Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1883-02-07
slafriImau & Journal.
The Forests.

The senate has adopted in the tariff de-
I ate an amendment offered by Senator In
gals of Kansas admitting lumber free of
duty, on the ground that to SO admit Cana
dian and other foreign lumber would be
step toward the preservation of the forests
of this country. 1t was thought to be in
consistent for the government to give
bonus for the cultivation of timber and at
the same time keep out foreign lumber by
duty. Mr.. Ingalls, said that 100000 OF our
people still use wood as fuel. We were con-
Stunning the product Of 0000 900 acres of heav-
lily timbered land per annum, and the supply
would probably not last more than fifteen
years longer. 1t is noticeable that some Of
the Maine and Michigan representatives bit
terly opposed the proposition to admit Cana
dian pine free of duty by way of preserving
for few years the pine woods of those states
as well as throughout the northern country.
These forests can never be reproduced and
it is the part of wisdom to preserve them.
The pine of Vermont was recklessly ex.
hsusted long ago. Its spruce is following
fast in the receding footsteps of the pine aud
the one will become as impossible of repro
duction as the other. The hemlock aud the
broad.leaved trees are being moved down
like grass in the hay season. The quantity
chopped this winter in Essex county alone
is appalling. For the enrichment OF few
lumber spectators the only remaining vir-
gin forests of the state are disappearing like
the dew before the sun. Posterty must
shift for itself to crafty the thirst for
riches of the latter-day lumbermen. In this
vicinity the work of denudation is going
rapidly on. The eastern slopes of Camel's
Hump, the gem of Vermonts mountain
scenery, by corporations and by individuals
are being remorselessly stripped of their
native growth. The proximity of this fine
mountain TO the railway renders it the easy
victim of the spoilers. No effort is made
by judiciously and gradually thinning out
the larger and older trees to maintain the
forest growth, and, while providing as much
wood and lumber as the present generation
needs, extend the benefits of the forests to
future ages. A tract of land is bought, axe
men turned into it, and the entire growth,
young saplings and growing timber as well
as matured trees, ruthlessly leveed to the
ground. The brush heaps, dried to finder
in the summer sun, are menace to adjon-
ing belts of woodland and not unfrequently
the sweeping flames Guido the choppers
axe in the work of destruction. In nearly
all these localities a thin layer of vege-
table mould covers the rocks and lodges.
Upon this fire feeds as freely as upon the
dried brush, and the sole remaining means
of reproduction, the soil itself, disappears
either by fire or other agencies, leaving be.
hind nothing but barren and unsiehtly
crags and bouliers. The springs, which the
thick network of branches protected dry up, |
the brooks become mere courses for the |
unchecked mountain torrents and the rivers
difficulty is indiscriminate cutting by lumber
men and woodsmen. The remedy is q care.
full and judcious husbandry of the forest
growth. wise herdsmsn sells only those
animals which have reached the requisite
maturity in age and development in quality.
Indiscriminate sales, disregard of the nat
ural means Of perpetuating his herds, would
speedily bankrupt him. Care should be taken
in selecting trees to cut only those which
have reached reasonable degree of matu-
rity, leaving in the enlarged space their re-
moval secures the saplings, the growing
timber, to mature and to foster the germs of
their successors. In harmony with the
drift Of public sentiment of the great body
of the people of the United States which has
found expression in many states in legisa.
ton to protect the forests, the legislature of
Vermont has created forestry commission. ,
We believe many of the farmers of the state
are already practicing the rules of good for
est husbandry. The great danger to the
state comes from the operations of numer-
BUS army of small lumbermen and the whole.
sale devastations by lumber corporations
If free lumber will, to any extent, antici-
pate the chief object of the forestry COM
mission, the judicious protection and pres.
,rvation Of the native forests, and particu-
arly those which render our mountain
scenery urpassingly beautiful, it is certainly
10 be desired that the Ingalls, amendment
be agreed to by the house.
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