The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1895-02-13
SPARE THAT TREE.
rupORTANCE OF PRESERVING
THE.FORESTS.

r..,lation land Useless ana Unsightly
Waste Follow the Destruction of
Trees. A Question of Much
Importance.
Asa people we have singularly mad.
,onate IDEAS of the Importance of pre-
carving our forests. When the first
,attIers came to find the land occupied
h. tbe nndisturbed forest growth of the
sces il was necessary to hew them down
70 make a place for the cultivation of
crops. and it really seems that we who
oome later have inherited desire to de-
ctrov forest growths wherever they may
he fonud for we cut them down for every
rurpose or for other purposes than to
oct then off the soil, without stopping
IN think What the result may be in the
vay of climatic changes Or where pos
+prity is going to look for fuel or lum-
her. II is well known that the coal sup
nlyof The world is limited, and that we
may possibly have to look to the forests
for fuel at no very remote period. To
be sure there is bright prospect that
ether means of producing heat may
come into use, but there will always be
demand for fuel as long as the world
stands
Aside from this speculation there are
the very practical and noticeable results
Of demanding the lands of forest growth,
not Onlyin older countries but in our
own Many New England hillside has
become a useless and unslightly waste
because tie trees have been cut down,
and many trout stream and river has
dwindled into nothingness because the
forests have been destroyed. With the
destruction of forests come floods, be-
cause there is nothing to prevent the
rainfall from sweeping into the valleys
at one rush. After the floods come
thoughts as a matter of course, because
the precipitation of the rainy season has
drained away so quickly.
In the eastern part of this country the
restoration of forests can only be
brought about by private enterprise and
the awakening of public sentiment in
favor Of this, but in the west where there
is still land under government control
the law gives the President power to set
apart any government land for perpet-
uaI reservation if it is covered by forests
tIundeFgrowth of any kind
President Cleveland has already estab-
IShed one large reservation under this
law, making the seventeenth in the
United States, but he would do much
toperpetuate his memory and bring up
On him the blessings of posterity if he
would so still further and set apart the
government land at the head waters of
me great rivers for the purpose of pre-
sewing the forest growth.
Marsh says in his treatise, ''The Earth
as Modified by Human Action" GA
oeSolalon like that which has over
"nelmed many once beautiful and fertile
regions OF Europe awaits an important
PART OF the territory of the United States
unless prompt measures are taken to
Vleck The action of destructive causes
already III operation" Humboldt says,
IN telling trees growing on the sides of
mountains men, under all chimes, pre-
pare Tor subsequent generations two
Of water" > - -''O- ''''N' -''N :,
"nen we consider that the decay of
S 5IieoPanlsh kingdom has been attributed
o of'VGuy 10 the destruction of the forests
F, su@I country and that Italy and
n 'G ric are spending millions of dollars
90 P!dnCIng out forests to prevent large
pUeaonS from becoming uninhabitable
r "~S'eS' we may begin to realize the i'm
ff oros. OF preserving and charging our
r oaSs.S' 1t is the one question of inn
future. ''''' W 'ii0' III 'i'0 H0''i