The Portland daily press., 1874-06-22
THE FARM AND HOUSEHOLD
/ OUR FORESTS.

'lH9nii nsHE 3H OUR FORESTS. lS-1 iii
Il. The House Committee on agriculture late.
ly voted to report bill for the collection OF
specimens of native woods in the United
States, to be placed in the museum of the
Agricultural Department in Washington.
This step has not been taken too soon, for il
the waste of wood continues at its present
rate there may, a few years hence, be speci-
mems of many kinds wanting. We have fire.
quently called attention to the Importance Of
forest preservation, and the short sightedness
of the present generation in respect to it, and
are glad to see that the President Is display
ing personal interest in the matter. The
public is apt to lose sight of its importance SO
such terrible confagrations as those which
occurred in Wisconsin and this State two
years ago die away. 49,. 49,. '"-
In his report to the Land Office at Wash :
ington, in 1856, the Surveyor General wrote:
s'We have now reached a period when the
demand for timber is rapidly on the increase
and the supply diminishing. The demand is,
indeed, undoubtedly increasing to an enot-
nous extent" In 1857 the same officer
wrote: sThe subject Of forest-tree culture
has of late years attracted much attention in
Europe on account Of the inconvenient scat-
city of all the more valuable kinds OF timber,
especially ship timber; and the subject is Of
no less importance in our own country, where
regions exist completely destitute of trees,
and where the supply of the more valuable
kinds is limited, and becoming SO scarce that
it even now commands large prices. 1t is
time that our best timber lands should be
priced, not only in regard to present but fu-
ture value" In a speech in Congress two
years ago, Mr.. Haldeman said it was comput-
ed that twenty million people are dwelling in
wooden houses, their barns and Out-building,
Of wood, the fencing of wood. Then twenty
thousand cords are daily consumed by 10
comotives, and the sixty thousand miles of
road demand $500 ties to the mile. Some of
the mills on Puget Sound have capacity to
turn out daily 100, 900 feet of lumber, and the
present export of the Sound in prepared hum
ber, masts and spars amounts to over one
and a half million dollars annually. Chica-
CO. in the same time, sold nearly 1000, 600
feet of lumber, over zoe, 600, 900 shingles, and
100, 600, 600 pieces of lath, and the enormous
consumption of wood of that city in repair
ing the rayages of fire may well be imagined.
Another tremendous devourer of wood is the
mines. In the Comstock Mine, Nevada, there
has been annually consumed of lumber and
timber about 100000 feet. III .8r 81
@ From Nebraska City, Mr.. Hayden, United
States Geologist, writes: III would again
speak of the importance of planting trees in
this country. 1t is believed that the planting
of ten or fifteen acres of forest-trees on each
quarter of section will have most impor-
tant effect on the climate, equalizing and in
creasing the moisture and adding greatly to
the fertility of the soil. The settlement of
the country and the increase of the timber
have already changed for the better the eli
mate of that portion Of Nebraska lying along
the Missouri" H-t 4ciiisol .l
As matters stand, the consumption in
creases enormously every, day with the in
crease of population, railroads, manufactures,
and mining enterprise. Enormous quanti-
ties of trees in woods Throughout the country
are rendered valueless for timber by neglect.
1t is, indeed, melancholy when ltraveling, to
survey these wretched poles leaning one
against the other, so cramped and choked
that they can never develop. The various
reports to the Land Office abound with vaiua-
BILE suggestions for the preservation ana IN
crease OF timber. The subject, however, Is
not without its difficulties. Our government
does not command the centralized machinery
which European countries employ 10 secure
the preservation of their forests. The states
in the far west are moving, but necessarily
SLOWLY. and not in unison. Several railway
corporations, and notably the Pacific railways,