The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1878-01-03
/ IRRIGATION AND FOREST CULTURE
SPEECH HON. I. DOSNELLT,
IN the House Of Representatives,
yyT,, n 1853
or MINNESOTA

~. K u
others.
Tie House being Ia Co1alnittee Of tie Whole
OF tht state 81 tke I mon
- ic0NT1s IT'D FROM LAST WEEK.
>"Fhat ra.n has become more ire
uaeu5 IN Egypt since the more Vl%oE-
ons cultivation of he palm tree
In Malta rain became so scarce
al.er that eating down u tie forests
Chat Il 1871 not a drop 81 rain hstd
falian In three years.
ASbs}0rnsen says:
~Iaalestine and many osher PARTS OF
LA and northern Africa, which IN
~neient times were the granariss Of
europe ARE now
deserts and it is the destruction Of
the forests which alone has produced
1his des0lation.'
NTttn al these facts before us it
ran 7 think, be safely asserted that
AN considerable increase OF woods
mQon eur extensive prairies would De
followed by 1hese results: t
+. An interruption Of the Gre q
u{nds which now sweep with IN
broken force over those regions:
nays BeCueree:
an inc valley Of the Phone. 4 sim
Nle hedge two meters III height II d
ssaieient protection for distance Of
wenty-one meters,
SAYS Marsh:
-lf W. supposed the trees OF wood
10 have q mean height % emily twenty
wards they often beneticia.lY affect
She temper attire or the moisture of =
neit Of land two OF three hundred
wards ia width. and thus perhaps
rescue valuable crops from destrac-
lion.
ftis asserted In L. -4tpi cte eingoao
{'Nafi0 that---
IN consequence of the folling of
the woods on the Apprentices the
slrocco prevails greatly on The right
bank OF the Pc, in the i'armessau
territory. and III part Of Lonlbardv
il iniures the harYests and the vine
wards 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
3 are now inetfeotwa.'
Those who have felt the sweep of
the wind in Dakota territory, Ne
braskA. Iowa. or Kansas, can appre-
t.iate the force Of this description.
III. The production Of Iiocks Of in
sectivorous birds, which by destroy
ing the larvfe of the grassh0p-
per Will put IN end to that pest which
now consigns vast regions TO desola-
y rfon-
Ill 4 supply of wood for fuel and
Tor building purposes. and for thu
thousand minor uses for which it is
employed by civilized man.
Our Government has paid as high
~ @l50 per cord for wood at it's mill
cary posts on the great plains. 4
civilized people cannot like the savage
use the dry manure Of the buffalo for
fuel, nor can amy frontier population
afford 10 consume for fuel an article
almost as scarce and as valuable as
gold.
/ pass to tho next branch Of my
subject;
IT, rHE FORESTS or THE UNITED
STATES.
According to the census Of the
United States for 1850, which gives
returns of the sawed and planned
lumber alone-exciudiny altogether
timber for framing and for mechan-
iual purposes-the value OF the former
material prepared fer market IN the
United States was, in 1850. SOS ,52I $40.
In 1850 it had nearly doubled in
amount, being 800 ,9l2. 2s6.
SAYS Marsh. Il very high authority
II greatly doubt whether any one
ri che American States. except, per
haps. Oregon, has III this moment
more woodland than it ought perma-
nentiy TO preserve, though no d0nbt
different distribution OF the forests
IA all of them might bt highly advan-
tageoHs /.
. the General Lana Office::fn the.re-
port from which l have ;tlrtads
quoted. says:
"riN within Il short time the ad-
yAAcing col6mn Of population has
Neen composed OF chose who have
neen forced ID contend with the
aensely regions east Of the
AljSs.ssi epl, carrying with them hab-
as ara tastes unsuited to the vast
tveeloss plain now represented 20 our
frontier settlements.
-sIaving first learned that they
canId nor live with forests, they have
new 10 learn that they cannot live and
pgosper without them. Already the
forests Of New York, Pennsylvania,
Indiana, and Ohio have been 50 tar
depleted that those States resort to
Michigan and Wisconsin for lumber
timber for domestic use.
Bat how long will the forests OF
Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and
minnesota stand between the treble
drain q the older eastern States. he
great prajries, 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 4 population one-llalf rs dense as
Massachusetts,. they viii not only
cease to export, but will ind scar
city for their own local purpose.
The three last named States are
believed to contain more available