COMMUNICATIONS. 199 



pay as a protection to domestic animals, and to the growing of 

 crops; and, with all, give a snugness and individuality to the 

 farm, which must be highly ornamental, leaving out of the ac- 

 count the great beauty of the trees. A district of quarter sec- 

 tion farms thus protected, with good buildings, shade trees, 

 orchards, and well-cultivated fields, would render our prairie 

 country one of the most charming portions of the globe. It 

 will take time, labor, wealth and intelligence to bring about these 

 things ; but they will be done. There is wealth enough stored 

 up in the soil itself, to render the whole country a garden ; and 

 there is industry and intelligence enough in our people to ac- 

 complish it. 



"In this 'fast age,' when most people expect to realize a for- 

 tune in a few months or years, by the rapid growth of cities, or 

 the increase in the value of lands, it may seem very foolish to 

 engage in the cultivation of forest trees, which the planter can 

 hardly expect to see come to full maturity in his own time. Still 

 there is a feeling in the heart of many that it is not right to live 

 exclusively for ourselves, or for the present time — that it is right 

 to look a little to the interests of those who shall come after us ; 

 that when we are about to leave the world, it would be quite 

 comfortable to reflect that things are, by our feeble efforts, in a 

 better condition than we found them when we entered it. There 

 are some so fanciful as to suppose that in a future state of exist- 

 ence, the memory of what they have done in this world may, 

 possibly, have something to do with their condition — that their 

 good or evil deeds will follow them. There are others who go 

 so far as to say that we can in a future state look down upon our 

 past career, and see all the consequences of each and every act of 

 the present life. If such sho'dd prove to be the case, the man 

 who plants a forest can enjoy its grandeur and beauty in all sub- 

 sequent time. Every one will form his own opinion as to how 

 these things may be. It is, perhaps, enough for us to know that 

 it is a part of our duty to provide for the wants of our children, 

 and not to confine our efforts exclusively to the things which 

 pertain to the present, and to ourselves." 



This subject, the protection of our houses, gardens, yards, 



