The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1884-08-15
FARM TOPICS.
William Cullen Bryant's Opinion OF
the Utility of Trees.

disposition OF the puDilc lands II mas
been suggested, by persons who can
think of something else beside rail-
roads. that it will be an act of provi-
dent wisdom to reserve considerable
tracts of forest In different parts of the
country rs the public domain. with
view of preventing the destruction Of
trees which is so rapidly proceeding,
and which may lead 10 inconvenient
consequences. One of the objections
to any such measure rs this is the diff
Guilty of protecting the forests from
depreciation. What is the public do
main is regarded in most parts of our
country as, in certain sense. common
property. from which any man may
take what he has occasion for. In or
der to prevent the trees from being
felled and the public property wasted.
a body of foresters to watch it and
keep out trespassers must be retained
in the pay of the government
We do not propose here to discuss
the merits of such plan; we are fully
persuaded for our part, that scarcely
anything is more prejudicial TO the
fertility of n country. or has worse
effect on its climate. than the thought
less practice of denuding 1t of its trees.
The effect is 10 open the region to the
winds, which parch the surface and
dwarf the negotiations; to cause the
springs to dry up. and turn the water
courses into torrents in the rainy sea-
sou and dusty channels in summer and
autumn. If the public could but be
thoroughly convinced OF this truth, it
might perhaps. be unnecessary for the
government 10 give itself any concern
about the matter in the disposition of
the public lands. We should see the
highways skirted by double rows of
trees, long lines of plantation, follow
ing the course of the railroads, belts of
forest trees planted to break the force
of the winds and shelter the tender
crops and the orchards which bear
fruit.
Travellers see in the Orkney and Shet-
land Isles remarkable example of the
unfavorable effect of the wind on vege-
tation and the kindly influence of
shelter. There, within the high garden
walls, shrubs and trees grow and -four
ish till their SUBMITS reach the top of
the wall, and beyond that they do not
rise. Strong winds sweep almost con-
stantly over the surface Of the islands,
and prevent the growth of any vege-
table production except those which
flower and perfect their fruit near the
surface. Within the inclusure of these
stone fences, where the wind is ex-
cluded, or in hollows which form q
natural screen, the vegetation is often
juicy and luxuriant. OF the effect of
the destruction of forests in drying up q
country the Old World affords many
remarkable instances. The poets and
historians of antiquity speak OF mighty
forests which are now shadowless
wastes, and of streams that fow no
longer Addison thus laments the dis
appearance of rivers and brooks cele-
brated in ancient times: s o.. a
Sometimes misguided by the tuneful throng,
] look for streams immortnlizcd in song,
That lost in silence and oh ivlon lie;
Dumb are their fountains,and their channels
Yet run forever by the Muses. skill.
And, In the smooth description, ,murmur still
The streams of Attica. now a bare
and treeless region, are for the most
part but mere water courses, in which
the rain passes off to the sea, and dis
appoint those who form their ideas OF
them from the ancient writers.
The rivers of Spain arc for the most
part only channels for the winter rains.
The Guada,quivir. which some poets
call "a mighty river" enters the sea
at Malaga without water enough to
cover the loose black stones that pave
its bed. The Holy Land now often
misses "the latter rain, or receives 1t
but sparingly; and the brook kedron is
long, dry ravine, passing off to the
eastward from Jerusalem, TO descend
be: ween perpendicular walls beside the
monastery OF Mar Saba to the valley OF
| the Jordan and the Dead Sea- Mr..
| March. in his very instructive book en-
titled MAN and Nature" has collected
vast number of instances showing
how, in the Old World. the destruction
OF the forests has been followed by a
general aridity of the country which
they formerly overshadowed.
Whether there are any examples OF
| frequent rains restored to country by
| planting groves and orchards we can
not say; but we remember, when trav-
cling ut the West thirty-three years
since, TO have met with q gentleman
from Kentucky who spoke of an in
stance within his knowledge, In which
| d perennial stream had made Its ap-
pearance where. at the early settlement
| Of the region, there was none. Ken
| tucky, when its first colonists planted
themselves within its limits, was a
region in which extensive prairies
burnt over every year by the Indians,
predominated.
More than forty years since. poet
of our country, referring to the effect
of stripping the soil OF its trees, put
these lines into the mouth OF one OF the
aboriginal inhabitants:
Before these fields were shorn and titled,
Full to the Drim our rivers flowed;
The melody Of waters flled
| The fresh and boundless wood;
| And torrents dashed and rivulets played,
| And fountains spurted in tho shade.
Those grateful sounds are heard no more;
The springs are silent in the sun;
| The rivers, by the blackened shore,
| With iessening currents run.
| The realm our tribes are crushed 70 get
May be q barren desert yet
In all woodlands nature has made .
provision for retaining the moisture OF
rains long in the ground. The earth
under the trees is covered with thick
carpeting of fallen leaves. which alb.
serbs the power and prevents the water
from passing Immediately into the
streams and hurrying to the sea. Part
of the moisture thus confined under the
fallen leaves, and shielded from evap-
Grafton by sun and wind, finds its way
slowly into the veins of the earth, rises
in springs, and runs of In rivulcts;
part Is gradually drawn up by the root
lets OF the trees and given off to the
air from the leaves, to form the vapors,
which are afterward condensed into
showers. We fear that this statement
of the PROCESS is somewhat common
place; but we make it here, because.
though obvious enough. 1t Is too little
In the minds Of those whose interest "
concerns to notice it. Thus 1t Is that
forests protect country against
drought. and keep Its streams con-
stantly flowing and It's wells constantly
full. Cut down the trees, and the
moisture OF the showers passes rapidly
of from the surface and hastens to
lakes and TO ocean.-M y Post.
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