250 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



A man indulging in obstinate and often stupid opposition to forest 

 culture will naturally feel himself safe in his position so long as he 

 stays inside the timbered regions of the western States, where he has 

 the full Tbenefit of the fertile prairie soil and timber enough on the 

 farm to whack away at to his heart's content. What learned plausible 

 arguments on the uselessness of tree planting some of these wise men 

 will shower upon their neighbors or upon the rising generation, which 

 has not ceased altogether to look for sensible advice to older men. 



Tree planting to such is equivalent to park-making, which the 

 farmer would better let alone. But place one of them out there on a 

 stormy, howling Kansas or Nebraska prairie and keep him there for a 

 year or two and how differently will he feel on the subject of forest 

 planting; a protecting tree, a grove, a small fore*t, all planted by the 

 hand of an intelligent settler, will appear to him a real gift of Provi- 

 dence; and most likely he will go and do likewise. He will look in 

 wonder at cosy homes, big barns and miles of fencing, the material of 

 which was raised right there on that farm, not by the owner's grand- 

 father, but by himself within the last fifteen or twenty years. 



• This is but a slight instance of the mighty movement in forest cul- 

 ture on the prairies, now fairly in vogue in the western and northwest- 

 ern States, a movement of far reaching influence and benefit to the 

 treeless portions of the country. It has been inaugurated and led on 

 by the Horticultural Societies of those States; and for it posterity will 

 bless the memory of many of the leading pioneers, who laid the foun- 

 dation of a horticultural system under which orchards and forests will 

 grow side by side, while happily no one will blame the forest for not 

 bearing a crop of fruit likewise, nor envying the span of ground on 

 which it grows, claim it for pasture for their stock. 



The forest wealth of Missouri has been, and is still enormous. The 

 railways of adjoining prairie States rest to a great extent on ties grown 

 in Missouri forests. The annual cut and export of valuable timber for 

 various industrial purposes has in the past been very great and it is 

 still an important source of revenue to the people ; but signs of failing 

 begin to be sensibly felt. 



The geographical distribution of forests through our grand and 

 fertile prairies is peculiarly advantageous to the demands of agricul- 

 tural pursuits, offering sheltering timber tracts to almost every prairie 

 district. 



The evils incident to vast extents of treeless prairie are, therefore^ 

 happily avoided by kind nature. Our State claims justly to be the 

 fairest portion of the glorious west. Our horticultural development 

 has attracted the attention of the whole nation to the advantages of 



