The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1875-07-24
Timber in Foreign Countries

During the spring Of 1874 the British
government addressed circular to repre-
sentatives of Great Britain in the prInci-
pal timber producing countries Of Europe,
in the United States and Brazil, IN Cuba
and Honduras, asking for information as
to the production and consumption of tim
Der information desired more particular
ly by the commissioners Of our woods and
forests. Fifteen questions were asked
These related to the sorts of trees grown
III each country, the uses made Of each
kind the ownership of forests lands /;
the causes Of increase Or decrease in the
acreage Of forests the quantity of wood
cut annually, and the amounts exported
and consumed at home. Inquiries also
we're made to the ascertaInCd influence
of forests on local climate, rainfall, floods,
etc, and, particularly ia Switzerland,
whether any steps had been taken to re
plant the sides Of the mountains, so as to
stay the action of the ram IN denudlng the
soil. Various reports on the foregoing top
les have now been received, and may be
procured in the form Of a Parliamentary
Blue Book, from which We may here Gull
few brief extracts, commencing the work
itself to the careful attention of all who
take an interest III forest preservation, a
subject tull of Importance, not only be
cause timber is Indispensable TO human ex-
istence, but because We may point to Pal
estine, to Spain, and probably to many
regions IN North Africa, to show how the
gradual destruction Of forests will change
the character Of a country and its inhabi
tants forever In Bohemia, during the
past ten years, specie Of worm, which
seems to act like an epidemic, has been
causing great devastation in the forests
The entire side Of a range Of hills may be
seen sometimes .aid hare Of timber by the
lnroads Of this worm disease. The dimin-
utIOn Of forests III parts Of Austria, and
more especially IN Hungary, has been fol
lowed by baneful consequences, such as
long droughts and tremendous winds, which
NIL the air with unceasIng clouds Of dust
and considerably increase pulmonary dis
eases III towns which have become totally
unsheltered Pesth, Presburg, and Wen
ma, are now perfectly Intolerable during
three parts of the year from this cause
At Rio de Janelro, thunder storms, form
erly Of daily occurrence, are now rare
and the cause is supposed to he the destruc
tlOt u lOICSbc NAlCu
town, as new roads have been made
Hence, Ill 1882, yellow fever visited the
place, and has never lett it since, though
trees are being busily planted in every
street. In Hesse and Baden greater pru-
dence has been displayed, four-hfths of
the former Duchy and one third of the lat
ter are wooded, aud the law requires that
every thirty years land which has once be-
lOnged to the cultivation Of trees must re-
turn to its original employment. In Swe-
den the timber resources are immense
Lapland has never been surveyed, but is
reckOned, with the Northern Provinces.
to contain some 80, 900, 900 acres Of forest.
Unfortunately, the unceasing and enorm-
Gus demand for wood, especially for char
coal, house-bulldIng, and luclfer matches,
Is telling rapidly on the prod uctive power
Of the forests this fact is of world wide
Importance, for there is hardly a maritime
country, except China and Japan, to which
Swedish wood in some form does not find
its way. At last, in 1874, law was passed
forbldIng the telling Of any trees less than
z inches in diameter at IL feet from the
ground. This statute applies only to the
Bothnian forests If extended to all
Sweden, as it probably will be, it may
greatly affect the mining interests of Great
Britain, for 1t will cut of che supply Of
small timber known a. "pit-props. In
Switzerland there is now Sylvan Society,
and great pains are being taken to induce
people to replant cleared and denuded
mountain slopes, SO as to prevent the dam
age which foods, landslips, and avalanches
have Of late years SO frequently inflicted.
Switzerland also has an industry-that Of
wood carving-which she has made pecu-
Larry her own, although it wa not intro
duced into the Bernese Overland before |
1919. This wOod-carving annually uses
up an enormous quantity of wood of all |
sorts. In Cuba there are abundant forests.
which must have increased since 1868, |
when the instruction broke out, for there |
has been very little cutting of late years !;
but, n we might expect where the Spanish
are concerned, no more care Ia taken, no
less reckleasness In shown by the farmers
who cut wood for their use m Cuba than
in any other tilAber-clad part Of the globe. ]