Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-11-22

deep raVlnes with Deds now dry, now
filled by torrents of fluid. mud and
gravel, hurrying down to spread them
selves over the plain, and booming to
everlasting barrenness the once produc-
tive fields. In traversing such scenes,
it is difficult to resist the impression
that nature pronounced the curse If
these sublime but fearful wastes, diff
cult to believe that they were once, and
but for the folly of man might still be,
blest with all the natural advantages
which Providence has bestowed upon
the most favored climes. But the his
torcal evidence is conclusive as to the
destructive changes occasioned by the
agency of man upon the TANKS of the
Alps, the Apennines, the Pyrenees, and
other mountain ranges in Central and
Southern Europe, and the progress of
physical deterioration has been so rapid
that in some localities single genera
ton has witnessed the beginning and
the end of the melancholy revolution.
sit is certain that a desolation like
that which has overwhelmed many once
beautiful and fertile regions of Europe
awaits an important part of the territory
of the United States, and of other COM
paratively new countries over which
European civilization is now extending
its sway, unless prompt measures are
taken to check the action of destructive
causes already in operation. 1t is vain
to expect that legislation can do any
thing eflectual to arrest the progress of
the evil in those countries, except so far
as the State is still the proprietor of ex-
tensive forests. Woodlands which have
passed into private hands will every
where be managed, in spite of legal re-
strictions, upon the same economical
principles as other possessions, and every
proprietor will, as a general rule, fell
his woods, unless he believes that it will
be for his pecuniary interest to preserve
them" Shall the fate which has over
taken the countries of the Old World be
INVITED or permitted by the people of
Vermont?
Mr.. Marsh also points out under the
titles, "The Economy of the Forest and
"Sylvicuture," how forests may be pre-
seryed, and, at the same time, be made a
source of profit to the State. \ iudicious
removal of valuable trees may be permit
ted sufficient to afford profit to a
government for the purchase and care of
forests, not only without damage to a
country, but with positive advantage in
aflording chance to younger trees.
Another pecuniary advantage to the
people of the State of great value which
will attend the preservation of the forests
and a constantly increasing one, comes
from change in the habits of the Ameri-
can people which is rapidly going on; the
habit of taking summer vacations. The
people of the cities and plains flee to the
mountains and seashores by thousands,
seeking rest and relaxation, health and
pleasure. They go to the picturesque
and beautiful regions; they shun the
prosaic and forbidding ones. They spend
in the aggregate vast sums of money, but
they spend it only where they can find
enjoyment in the prospects before them.
The Green Mountains afford constant
pleasure to lovers of nature, but strip
them of their verdure and they will be-
come tiresome and repulsive. They are
not majestic enough to inspire by their
magnitude the emotions of sublimity !;
their attractiveness lies in their beauty.
and their beauty lies in their color
and their graceful forms, and these,
in their turn, are due to their foliage.
Strip them of their foliage and lay their
rocks bare to the eye, and who would
come to them for enjoyment? Preserve
their beauty, and ever-increasing thou
sands will seek temporary homes among
them in the season of rest, and in supply
ing their wants the farmers of Vermont
will find employment and market for
much of their productions.
The State of New Hampshire has
become impressed with the impor-
lance of preserving the scenery of
the White Mountains from destruc-
ton and is taking steps to repossess
herself of the title to the land which
she unfortunately parted with years
ago. Vermont need not be deferred from
acquiring the title to these forests by
their cost. The range from Cancels
Hump to Ellington Peak is about fifty
miles long. A bel, of the average width
of three miles would give one hundred
fifty square miles, or ninety-six thousand
acres. This probably exceeds the
amount which would be required. Sew
eral thousand acres in this region have
been recently sold, as | am informed, for
$3.50 an acre. At this rate the whole
tract indicated would cost S24O, 900.
Thirty square miles would probably be
more than would be required for the
Mansfield Mountains which at the same
raj yOuld cost SIS OOO MAILING q total