196 WISCONSIN AGRICULTURE. 



cessitj of providing for their restoration where they are already 

 destroyed, have been, to a considerable degree, successful. We 

 may hope to see the time when many of our farmers and land- 

 holders will deem it a part of their duty to plant trees. Should 

 this be done to any considerable extent, their successors, at least, 

 will have cause to honor and respect the forethought that pre- 

 served and handed down to them, their full share of this great 

 source of national wealth. 



The dense forests have a marked effect upon the climate of 

 the country in several ways. They protect our houses and our 

 cattle from the rigors of the north winds of winter, and from the 

 fierceness of the burning sun in summer. They preserve the 

 moisture of the ground, and of the air ; and render permanent 

 and uniform the flow of water in springs, brooks and rivers. By 

 the fall of their leaves, branches, and trunks, they restore to the 

 soil those elements of vegetable life and growth, that would 

 without this natural process, soon become exhausted, leaving the 

 soil barren and unproductive. Their leaves absorb the carbonic 

 acid from the atmosphere and restore to it the oxygen ; thus 

 rendering it more pure and better suited for respiration by man 

 Hud animals, Withaut this restorative agency, all animal life 

 would long since have ceased to exist. 



The uses to which wood and other products of the forest are 

 applied, are very numerous and various ; but so well known to 

 everybody that it would be useless to enumerate them here. 

 With us, wood is consumed largely for fuel, for building houses 

 and other structures, for ship-building, fencing, furniture ; and 

 for the construction and repairs of Railroads and Plank roads. 

 It is used for many implements of husbandry and of the house- 

 hold ; for making barrels, wagons, carriages, and for charcoal. 

 Large quantities are annually consumed in the smelting of iron, 

 lead, and copper. The working of wood gives employment for 

 numerous artisans, tradesmen, and laborers. The quantity of 

 wood annually consumed in the United States must be enorm- 

 ous. Few persons can realize its extent, or tne amount we owe 

 to the native forests of our country for the capital and wealth 

 our people are now enjoying. Without the fuel, the buildings, 



