FOREST CULTURE. 227 
ture, and the artificial forests of those countries rank among the most val- 
uable government property. In this country the tendency toward for- 
est planting is of slow development. The planting of protecting screens 
and borders-has become more general on prairie farms, and State aid in 
‘the form of premiums has given some encouragement to forestry. The 
plains beyond the Missouri are now a promising theater of experiment. 
In many parts of the country forest planting, in the opinion of many 
observers, is changing the climate and capabilities of this region. 
Twenty years ago, before any considerable settlements were made, the 
plains were nearly destitute of trees, and vegetation was parched and 
scanty; but it is now claimed that in some localities where farms have 
been taken up, villages built, and trees planted, they are clothed with 
verdure, and river beds, which were then dry, are now covered with 
constantly running water. A part of the city of Denver was built on 
one of these ancient river beds, where it was supposed that water would 
never flow again, but there is now a constantly running stream, so large 
that it has been found necessary to bridge it. Great Salt Lake is said 
to be seven feet higher than it was ten years ago, and is constantly 
rising. 
Bienes and Germany it has been estimated that at least one-fifth 
of the land should be planted with forest trees in order to maintain the 
proper hygrometric and electric equilibrium for successfw) farming. In 
some sections of New York, where the forest trees have been cut away, 
wheat now often fails, from winter-killing, although the soil is not ex- 
hausted, and is abundantly fertilized by the most approved manures. 
If such is the value of trees, the subject of forest planting demands the 
immediate attention of every cultivator of the soil, and should stimu- 
late him to do ali he can to advance this important national industry. 
Mr. George Pinney, writing from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, says that 
there are 10,000,000 acres of land in Wisconsin and the upper penin- 
sula of Michigan, north of the forty-fourth degree of north latitnde, 
which, previous to the settlerhents in that part of those States, were 
covered with forest growth valuable for timber, lumber, and fuel. Since 
that time at least one-half of this growth has been cut off, and the 
timber brought into market and sold; and 1,000,000 acres of the hard- 
wood timber have been felled and burned upon the ground by the farm- 
ers while clearing up their farms. About 4,000,000 acres remain undis- 
turbed. Along the rivers, most of which empty into Winnebago Lake, 
Green Bay, and Lake Michigan, lumber mills have been erected at Ber- 
lin, Omro, Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Menaska, Appleton, De Pere, Green 
Bay, Kewaunee, Sturgeon Bay, Fish Creek, Duck Creek, Saumico, 
Oconto, Pensaukee, Peshtigo, Marinette, Menomonee, Cedar River, Ford 
River, Esconawba, Sturgeon River, Big Bay des Noquets, Upper Man- 
istee, and several others near Mackinaw, making more than twenty-five 
shipping points, from some of which 100,000,000 feet of lumber are 
shipped annually, and from none less than 10,000,000, aggregating at 
least 700,000,000 feet, besides many small mills scattered through the 
country which ship annually 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 feet each, which 
might be safely estimated at 50,000,000 more, making an aggregate of 
759,000,000 feet shipped annually from the lumber. mills of this section 
of country. That this estimate is not too great is evident from the fact 
that 1,250,000,000 feet have been received during the past year at the 
various ports on Lake Michigan, nearly one-half of which has been 
brought from this region, and also that most of the products of the 
milis on Wolf River, which are supplied with lumber from the same 
place, are consumed on the spot or are shipped by railroad to the con- 
