130 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



two occasions when I have seen strong indications, I have 

 helped the cow to carry her calf by keeping her very quiet. 

 A sudden fright will produce abortion as quickly as anything 

 else. If you see that the calf is alive, keep the cow per-' 

 fectly quiet with doses of laudanum. Keep her nerves a& 

 quiet as possible and you may save the calf. 



Mr. Benedict. About what percentage can you save in 

 that way ? 



Mr. BowDiTCH. I don't think you can reduce it to a per- 

 centage. I have saved one or two. 



FOREST TREE PLANTING. 



BT AVERT P. BLADE OP SOMERSET. 



Plantinor forest trees on our worn-out lands is done to a 

 limited extent, but the matter does not receive that attention 

 which its importance demands. The interest so recently 

 awakened in the public mind in regard to the desti'uction of 

 our forests may be regarded as a sufficient apology for call- 

 ing your attention to the subject at this time. 



Some one has estimated that no less than 100,000 acres of 

 wood and timber must be cleared daily to supply the demand 

 for fuel, and for the various industries of the country, to say 

 nothing of the vast amount that is annually destroyed by 

 fire and decay. This demand would necessitate the yearly 

 cutting of 31,200,000 acres, or an area somewhat larger than 

 the State of New York. From this fact, we are enabled to 

 judge, approximately, of the rapidity with which our forests 

 are disappearing. If the removal of the forests changes the 

 meteorological conditions of a country, or if the amount of 

 rainfall in a given territory is in some degree proportional 

 to the area covered by forest, then the subject assumes an 

 importance which cannot well be overrated. A law of Prus- 

 sia required that for every tree felled two should be planted. 

 While our Legislature is powerless to stay the axe of the 

 woodman, it might do much to encourage the planting of 

 forest trees, and thus to some extent mitigate the evils which 

 must surely follow their final, or even their partial, destruc- 

 tion. Pasturing exhausted soils, or cropping them with rye, 

 yields but a poor return ; and nothing has a more demoraliz- 



