American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-04-05
TREES AND TREE-PLANTIN

TREES AND TREE-PLANTING
A Practical Way of Reclaimine Waste
Land.
Mr.. B. G. Northrop, Superintendent
of Education in Connecticut, recently
delivered highly instructive lecture at
the Peabody Institute. Baltimore, on
Trees and Tree-planting." "Europe's
experience" said he, "teaches US that
schools of forestry are necessary insti-
tutions. Americas experience should
teach us likewise. A department of
forestry could with great facility be an
nexed to the John Hopkins University,
its grounds being more adapted to a
forest than other like institutions in
America. What 1 mean by depart
ment of forestry is a school where for
sstry can be taught; this school having
annexed to it a small forest, say about
80 acres, to be used for practical illus
trations to the persons educated in the
school,"
The facilities of forests, the lecturer
proceeded to show, we're manifold. The
advantages which they possess as re-
chalmers of sterile and sandy soil are I'M
equaled. Sand dunes, by the simple
process of tree-planting, have been con-
vsrted into fertile lands in France, Italy
and other countries. The prevention
of floods is also attributable to forests,
as the rain is prevented by them from
penetrating the ground to very great
extent. Barren grounds facilitate alb
sorption on large scale, and thus
streams are swollen and rivers overflow
their banks. The lumber to be derived
from forests is another advantage.
Though wood, as a fuel, can be replaced
by coal, its manufacturing advantages
can not be supplemented. s.--.
Finding. then, that large forests are
indispensable, the next step is their pro-
pagation. To do this schools of forest
ry, like that at Nantes, in France, and
the one in the Vallambrosa, in Italy,
will have to be established Books of
forestery are numerous, there being as
many as LIPS in the Spanish language
alone. T ,,ove mentioned schools
of forestry are furnished with COM
plete stock of mechanical, agricultural
and meteorological instruments to aid
the student. A corps Of competent pro-
fessors is employed. Surrounding the
schools is magnificent forest. In the
beautiful glades and valleys surround
ing the school of forestry at Vallam-
brosa, Dante delighted to roam, and
Mrs. Browning and Milton both intro
duced them in their writings. The ad-
vantages to accrue to the farmer from
tree planting are many.
A forest will bring him nothing, finan-
cially, for ten years, but at the end of
that time he will find his land made fer
tile where it was before barren; he will
have the timber, the fuel. and while it is
in growth, the shelter and the shade.
The best tree to plant is the ash wood
tree. This tree is used extensively for
manufacturing purposes, for timber,
fuel, and in fact every thing that wood
can be used for. 1t has many qualities
which other woods do not possess. The
trees should be planted close together.
averaging 5000 plants to the acre.
Many tracts of barren land exist in
America, and 1 look forward with
pleasure to the day when they will be
reclaimed by forest planting. i9>t'
In Connecticut, on the New York,
New Haven and Cambridge Railroad,
there is an immense tract of sandy land,
and the Vice-President of that road in
formed me that he intended to plant 10
miles of the road in trees in order to
fertilize the soil. Apart from the bene-
fetal effects already enumerated, forests
have a great effect on the climate, i'm
parting in hot districts great humidity
to the atmosphere. In Cape Cod, sand
dunes, which years ago sold for rs cents
an acre, have been reclaimed, and now
bring 1925 per acre.
On the western shores of France sand
dunes have been reclaimed, but, there
are yet in Europe 1000, 900 acres of en-
tirely barren land. Northern Africa,
Asia Minor, Persia and other countries
have many spots on their surface; ster-
lie land, in fact, that can be reclaimed
by the method 1 advocate. So has
America, and I propose in my next lee
ture to speak more fully of how and
why America should have forests.