1G3 



Italy. 



"W'hen the Apjienine and Sabinian Mountain range and its slopes were covered witli 

 its natural growth of trees, the now detested Roman Campagna, and the largest part of 

 the Pontine swamps were a beautiful section of country. They were then adorned with 

 the sumptuous summer residences, villas, parks, flower and fruit gardens of the Roman 

 aristocrats. After the destruction of the forests, the whole region became unhealthy, and 

 almost absolutely uninhabitable, on account of the malarious gases emanating from the soil. 

 Formerly these were absorbed by the leaves of numerous trees, now they fill the air and 

 infect even the very heart of St. Peter's eternal city." 



France. 



" The devastation of the forests which took place in France towards the end of the 

 last century, caused the impoverishment of several formerly fertile districts in less than a 

 quarter of a century. The French Government has lately adopted a regular system of 

 forest planting, which proves a great success, and which in the course of time will un- 

 doubtedly repay the great expense already incurred, and yield a large revenue to the 

 public treasury." 



America. 



" We Americans boast of inexhaustible natural resources. Our speculators and vain 

 glorifiers ridicule the warnings of thinking men and political economists. They point to 

 the extensive timber regions in the unsettled parts of the country, in which even now the 

 trees are really an impediment to cultivation. But the supply of lumber and the existence 

 of large timber districts in distant territories is not the only desideratum. It is certainly 

 no equivalent for the want of it in the early cultivated States. The equal distribution of 

 the forests over the whole country is what is needed for the preservation of comfortable 

 climate and fertility of the soil." 



Ohio. 



" Let us look a moment at our own State of Ohio. 'As long as we and our children 

 and grandchildren may live, lumber will be obtained for a reasonable price from Michigan 

 and Canada, if our own supply should give out.' Such is the argument of the short- 

 sighted men who value the tree solely by the quantity of cubic feet of lumber that may 

 be cut from it. 



"That is the consolation of the all-grasping and swallowing speculator, who gets angry 

 when looking at the moon, because he can not take it down from the sky, bring it before 

 a circular saw, cut it to pieces, and sell it at the exchange or in the market by the yard 

 or pound. Now, have you never tried to find out why Southern Ohio has ceased to be 

 the great fruit country, as it was formerly known ? Why is it that we can not raise any 

 more peaches in our State, while they used to bring sure crops not more than a quarter 

 of a century ago 1 Why is it that even the hardy native Catawba grape, which used to 

 yield so abundantly in this region, does now hardly pay for its cultivation"? What is it 

 that makes our climate, once so favourable for mankind and vegetation, more unsteady 

 from year to year? Look at the woodless hills of Southern Ohio, and you have the 

 answer. Let the hills be deprived of all the rest of the protection which the forests 

 afford, and half of the area of this State will be sterile in less than fifty years. The rain 

 will wash the soil from the hill-tops first, and then from the slopes ; the limestone, which 

 is now covered with productive humus, loam and clay, will be laid bare ; the naked f ocks 

 will reflect the rays of the sun and increase the Summer heat ; the north storms will blow 

 unhindered over the country, and every change of the wind will cause an abrupt change 

 of the temperature. The rainfall will be diminished and become irregular. Snow and 

 rain-water will at once run down in the valleys and cause periodical freshets, which will 

 ultimately carry away the best part of the soil, even from the valleys. Such will be the 

 unavoidable result of further devastation of the timber. " 



The Northwest. 



"I had an opportunity to observe and study this result in the Northwest. Thiijty years 

 ago steamboats drawing six feet of water, made regular trips on the Upper Mississippi up 



