FOEEST CULTIVATION ON THE PLAINS. 327 



altimately ; but, for the present, irrigation would be necessary to break 

 up, permeate, and prepare tlie soil. 



The proportion of the rain-fall absorbed by the soil, or otherwise re- 

 tained temporarily on the surface, must vary so greatly with different 

 soils and exposures as to render calculation difficult. It is said that a 

 share of the surface of the plains near the sources of the several forks 

 of the Kansas Eiver is somewhat loose in texture, readily taking in a 

 large in^oportiou of the rain-fall, which subsequently rises in and near 

 the bed of the several streams. In most of these river beds water is 

 readily found a few feet from the surface, even when none is visible 

 without digging. Generally, however, the surface is hard and repellant, 

 throwing oft' uiue-teuths, at least, of all the water falling in rain and 

 snow. The proportion retained or absorbed should be not less than one- 

 fourth ; and certainly in the original woodlands of the Central States, 

 much more than this proportion was the permanent stock of the loose, 

 leaf-mulched surface, the ponds and the saturated strata of soil through 

 which the water slowly made its way to the living springs. 



As an illustration of the value of the several natural agencies for dif- 

 fusion of moisture, the condition of the country bordering on Lake On- 

 tario may be contrasted with that of Eastern Virginia and Maryland. 

 The actual iujury occurring from periods of extreme dry weather is less 

 in K'ew York and Canada, near this lake, and with less than 30 inches of 

 annual rain-fall, than in Virginia and Maryland with 44 inches. The 

 large forest and water surface lying west of Lake Ontario softens the 

 surface atmosphere, and increases the rain-fall to some extent, while 

 accomi)lishing far more of benefits through general diffusion and utili- 

 zation of the quantity of water that does fall. It is possible that the 

 great lakes themselves have been the chief agents in creating and pre- 

 serving the forests of all the States near their latitude, and that in th^ir 

 absence the open plains and denuded surface would have stretched far 

 toward the Atlantic coast. 



In regard to the distinctive question of forest-planting, perhaps the 

 most important statement that may be made is that it can never be 

 unprofitable, whether general consequences of value are derived from 

 it or not. For proprietors or occupants of the soil in any degree, from 

 the owner of a single quarter-section to the most extensive iiroprietor- 

 ship, the most remunerative return for labor or investment would be to 

 clothe a share of the surface with a growth of timber. Railroad com- 

 panies may in this way protect their lines of track from drifting snows, 

 and at the same time secure large advances in the value of their lands 

 along any great thoroughfare. At either the eastern or western border 

 of the plains proper facilities already exist to prepare and i)lant at little 

 absolute cost, and the subsequent protection from fires and other casual- 

 ties can be secured through systematic breaking up of the original 

 surface. Experience has everywhere shown that the growth of both 

 deciduous trees and evergreens is very rapid on the soil of the prairies 

 and plains. Five or six years from the planting would give a surplus 

 in thinning sutficient to pay the cost of removal, and eight or ten years 

 would give fencing material and fire-wood in abundance. The locust, 

 Osage-orange, and ailanthus are perhaps the strongest and most rapid 

 growers ; they are very hardy, and would test the question of growth 

 and protection to the surface very iiromptly. On the northern and 

 cooler districts evergreens might be more efQcient, especially in forming 

 protection-belts against the winds. While on the prairies almost any- 

 thing will grow, practical experience is wanting as to the question what 

 varieties of timber are most available ; there is nothing in the known 



