The Cecil Whig., 1881-06-11

AMERICAN FORESTS.

SEIECI LlIERAIl RE.
AMERICAN FORESTS.
from Hnper'% MonG,l".
OF a dcsnation which is recorded far
back OF the days of Roman or even OF
Grecian glory, we read that "a man was
famous according as he had lifted up
axes upon the thick trees In the days
when American forests We're considered
practically limticss. our fathers were far
too famous for lifting up axes upon the
thick trees. and the resultant destruction
is even now upon pts, like the PhiliStines
upon Samson. This destruction comes
upon lis in many forms, most of which
are, in fact, rapidly and terribly cumula-
tive. Here is u beautiful stream of
water. for example. which was Il great
element OF wealth to the region through
which it flowed. 1t might not only have
continued to be 50. but to have gained in
usefulness instead Of being either dead
or surely anu swiftly passing away. The
numbcrleSs little hollows on the hills
where We're the springs which grew into
rivuctS to feed it have been stripped OF
til" mOistuT2-ec0nomiZi veriure with
which the Creator clothed them, and SO
the springs are dry, and the riIls no
longer murmur their once glad songs Of
labor as they FASTENED down the valleys
| n Of .hon al in
dustry. In this one matter of dcstruc-
ton of hydraulic power with which we
have been already smitten, hundreds of
millions of dollars of annual damage has
been and is the actual result. That this
drying up of the streams is attributable
not only chiefly to deioreSting, but al
| most solely to it. common SenSe-which
is, III fact, the very esSensc of both fact
and philosophy make plain to
every candid mind. Rain feeds the
| springs. To feed them economically, it
should be gentle and frequent, not vio-
lent and at long intervals. Intelligent
forest engineering would require that
sucIi portion Of hills be clothed with a
mantle of green trees as by its cooling
influence it would more frequently so
contract the aerial sponge as to give us
showers at short intervals. This is the
case in forest clothed beautiful Britain
The reverse is true in tlee- stripped Spain.
whose people have become as proverbial
for their hatred of trees as their country
!
streams. There, and on eastward all
through the Orient, II relentlcsSly bril-
liant sky and an appalling absence of
vcrdurc will teach one as nothing else
can how beautiful are clouds that weep.
and, i'll its proper time. how delicious
drilling rainy day. These detorested
Eastern lands are as famous for seasons
of binding storms, and valleys torn by
terrible torrents, az they are for the re-
| verse. The viii! soon find their counter
part in all these characteristics in Amer
lea. unless we rouse ourselves with Il will
to understand and to master these evils.
| Forests promote streams available for
our precious manufacturing interests.
also, by furnishing vast and almost in
Vulnerable beds of fallen leaves and of
moss, which act on the earth like huge
everything sponge, to check the sudden
rush of the rain fall into the valleys and
down into the streams. Very rapidly in
| recent years are mournlul instances null
tiplying in which these manufacturing
streams are transformed by fIeshctS from
spirits of hleSsing-to give homes and
food and clothing to thousands who live
III the hamlets, by turning the machinery
! which helps them by their labor to help
! themSelreS-to demons Of destruction.
| Forests also promote such Steadincss Of
iuw Of the streams as to make them
| sources of national wealth in giving en-
ploymcnt to skilled labor. by preventing
the rapid evaporation of moisture. Prob
ably more than half the water that falls
on Il deforeStcd region in Il dry season is
whisked off by evaporation Just at the
time when it is most needed to strength
en- the depleted mill streams. The steam
engine, to be of any practical use as
motive power, must have its action con-
tolled by the conservative influence of
the balance wheel. Otherwise its wheels
would whirI at one time with fury
which would result only i'll destruction,
ard then they would move too slowly to
be of service. Thus the forest, by in
creasing the frequency Of gentle rains,
and decreasing the volume and the
| length of intervals between showers,
also by regulating their too sudden
! plunge into the streams, is the great reg
uator provided by nature for their con-
troll in the service of man. All over the
manufacturing portions of our country
we may find instances where large
amounts of capital have been invested
to develop and make available our once
magnificent and almost numberless hy-
draulic powers. Trusting to what seem
ed certainty Of employment for them
| selves and their families, thousands of
skilled laborerS have in many cases con-
tidingly made their homes at IL point
where the stream seemed abundantly
powerful and permanent. Then, as the
| Summers came and Went. the river seem
ed to scken, and grow more and more
feeble, till there would be week or two
each year i'll which the spindles and the
looms would be silent. As time went
on these periods OF idleuess have length
cned into months. in which the labor
struggle for bread and clothing for
means to pay for the humble little home,
or debts incurred in sickness, was COM
PEELED to be suspended. The cause of all
this was that the sources Of the rivers
life had been destroyed or injured by the
Ignorance. cnpidity, or recklessnrSs of
men who lifted up axes on the thick
trees " far up the mountains, where the
mill streams had their birth.
Some question whether the cutting
away of the forest guardians of the
springs produces these results. Our
country, and especially its literature in
this department, is SO young that we can
not give many eases i'll point to prove
that dead or dying streams can be waken-