The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1878-01-03
IRRIGATION AND FOREST CULTURE
SPEECH HON. 1. DONNELLY,
or MINNESOTA.
III the House Of Representatives,
July Is, 1868.

In the House Of Representatives,
July Is, 1868.
{Republished BY request OF Hon.
l.. Il. Hodges, Hon. Z. T. Drake and
others.
The House being il. Committee Of the Whole
on the state OF tie L MON.
~ fe0NTISUI.D FROM LAST WEEK
>srhat ra:n has become more ire
unenb in Egypt since the more yigor-
o4ls cultivation Of the palm tree.
In Malta rain became SO scarce
at.er tAe cutting down of the forests
that in 1871 not a drop Of rain had
talen in three years.
Asbsjornsen says:
Palestine and many osher parts OF
!, ia ard northern Africa, which IN
;ncient times were the granarles OF
Europe, ARE no"
deserts, and it is the destruction Of
the fureats which alone has produced
tlis desolation.
with all these facts before Us it
can. think, be safely asserted that
ANY considerable increase Of woods
up0n our extensive prairies would be
followed by these results: t
I. An interruption of tbs Gre q
miads which now sweep with un-
BgskeD force over those regions:
Says BeGueree:
I'm tho valley of the Rhone. d SIM
ne hedge two meters in height il %
sufficient protection for q distance Of
twenty-one meters.
Says Marsh.
.slf We supposed the trees OF wood
10 have q mean height Of only twenty
wards they often benetieia!ly affect
the temper allure or the moisture Of
nelt Of land two or three hundred
yards in width. and thus perhaps
rescue valuable crops from dessrnc-
ton
IL is asserted in Ls 4fpi che cingoao
fft1iia that
.sIn consequence OF the telling of
the woods on the Appenines the
sirocco prevails greatly on the right
bank of the Po, in the parmessan
territory, and in part of Lombardy
it iniures the haryests and the vine
yards and sometimes ruins the crops
OF the season. In Modena and Reggie
where formerly straw roofs resisted
the force Of the winds, tiles are now
hardly sufficient; in others where
tiles answered for roofs. large slabs
I. are now ineffectwal.'
Those who have felt the sweep of
the wind in Dakota territory, Ne
f,raska Iowa. or Kansas, can appre-
ciate the force Of this description.
I'll. The production Of Rocks Of in
lsectiverous birds, which by destroy
ing the larvse of the grasshop-
per will put an end to that pest which
now consigns vast regions to desola-
ton.
Ill. a supply OF wood for fuel and
far building purposes, and for tho
thousand minor uses for which it is
employed by civilized man.
Dur Government has paid as high
aS$l5o per cord for wood at it's mill
tafy posts on the great plains. A
civilized people cannot like the savage
use the dry manure Of the buffalo for
fsiel, nor can any frontier population
afford 10 consume for fuel an article
almost as scarce and as valuable as
gold.
I pass to the next branch Of my
subject:
IL THE FORESTS or TIE UNITED
ESTATES.
According to the census Of the
United States for 1850, which gives
returns Of the .sawed and planed
lumber alone-exciudin altogether
timber for framing and for mechan-
teal purposes--the value OF the former
material prepared for market in the
United States was,in 1850, S5S, 52l ,e76.
In 1900 it had nearly doubled in
amount, being SQ5, 9l2.2s6
says Marsh, Il very high authority ::
Il greatly doubt whether any one
OF the American States, except, per-
haps, Oregon. has ut this moment
more woodland than 1t ought perma.
nentiy to preserve. though no doubt
different distribution of the forests
IN all Of them might be highly a1yan-..
tageous. :.
Judge Edmnnds, late Corlni.s er.ex
IF the General Land Office:.fn The. re-
port from which / have already
quoted. says:
o"rill within a short time the ad-
sancing column OF population has
been composed Of those who have
heen forced to contend with the
aensely-timhered regions east of the
mississippi, carrying with them hab-
Is ard tastes unsnitea to the vast
tveeless plain now represented to our
frontier settlements.
sIiaving first learned that they
conld not live with forests, they have
now to learn that they cannot live and
prosper without them. Already the
forests Of New York. Pennsylvania,
Indiana. aud Ohio have been SO far
depleted that those States resort to-
Michigan and Wisconsin for humber
timber for domestic use.
But how long will the forests of
Michigan northern Wisconsin. and
Minnesota stand between the treble
drain OF the older eastern States. the
great prairies, and the valley Of the
Mississippi, Long before Michigan.
northern Wisconsin. or Minnesota,
the emily States which can now export
timber in large quantities, shall con-
tain q population one-lalf ~ dense as
Massachusetts. they viii not only
cease to export, but will find i scar
eity FOR their own local purpose.
The three last named States are