The National tribune., 1882-05-20

82I00.OOO0 900, and the cut the previous year
was 1895. .507, 600 feet, at which rate the
pineries viii be entirely swept away during
the present decade In anticipation Of this
result, the price Of pine lands has rapidly
advanced, and the most enterprising loegers
have already begun to send their rland-lookers
into the Canadian forests on the one hand,
and the pineries of Georgia and North Car
olina on the other. The multiplication of
saw mills of immense capacity, the constIuC-
ton cf local railways from the banks of log
giDg streams into the heart of the forest, in
order to reach bodies of timber that previ-
ousIy were inaccessible, and the frequent
recurrence of extensive fires all tend to has
ten the time when the supply will be ex-
hausted.
What will be the effect of this exhaustion?
One effect will be, of course, to immensely
enhance the cost of building operations of
every character, and consequently bring
about an increase in rents and the cost of
living generally. 1t is true that we shall
have the Canadian and Oregon pineries to
fall back upon, but the cost Of transportation
viii be heavy, and it is certain that the de-
mand viii steadily exceed the supply.
This, as we have said, will be one of the
effects-and a most serious one-of the de-
s+ruction of our forests
Another-ard this we are already expert
encing, according to the observations of our
most reliable meteOrolcgists-will be the
disturbance of existing climatic conditions
1t is a well-established fact, that the rainfall
in heavily-wooded country is much greater
! than in treeless sections, and that the precip-
| itation is much more evenly distributed over
! the year. The forests serve to draw the
moisture from the clouds, as anyone may see
for himself who will take the trouble to note
the course of a storm in hilly or noun
famous country. But the forests not only
act as vapor condeDSers; they also form an
efficient barrier against the violence of the
billiards that at certain seasons Of the year
sweep down upon the country from the
treeless wastes of the far northwest and
materially moderate the temperature. Their
removal viii inevitably be productive Of
climatic changes of greater or less import
ance, and the agricultural interests of the
country viii suffer proportionately. It is to
BE- apprehended that our drouths in summer
will be more general, frequent and pro-
tracted, and in winter that the extremes Of
temperature viii be greater.
What shall we do abtut it? Manifestly,
as individuals, we ought to make forestry as
much of a practical study as agriculture,
and of our own accord devote q certain part
of the land to tree culture As govern
ment, we should take effective measures to
prevent the sale of any more forest lands
belonging to the public domain, except
under proper guarantees that the timber
will not be removed within a certain period,
and offer still greater inducements TO settlers
and farmers generally to make business of
tree culture. The act of 1873, under which
the Government agreed to give quarter
section of land to every person who should
plant a certain portion Of it with trees and
properly care for them, is the only legisla-
tion that has so far been attempted in rela-
ton to this subject. It is good as far as it
goes, but it does not so far enough, and
Congress viii yet be forced to take up the
question of forestry in earnest, and give it
the serious consideration which it deserves.