St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1890-01-23
Gbe Californian,
FOREST PRESERVATION.

I. B. Harrison, corresponding sec
rotary of the American Forestry Con
gress, addressed the House committee
on thcjudiciary during the last ses-
sion of the legislature in New Hamp-
shire on a resolution providing for
the appointment of a commission to
ascertain the feasibility of taking
measures to preserve the forests of
the state The substance of his adj
dress was given in the Manchester
Union. as fOllOws:-
Trees should be cut off, but cut off
in such a way that they can go on
reproducing forests indefinitely. The
trees are a product of the soil to
which man was entitled, and it was
not only right to cut off the trees,
but the forests were the better for
doing it AS a rule. here, however,
there is no such thing as the cutting
of forests; the plan was to destroy
them utterly This was the natural
result of our education. In this we
should have to improve as in other
matters, and we ought so to manage
our forests that they can be cut off
from time to time without destroy
ing them. The great destructive
agency was fire. The loss of the tim
Der burned, while enormous, was
trivial matter to the impOveriShment
of the soil caused by fire. One burn
ing may not materially effect the soil,
Int If burnings are repeated, as they
are almost sure to be, the perfect net
work of living roots which every
where abound in the forests is de
stroyed. The result is, the soil slips
away from among the rocks on the
hillsidcs and IS by every shower and
melting SNOW carried down into the
valleys below and the fertile material
on which the trees feed and grow is
carried away and in the place of for
ests appear bare and unsightly rocks.
In the second place the scenery is
also improved. More and more peO-
pie have to come here as other places
are being DESTROYED. They want to
go where they can see green things,
especially the women and children,
where they can be i'll woods. Where
they are burned over they cease to be
interesting They want to go where
they can see something besides black
ened swamps- If they cannot do
better than that they 90 to the sea
side If we do not preserve our green
woods these folks will not visit us;
they will not go where the forests are
DESTROYED. Thousands of families
will soon be obliged to move out of
Wisconsin as soon as the pine woods
are cut off. They are now going
slowly and it is not noticed, but
should they all move out i'll Il body it
would attract attention and create
consterna ton. So it is with our
forests; they are being DESTROYED by
degrees This is q matter which
means mOncy-a source of revenue to
the people of the state
The third feature is the vast manu-
featuring interests, which are de
pendent on the water supply. Forests
are the natural cOnservatOrS of the
water supply, the natural reservoirs
of water This network of fibrous
roots spoken of makes q natural
sponge to keep the water. When III
Pennsylvania recently | went out
into the forests during the rains and
floods to study the effect of floods
upon them. Upon the slopes where
there were forests the water ran off
slowly and more evenly, but where
the slopes had been denuded of their
forest growth the water ran off much
faster and came down into the val
leys in such volumes as to form the
disastrous floods which existed.
MANY of the civilized nations of the
earth, and some which are not quite
so civilized, are dependent upon us in
Il great measure for the products of
our mills, and they are dependent
upon the water supply. Cut off the
forests and the water supply runs
away rapidly when it does come. We
must preserve the forests on the hills
to keep back the water supply that
it may come down slowly Destroy
them and we will have mountain tor
rents and floods, followed in a dry
time by rocky, sandy beds The nat
ural covering gone, these sponges
are destroyed, i'll their place come
bare rocks or inert sand The value
of the timber, of the scenery as Il
source of profit and attraction, and
the value to manufacturing of forests
Is gone Many streams now exist
where mills cannot be run, where
formerly they used to run nearly the
wear round.