240 



THE MONTHLY BULIiETlN. 



SMELTER FUMES INJURY TO VEGETATION. 



By Geo. P. Weldon. 



The great miuing industry which has meant so much toward the 

 development of the West, and which is still a very important contributor 

 to our wealth, has not been carried on without some grave difficulties, 

 affecting not only those interested in mining, but also directly interfer- 

 ing with those who have been attempting to make a living through agri- 

 cultural pursuits. One of the greatest of these difficulties and the only 

 one to be considered in this article is the injury to vegetation of all kinds, 

 including the farmers' crops, due to deleterious gases given off in the 



Fig. 42. — Dead oak trees due to the action of sulphur dioxide gas liberated in the 



smelting of ores. (Original.) 



smelting of certain kinds of mineral bearing ores. This injury has been 

 a source of trouble and litigation between the mining interests on one 

 hand and the farmers, who unfortunately found themselves to be unfa- 

 vorably located with reference to injury from fumes, on the other. Suits 

 to recover damages have been numerous in several western states, and 

 in many cases the farmers have been amply repaid. In cases of severe 

 injury where there could be no doubt as to the cause it has not usually 

 been a hard matter for them to recover damages ; but in others, where 

 injury has been less severe, though none the less sure, it has often 

 been extremely difficult or impossible. Arrayed on one hand we usually 

 find a rich mining concern with unlimited financial backing, against a 

 struggling farming community on the other, who have had their crop 

 yields lessened year after year, and in some instances entirely ruined. 

 The interests of the one being considered so much greater than the 



