230 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Mr. J. A, Donaldson has the following theory of their origin: 

 "It may be that a large portion of the prairies was once wood- 

 land. But the annual fires gradually extended the prairies by 

 killino' the trees, but leaving: the roots alive. The roots would 

 sprout and grow through the summer, and the fires kill to the 

 ground in the fall. Checked so often they Avould mak§ a feeble 

 growth, consequently would be hidden from view in the grass 

 until after the fires are stopped." That's a very plausible theory; 

 the only objection to it is, it is not true. The only possible way 

 of accounting for the existence of prairies, is to suppose they 

 never have been wooded since the floods receded. We also know 

 that trees start into existence where there is no appearance of any 

 of the same variety ever having grown before since the world 

 began. And this assertion, also, upsets the theory of Nathaniel 

 Vose, who writes from Waukegan, 111., about the " stool grubs," 

 which settlers have had to contend with, and with which he seems 

 to know the writer of these reports is acquainted. He says : 

 " Where I now sit, beautiful groves of young timber, some of it a 

 foot in diameter, have grown up from these stools, where, thirty 

 years ago, grass v^as the principal production, but where the 

 annual sprouts of oak and hickory struggled for existence. In the 

 wild state, the annual fires were all the time encroaching on the 

 timber and driving it back, and as westerly winds prevail gene- 

 rally in autumn, the fires have usually made a clean sweep on the 

 west of rivers and lakes, where there is usually' a belt of timber 

 on the east side. I have seen thousands of acres in southern 

 Kansas where young groves of oak have l^een destroyed by fires 

 within the last four or five years, and from which the dead trees 

 or brush will be soon consumed if the fires are not stopped, as the 

 annual growth of grass grows denser; but when the fires are 

 stopped, these tracts — as well as other thousands of acres which 

 only shov,^ a feeble annual growth, overshadowed by the tall grass 

 — will send up spontayieonshj from these germs groves of oak and 

 hickory, as at Lawrence. These groves are never found out on 

 the prairie, away from the vicinity of timber, or where there has 

 been timber, leaving perhaps only a few insignificant grubs, but 

 which, nevertheless, are the authors of spontaneous groves. And 

 it would be strange if the extensive timl^er bottoms of the Kaw 

 and its many branches could nf)t establish a relationship to the 

 adjoining groves." 



We have given the argument of Mr. Vose at length, but it is 



