The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1874-11-27
farlMerS' Column,
Speed the Ptosp.o
Forests and Rain Fall.

The increasing scarcity of timber for
fencing and building purposes and for fuel
IS drawing attention to the necessity of no t
only ceasing the wanton destruction of orr
woods, but of planting trees. Apart from
the necessity for shade and for the uses inst
named, 1t Is now an established fact that
the climate and rain fall are very material
ly influenced by the removal of the forests.
A writer in the NeU ENGLAND Farmer gives
an instance, within his own knowledge, of
two streams in Maine that run throughout
the year. AS the trees were felled the
spring freshets increased and the summer
How diminished, until now the mills have
long since fallen to decay and the streams
are a series ofrills and pools. One oftbe West
India Islands has been CHANGED from ftrtiI.
ny to barrenness by the same cause, while
inc history OF the streams of North Italy,
ana south Sartem, France, are full of use
iui LESSONS. Dld time permit, many instan-
ces could be given Of the disastrous effects
upon the fertility, and indeed the whole
nature OF the soil and country by the reno
val of the underground. Major Wood
ward has treated the subject ably in a pu-
per read before the National Agricultural
Congress, held at st. Louis in 1872. and
gives many interesting statistics. He states
that IN one district in France, while the
forests were yet untouched, there was vet
supcriluity OF moisture in meadows and
nelds, and the roads were never dry. In
looo, the entire eXtirpGtion of woods be-
gan, and now rain seldom falls; the fields
are baked hard in summer, the grass upon
Tue meadows is poor, and the roads are dry
and dusty.
NrIn ,,,l;, Il, g.,
duce these results is by retaining the melt
ing OF the SHOWS, preventing the rain from
passing rapidly OFT in treshets, maintaining
the constancy of the streams, pumping up
the superfluous moisture from the depths
OF the soil, preventing rapid evaporation,
ana affecting the movements of the currents
OF the air. With these facts before us. it
behooyes us, one and ALL to aid in afiording
the only remedy after saving carefully the
woods we have, and that is to plant trees
In one OF the Swiss Cantons, it is said, each
newly married couple is obliged to plant
SIX trees immediately after the cermuny,
and Two alter the birth ofeach child. The
forty second Congress enacted law which
may lead to an organized system for the
protection and propagation of forests, the
substance OF which is: That every person
VINO shall plant and keep in healthy grow
ing condition for five years, forty acres of
timber, the trees thereon not more than
eight feet apart each way, on any quartersec-
ton OF any ofthe public lands of the United
States, shall be entitled to patent for the
whole OF said quarter section at the expira
ton of five years. The Isthmus ofSuez has
furnished us with a striking example of
what can be accomplished by planting trees:
"A lew yeare ago the whole region through
which Nj. de Lesseps' famous canal now
passes was sterile desert-the rainfalls
amounting to less than an inch during the
year, There were no trees to be seen, far
or near. Wheu the energetic Frenchman
began his gigantic enterprise, he at once
directed thousands of trees to be PLANTED
in proper localities. Now the astonished
eye of the traveller bcholds blooming prai
ries and stately forests, where once ali was
waste and wild desert. Rain falls freouent-
ly and abundantly, the soil produces richly.
and the arid plains have been converted
INTO fertile land, capable of maintaining
thousands OF industrious and happy citi-
zens. - From "The Wonders of Water."l
practical suggestion in this connection
IS, that trees are our best protection against
lightning. The rods now so often erected
are many times utterly useless or even
worse than none Trees, however, planted
On the northwest and southwest of build
lngs serve by the many points presented to
Tue approaching cloud, to draw offth cleo
trlcity and give it a safe and quiet outlet
to the ground, extending as their roots do
TO tue moist earth.-From an AaicultuyM
ddd'ess BY Henry G. HalloweU