The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1878-04-06
Tree.Planting.

Mr.. B. G.. Northrop, Secretary of the
State Board of Education of Connect
cut, whose good service in the cause of
tree-culture in New England has receiv-
ed frequent recognition in the columns
of the Evening Post, visited Europe last
summer for the purpose of studying
forestry in the quarters where that
science has the most attention. Carry
ing with him letters from the Governor
of Connecticut and the Federal Secre-
tary of State, he had the best opportu-
mites for observation and inquiry, and
the practical results of his tour are
summed up in a paper on Economic
Tree Planting" which will form a part
of the report of the Secretary of the
Connecticut State Board of Agriculture
for the current year.
From this paper it appears that Ger
many stands first among the Continent
al nations in the literature of forestry,
1915 volumes on this subject having
been published in that country before
the year 1912, and an average of 100
works being the yearly increase in later
times; Spain probably comes next in
rank, with her LIPS volumes; and the
once sandy plains south of Berlin, now
fertile and blooming; and the check
given to the ravages of the waves on the
Biscayan coast, tell their own story of
the advantage accruing to these two
countries from their painstaking study
of horticulture. Even among the Rus
slams, people to whom we are not &C
customed to look for advanced ideas,
the science is making rapid strides, its
work being the reclamation of vast
steppes and resistance to the en-
crOachments of the inland
seas. Every one familiar with
the laws of England knows what strict
provisions guard her grand old trees
from destruction; and it would be well
if, with the introduction of other good
institutions from the mother country,
we had put into the American statute
books some of these regulations, found
ing them, not on the rights of succession
to real property, but on decent fore
cast for the public welfare.
The question of the influence of its
forests on the rainfall of any given dis
tricts is still mooted among men of
science; but Mr.. Northrop quotes the
statements of persons who have repeat
edly observed with their own eyes the
coincidence of the removal of forests
with the drying up of springs and rivers
in India and in other parts Of the world
where prolonged droughts have ended
in disaster. Moreover, whatever may
be said as to the positive effect of tree
tops on passing clouds, we believe it is
not denied that, the rains having once
descended and watered the earth, a for
est belt puts perceptible check upon
evaporation by winds and sun.
Some very interesting facts are given
in the paper before us concerning the
varieties of trees which ought to be
planted when certain ends are in view.
The durability of the European larch,
for example, is attested by its use in
Venice, where, in the form of piles i'm
mersed in water, it has supported for
centuries some of the most imposing
masses of architecture that meet the
travellers eye. Mr.. Northrop also treats
his subject practically by suggesting ex-
periments, which might be made at q
little expense of money, time, and pa
tience in his own State and in others
where large tracts of naked ground have
become parched and sterile.-New York
Erening Post.