo pounds Of as1, and *, 0oo BUSH
e. or ta1seed These yege.ab;e srowhs were fa1u;j
1 10 ancient European Agriculture, but they were all
into North America fes this close OF ,hs
VI the trui,a Of agricultural indurtry unknown to
| tne dteckF and Romans. or too little EMPLOYED 1y
tte,n 70 be Of any commercial inroraace the United
states produced In the year 600 round, nj
nee 10 odo oo0 bushrls OF buckwL:at 3oooO50 Bales
Of cotton $1,000 hoEsheads Of cune-sug4r, $500 oN
gallons Of csne-nolssea, 1G 100 000 gallons Of aor-
Kla!n Eoistscs-au yc. .dei Is vegetables jntrcsce,
1alo that country within 200 years and with the ~
espon od 81 bamef~he.s m The origin Of which is
i:em thr Las: 1nies besides, from Indigenous ptaus
TO sas1ent agriculture, 75l nusel. Of
Indian corn 263 Geo ounls OF tobaeco lis co
bushels of potatoes ~ 20o0oo0 bushels Of sweet no
t-Ges, 1000 pounds Of ma2le-sugar and e.5 zoo
s. a ~ " To all this add
tons Of hay, produced partly By asw partly
ns partly by exotic, aud rarity by naive
neros 1nd grasses The yae Of SCI o30 in garden
ecse'apies, cHlefE Of European Asatic origin ::
pcoduetx- ~
Tho most valuable chapter in the volume is
mat which discusses the forest. It covers 250
pages, And Is an exhaustive .reatioe On the SUBJ
]ect- Every point in the history of forests,
which touches upon the physical conditions of
the earth OF the material interests of Man, is
care1clly elncidated. The influence OF woods on
the climate, On the seasons, on the humidity Of
the atmosphere and soil, Oh 1hs dow OF spriuca
and torTents. and On the diffusion OF malaria:
the general functions OF forests, their uses and
nnanclal value. and the consequences which,
III different regions, have issued from their de-
strucuon, arc seEerally detailed ut length. The
chapter abounds not only in curious and recon-
d1te information, but in practical hints of ex-
treme importance. The student of history gets
from 1t the novel idea TINT Spain owes it's poiti-
cal decadence, in great measure, TO the de-
structlon Of its forests. As the author quotes
from Reutzsch, ''Spain seemed destined by her
position to hold dominion over the world: and
this. In fact, she once possessed. But she has
lost her political ascendancy, because, during the
feeble administration Of the successors Of Philip
IL, her exhausted treasury could not furnish
tue means OF creating new heets, the destruction
OF the woods having raised the price of timber
above the means OF the State" The farmer on
the Western plsina. whose fields have been rav-
aged By 1ocusts, gains from the chapter the sug-
sestlve Information that these insects do not
breed in forests. but in open plains, which ad-
nit the full heat OF the sun to hatch their eggs.
which do not gather moisture to destroy them.
and do not herbor birds to feed upon the larye.
1t is only elnce the telling of tho forests of
Asia Miner and Cyrene that the locust has become
SO fcarfullr destructive in those countries aud
the grasshopper. which now threatens to be al
most AZ great pest to the agriculture of some
Sorth-American soils, breeds III eeriously-inju-
1ious nnnbors only where \ wide extent of sur-
face is bare Of woods" Hence the obvious in
ference !: Cultivate trees, plant groves and fo1-
ests, and the locust is extermiuated.
1t is the multiplicity Of items like these, ap-
pllcable to ercry industry snd interest OF man-
kind that constitutes the c1ea. value OF tie
work. Although all classes OF readers will be
entertained and instructed, the agriculturet and
the landowner Will derive tho most benefit from
it. 1t is ibrayy in itacn for the farmer teach
ing him manifold new truths that he may profit
ably enforce in his action upon Nature. There is
a single bemish to be regretted in the book
Shsn placing it in just the hands
where it would do most good. The
;tyie is not1bly scholastic. The most
will 6nd this stumbliDs-block in the |
beginning. aud simple folks are likely to be dis !
outraged By it. There is no employment of !
echnical terms. but the language is formal and |
lately, and, until one gets accustom ed to it, /
iyldes the attention with tho thought itself.
n consideration that tho book should be popu-
ar. and was mean: to be 10. it is fity that its
ction Is not Ho purely transparent as never to
nterpose ITSELF between the idea and tLe
ea6on-