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warning the people of all classes and in all portions of the State of the 

 impending consequences of the useless and improvident destruction of 

 timber and wood. The press should take the matter up, and every news- 

 paper in the State should give it special attention, and endeavor, by the 

 presentation of facts, by argument and persuasion, to lead the people to 

 think on the subject, and to teach them prudence and economy in this 

 particular. The Legislature should exert its utmost influence and author- 

 ity to dissuade and prevent the continuance of practices so threatening 

 to the prosperity of the commonwealth. It should call the special atten- 

 tion of the General Government to this subject, and ask it to protect the 

 timber and wood on the public lands within the State from unneces- 

 sary destruction. If any timbered lands belong to the State or should 

 come into its possession, such as the school lands in the timbered and 

 mining districts, special care should be taken to see that waste be not 

 committed thereon. All laws upon the subject of fencing should be 

 framed with au aim to do away with the necessity of using timber for 

 this purpose as much as possible. By these means much good may be 

 accomplished in checking the rapid destruction of our forests and wood 

 lands, but a still greater field for the exertion of the same influence is 

 to be found in the inauguration of a system of reproduction by the exten- 

 sive cultivation of 



ARTIFICIAL FORESTS. 



Individuals who feel and see the importance of the subject, and who 

 have or can procure the land, can do much by example and by pressing 

 the matter on the attention of their neighbors. Industrial societies, by 

 calling the attention of the people to the importance of planting shade 

 and forest trees, and offering premiums and bounties for the same, can do 

 more. The press, too, can exercise a powerful influence in this direction 

 by showing its importance in the amelioration of climate, the enhance- 

 ment of productions, and in beautifying and adorning the country, as 

 well as bj' presenting the forcible arguments in its favor, of convenience 

 and profits. But the Legislature can, by proper legislation, accomplish 

 more in this important work than can be accomplished by all other influ- 

 ences combined, and to this source principally must we look for the inau- 

 guration and accomplishment of this great work of reproduction of 

 forests and woodlands within our borders. Liberal bounties or premiums 

 should be offered for the cultivation of forests and woodlands on every 

 farm or homestead throughout the agricultural portion of the State, and 

 means should be taken to secure the reproduction of the native forests 

 of the mountains. We most earnestly urge that ready action on this 

 subject be had, that the important work may be commenced the present 

 season, for while it will require thousands of years to reproduce a full- 

 grown forest tree, the present generation will probably witness the 

 destruction of all we have left of those magnificent forests with which 

 Nature has provided us. Other States are engaging in this enterprise 

 with energy and success, and that, too, when the necessity is not half as 

 great as is ours. New York, one of the best timbered States in the 

 Union, and one that has furnished the world with more lumber than any 

 other State, is offering premiums and bounties, through her agricultural 

 societies, for the cultivation of trees in artificial forests. Iowa has already 

 fully inauguratad the important enterprise, and beautiful and luxuriant 

 groves of forest trees may now be seen ornamenting a large portion of 



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