TRANSACTIONS OF NORTHERN ILL. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. oOf* 



But what .shall be said of Mr. Riley's statement, that there is more 

 timber in the State than there was twenty years ago ? Verily, if our for- 

 ests have increased in spite ot the wholesale destruction in that period, 

 there is little occasion for troubling ourselves with planting. 



ARTHUR HRY.\NT. 



Mr. Ellsworth — The assertion that we have as much timber growth 

 as we had twenty years ago, is a fallacy ; those who make this assertion 

 cannot have made careful observation. The number of acres reported as 

 "woodland " is no criterion from which to judge, as most of this so-called 

 timber land has been robbed of its large and valuable timber, and on a 

 large portion of it only a straggling, bushy growth exists. The amount 

 of artificial forest now growing bears no comi)arison to the amount of 

 land which has been entirely cleared and devoted to tillage. 



Several other members spoke upon this subject, concurring with the 

 views expressed by Messrs. Bryant and Ellsworth. 



Mr. McAfee read the following paper, written by Mr. C. S. Harrison, 

 of Nebra.ska, as being pertinent to this subject : 



"RAIN-FALL ON PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



"Suppose twelve inches of rain falls upon the open country, and the same amount 

 upon a forest, in twenty-four hours. In the former instance, though the ground may 

 liave been dry, it is impossible for it to take in this amount ; probal)ly not more than six 

 inches, though quite porous. 



"Now multiply the area of the watered region by six, and you have a flood of 

 fearful magnitude, esjiecially if the country is rolling. 



" Let the same amount fall upon the forest ; you watch it as it comes ; ten thousand 

 leaves on every tree catch and hold the drops, 'and dallying with them as they jiass, let 

 them gently drop down to earth,' and when they strike the ground there are six inches 

 of leaf-mold, and all the ground itself, for a fool in depth, is ver)' porous; this holds il 

 till the ground still below drinks it in. The old, rotten logs are like sponges, and if 

 the ground and mulch cannot liold it all, the roots form dams to obstruct its flow ; and 

 though so much rain has fallen, the streams are not much swollen; and now one sees 

 the grand design of this great surface cistern — the forest. 



"There is a remarkable prophecy in Isaiah, which seems to have been directed to 

 the great plains: 'I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the 

 valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and dry land springs of water;' 

 and then he adds, as if to mention the cause to jjroduce these results, 'I will i)lant in 

 the wilderness (desert place) the cedar, the shittim (acacia) tree, and the myrtle, an<l 

 the oil tree ; I will set in the desert the hr tree, the june and the box tree together.' " 



Mr. McAfee added that the box, no doubt, referred to the Hox 

 Elder; and that "the fact that the Kunjjjean Larch is not mentioned should 

 not be laid to heart by our laricious friends, for the Duke of Athol was in 

 the far future, and how could the jjrophet know of the larch?" 



Mr. Douglas referred to the article of Mr. Meehan's, respecting the 

 effect of forests upon rain-fall; and while expressing respect for him, and 

 appreciation of his horticultural writings in the main, yet he thought his, 

 Mr. Meehan's, observations ui)on the subject of that article had been but 

 superficial, and the facts would not sustain the i)ositions taken. 



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