The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1882-06-16
Forestry.

A fearful waste of timber has been
going on for years, for centuries even, in
some parts of our land, and the demand
is annually growing larger as manufac.
tories increase. Until within few years
past, while individuals deplored the
havoc that was going on and pointed out
the disastrous changes which the destruc.
ton Of the forests would effect on climate
aud streams, nothing was done to check
the useless consumption of timber, or to
replace that which had been cut down.
The decline of farming and the introduce
ton of coal as fuel have indeed proved
help to the woods of New England, and
perhaps other localities. There is more
forest land in some districts than there
was thirty years ago, but this cond ton
of things Is exceptional.
Recently some States have passed laws
for forest protection, and the apprecia-
ton of shade trees as an ornament to our
cities and villages is increasing. Hence
the Planters Day, which has received
the sanction of our State authorities.
But much more must be done both In
the way of checking destruction and in
the encouragement of planting and re-
planting. The woods which have proved
such source of revenue to some districts
of the West are fast disappearing before
the demands of the manufacturer and
builder, and heavy inroads are making
on the rich supplies of the South. 1t Is
high time for sober counsel and the in
itiation of thoughtful conservative pro-
cesses. Few people are aware of the ex-
tent of the consumption that is constantly
going on. Leaving out of consideration
houses and other buildings and furniture,
100, 900 cords of soft maple are annually
worked up into shoe pegs; 800, 900 cubic
feet of pine are converted into matches;
lasts. and boot trees, and tool handles
require the use of 100000 cords of
birch, beech, and maple, and in burning
the bricks which are to replace frame
structures 5000, 900 cords of wood are
burned every year. Nearly 1000, 900
trees have already been made into tele-
graph poles, and 800, 900 new poles are
put up annually. The relations of the
existing supply to consumption have
been accurately calculated, and it is safe
to say that unless economy is practiced
or the amount of wood increased, the
time is not far distant when wood will
NO hiSu anu Nti bCsiCc.
There is need, therefore, of careful
discussion and judicious legislation.
But the builder and manufacturer are
not the only persons concerned in the
matter. Treeless countries are specially
liable to tornadoes and droughts. The
late famines in both India and China are
largely traceable to the destruction of
the forests. Fires long ago destroyed
the trees in the far West as they have
more recently ravaged the heavily tim
bered counties of Michigan. These
agencies must be taken into account es
well as the normal clearing of land. The
Legislatures and railroads of the prairie
States have done well in encouraging
trees planting by bounties and by the
free transportation of trees. What is
sectional and occasional must become
national and customary. We can not
make good in one year or ten the waste
that has so long and widely been going
on, but We may husband the resources
that still remain, and insure to coming
generations continuance of the bless
ings we have enjoyed. - Cincinnati
Gazette