Smyrna times., 1878-03-20
The Importance Of Forests.

The general report of the State board o
agriculture of Connecticut contains yalua
bic and practical contribution to the iU,
portant subject of tree culture by Senate,
NorthrOp, of Connecticut. This statement
represents the results of his travels in
Europe and his acquaintance with expert.
ments IN this country, and gives useful
advice as to tree planting. From Mr..
Northrops account much more informa.
ton has been gathered upon this subject in
Europe than America. Mr.. Northrop saws
that German catalogue gives the titles of
1873 volumes on forestry issued prior TO
1872, and Of $50 works published between
1870 and 1876, and Germany is not much
IN advance Of France or Spain.
1t IS we'll known that the wanton des.
tructlon of trees has rendered arid and
barren vast tracts of Asia Minor, Greece.
Italy, Spain and the Mediterranean coasts
OF Africa. Mr.. Northrop mentions the re-
clamation of many oF these tracts bv tree
planting lie also speaks of the happv
results OF the same process in various
parts OF this country, such as the PLANTING
OF sand ridges in Illinois, near Lake Michi.
gan, with pines of various sorts. and the
raising OF pltch-pine forests on the sands of
Barnstable and Plymouth counties, Massa.
chusetts. Mr.. Northrop maintains that II
Is profitable to a farmer to plant trees.
because they can be grown where nothing
else can be, on thin or sandy soils or in
steep ravlnes, and he advances conclusivelv
the arguments in regard to the effects of
forests upon the permanency and repularitv
OF the water supply, from the records of
history and modern experiments. He saws
1t was the opinion of practical foresters in
England that the denudation of the Indian
mountains has been the principal cause of
the terrible Indian famines
AS to the proper trees to plant. Mr. |
NorthoP prefers the white ash where the
SOIL VIII support it. 1t combines, he oh. !
serves "hghtness, strength, toughness. |
elasticity and beauty of grain in a rare |
degree; = IS hardy, will bear the bleakest |
exposure, is rapid grower and attains |
large SIZE but will not "thrive on moor
Iands." 1t can be made very profitable. |
lie prefers the hardy European larch for
pastures and waste lands. Mr.. Northrop
tnlnks that the risk of forest fires, though
unuenlable, IS no greater than the risk
taken In building a house. The hvgienic
uses OF trees also deserve to be considered.
IN INDIA trees have been found to be a
preservation against cholera. DR.. Brvden
president of the statistical Office in cal
cutta, says that the road to Sambalnoor
runs for sixty miles through the forest.
which at some points is very dense. It
remarkable fact that on this route, traversed
daily by hundreds of travellers, vehicles and
baggage trains, the cholera rarely appears
IN thls extent OF sixty miles, and when il
ooes IL Is IN mild form. But on the road
from Arong westward to Chicholee Bunpa.
low, which runs for about ninety miles {
through barren, treeless plain, the cholera
!, Is FOUND every year in its more severe form, e
the dead and dying lying by the wayside,
and trains of vehicles, half of whose con, .
ductors are dead. 1t is added that in the
widespread epidemic of cholera also in &
AIhala6ad, in 1859, those parts of the gar {
rlson whose barracks had the advantage of |
having trees near them enjoyed an unde. 6
aiaole exemption, and precisely in propor- |
ion to the thickness and nearness of the
'helter. No fact is more clearly established {
lhan that all countries suffer which DESTROY
'r fail to renew their forests and to nre.
'erye them by private effort and by public '
egislatiOn.-Swn. :