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the smaller trees to grow more rapidly. The grove thus preserved became one of the 

 most necessary and valuable portions of the farm, and that without any labour of plough- 

 ing, sowing, or cultivating. It also afforded a delightful shade in hot weather for man and 

 beast. 



FORESTS IN THE TERRITORIES. 



The preservation of the vast forests in the Territories belonging to the nation 

 attracted attention also, and laws were enacted to protect them from wanton waste. 

 Secretary of the Interior Schurz distinguished himself for endeavouring to enforce these 

 laws, which are very difficult of execution on account of the opportunities lumbermen hav.j 

 in an almost uninhabited region for cutting trees on Government land, and the frequency 

 of forest fires kindled by careless Indians, hunters, trappers, lumbermen, and settlers. 

 These fires often do more damage to forests in a few days than lumbermen could do in as 

 many years, and how to prevent them is yet an unsolved problem. 



FORESTRY LAWS. 



The only remedy, and that only a partial one, that can be suggested, for the wanton 

 destruction of forests is a national system of Forestry laws, somewhat similar to those of 

 Prance, Germany, Austria, Norway, and other European countries, which prohibit under 

 severe penalties the injury or destruction of trees by unauthorized persons ; and also the 

 kindling of fires or even smoking in the woods. A forest police was' created to see to the 

 execution of these laws, and at the same time providing for the utilizing of forests by 

 gradually thinning out and selling the largest trees, so as to leave more room for the 

 smaller ones. In this way the public forests are an annual source of revenue, and after 

 centuries of such management they are in as good condition as they were at first. 



JUDICIOUS THINNING. 



In passing through Plattsburgh, N.Y., once, the writer saw the Saranac thickly 

 covered with sawed lumber, and he asked an old gentleman if that river was not yet 

 lumbered out. The reply was " I have known it for sixty years, and the quantity of 

 lumber coming down has been pretty much the same all the time. There is as much now 

 as there was sixtyyears ago." This shows the result of a judicious system of thinning forests. 



A COMMISSIONER OF WOODS AND FORESTS. 



If the United States and each state had a department of woods and forests with a 

 suitable head and necessary subordinates, much could be done, not only for the preserva- 

 tion of forests belonging to the public, but to persuade settlers to leave a suitable portion 

 of their farms in wood ; and to counsel from time to time in public documents, not only 

 care in husbanding present forests, but some general system of tree planting by states, 

 corporations, and individuals, so as to provide a supply of timber for the future, 



TREE PLANTING. 



The second branch of this great subject is tree planting, and here credit must be given 

 to the U.S. Government for its encouragement of this necessary work in the prairies. The 

 law giving 160 acres to anyone who will plant and maintain for a few years forty acres of 

 trees, has had a great effect already in providing for a future supply of timber in the 

 Prairie States ; those groves will also break the terrible prairie blizzards, and, probably, to 

 some extent, attract rain-clouds to mitigate prairie droughts. A fine spirit of tree plant- 

 ing has also been manifested in many cities and villages ; and " Arbour Day," or a day 

 set apart in spring for tree-planting, has become, in some parts of the country, an institu- 

 tion for the purpose of beautifying streets and public and private grounds. 



PLANTING TREES ON PUBLIC ROAD-SIDES. 



The public roads should be lined on each side with trees, which, when grown, would 

 do something towards sheltering and beautifying the country everywhere ; but along rail- 



