Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-07-29

OF trees. The society wac
organized and q committee appoint
ed TO report q systematic plan Tor
operations commencing in November. Toe
trees at Savannah, Saratoga, Hartford, Tue
Ala, and other cities, have attracted
attention and been greatly admired for
their beauty; and the time lie coming, if it
has not already arrived when, there will be
much rivalry between the lie sding cities in
the beauty and variety Of their shade trees.
The cities that move promptly in ~adornment
will reap the earliest and greatest renown,
for they will gain in population the refined,
the wealthy, Ihe most entsrprising, and sd-
vance their general prosperity. Acity made
attractive by adornments increases the value
of real estate, decreasss taxes beesuse Of the
increased value of properly and population,
and everybody Is made happier and better BY
the change. Memphis has entered upon a
new career of improvement and prosperity.
There is music 10 the air. The ring of the
trowel, the hammer Of the carpenter, and the
thud OF the pick-ax and spade ia heard. In
deed, our people have become 20 accustomed
10 the phenomenon OF rapid improvement in
every department of industry that to speak
of the remarkable growth of Memphis
has come 10 be the mere utterance OF what
everybody sees and knows. Never did Mem
phis have such promise Of q great city az
new. The trade of an immens scope OF
country naturally flows to this natural CEN
ter. 1t can never be diverted. On the con- |
trary the radius OF country contrihutary TO
Memphis is constantly widening. 1t is not
The enthusiasm of q wild and visionary i'm
aginstion which predicts for Memphis q ca
reer Of prosperity unprecedented by any
city in the Soulh - ~surpsssed by but lew
in The United States. Now il he time 20
sdorning the city with shade-trees, public
parks and fountains, flowers and shrubbsry;
grading, l~eveliDg, and doing everything TO
make the city blossom as the rose. Every
man, womsn and child can do something in
this matter, by either planting an elm or a
rosebusb. In less than a century from now
the city which is not EMPOWERED il a wilder
| ness Of forest trees will be Stunned as the
abode Of a people wanting in refined taste,
and the city which possesses the greatest
ornaments will be the most attract
i've and prosperous. He who makes
a blade Of grass to grow where none grew
before, has been called q benefactor, and he
Who plants . tree, under whose welcome
shade future generations shall gather and
hymn his praise, wins more envisble lame
than the soldier whose sword devastates and
destroyP, or than the statesman who-e elo-
quence and fame are as ephemeral ss the
cadence OF the singer. The trees planted
along our streets and in every yard, nook
and corner will be things Of beauty and a
Joy forever" That spirit of s~elishness
which proposes to do nothing for posierity,
because posierity has done nothing for us, is
unworthy OF a civilizsd people. Moreover,
the theory lie false, for in every part of the
city the children are enjoying the fruits of
the thoughtful confederation of their an
cestry. The grand old woods in every part
of the country are rapidly mel ing away by
tho destroying Ak OF the woodman. An APP
peal mas been made for the preservation and
cultivation of forests, and every citizen of a
city can do something toward perpstuating
he growth Of trees by planting a twig
or an acorn where a tree ought to grow. 10
other dsys the wild forests were considered
an impediment 10 the march of civiliz ,lion.
But trees are now considered the natural
companion of man, and the whole country
cow depIores the disappearance of the for
- A. - - Il II
years was but an incumbrance, to
be removed at the slightest possible ex-
penditure Of labor, in order that free access
to the soil might be had. Then the lumber
interest spraog into prominence and cupidity
carried out wha. necessity began. We are
getting 10 the end of this period, and APP
proachiug that where destruction that cannot
be remediei will call upon the students OF
srbiorculture to replace what wanton thought
~iessness has consumed. The census esti-
mates, faulty as they are, indicate with sufi-
cientc learness the date at which our ~availa-
BILE supply OF timber will be exhausted. The
action of Congress in refusing to spare our
native supplies by removing the duties UPON
imported lumber, proves that a direct legis-
lative remedy is not probable. Nothing re-
mains, then, but TO prepare, with what grace
We may, to repair, through the patient labo,
Of centuries 10 come, the ravagss Of years.
It hss been demonstrated that trees, wiaile
ornamental TO q city, contribute TO the health
of its people. Nearly 800 years ago Bernard
Palsing called attention to the meteorologic-
n . E----. -Lz-~ g.
denudation of the mountain ranges had
made the summers dryer and the winter
storms more destructive, because Of the re.
moyal of natural barriers TO the force of The
wind, turning mountain brooks into torrents
Later Humboldt reasserted the same prin'
ciple. Yet little attention was paid 10 thess
advices and warnings. After it had beer
demonstrated that in Afric,, Syria, Asia
Minor, Armtnis, Persia, Greece and Spain
the agricultural value of the lowlands hac
been reduced more than eighty per cent.
and Italy and Southern France at least one
half, while the climate had been undesirably
altered, public opinion began to wake TO thu
enormity of the abuse which it had beer
sanctioning. And in 1882 Mehemet Ali start
ed to improve the waddies or sand plains il
the west OF Egypt. More than 100000 o
trees were planted along these coasts, and tn
desert was transformed into a forest. Th'
result is most significant; the average yearl,
rainfall increased from $50 10 fourteen
inches, and the summer temperature OF Sac
decreased from an average of 920 Fahrenheit
to $50. IL is a matter Of congratulation tina
, our government has set out to remedy th'
wanton waste of timber which has hereto
fore prevailed; and on sanitary as we'll a
commercial considerations il is to be hope'
that lis efforts may be successful. The de
struction OF our forests involves many risk
and dangers; by it We gain nothing, while "
lose much. Let the people com bine TO pre-
J vent it while there is yet time, and let tn
. inhabitants of our cities plant tress, an
' thereby beautify them by building cities NO
: in a wilderness, but a wilderness in tn