MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. fi61 



Mr. A. S. Fuller delh-ered the following address on forest trees, 

 at a late meeting of the Farmers' Club of New York: 



Eight years ago I had the pleasure of reading an essay before 

 this club upon tlie subject under consideration to-day. 1 then 

 called your attention to the importance of not only preserving 

 those forests which we still possess, but to that of rearing others 

 for future need. The hundreds of letters that I haA'e received 

 since that time, askinj? for further information upon the subject, 

 have convinced me that our people are slowly but surely awaken- 

 ing from that careless indifference which has in many instances not 

 only permitted, but aided in, the destruction of some of our most 

 noble and valuable forests ; and these, too, on land that is com- 

 parativelj' worthless for other purposes. Instances are not want- 

 ing to prove that thousands of acres of valuable timber is annually 

 destroj^ed by men who have no use for the land after the trees are 

 removed ; at least they possessed more acres that are already 

 cleared than they can properly cultivate. I do not now refer to 

 I be cutting of timber that is required for building or fuel, but to 

 the many instances vrhere the sole object iu its destruction was 

 for the purpose of allowing the proprietor to obtain a slightly 

 lengthened view from his dwelling, or that which is more probable, 

 pampering to that foolish weakness which is far too general among 

 land-owners, for having it said that they possesN a few more acres 

 of cleared laud. The first act of a settler in a timbered country 

 is to clear away the forest, so that he may have land to cultivate 

 and produce the necessaries of life. But he does not stop when 

 he has accomplished this, but continues to cut and hew awa^' at 

 the forests as though it was the only object of his life, and as each 

 monarch of the old woods falls to the earth, making it tremble 

 with its weight, he imagines that the echoes which come back to 

 him are so many plaudits to his industry. With many of our 

 people destruction is synonymous with improvement. And there 

 is no doubt but that the destroying of forests in our Eastern States 

 lias become a matter of habit Avith our people. The grandfathers, 

 and in a few instances tlie fathers, of the present race of farmers 

 cleared land because it was actually needed for cultivation ; and 

 as each successive generation imagined that it was incumbent upon 

 them to make further improvements, they readily followed in the 

 beaten i)ath uiade b}' their ancestors, forgetting that an act which 

 might show great wisdom at one time would be foolish imbecility at 

 another. 



The young man builds his dwelling upon elevated ground, and 

 probably clears awa}' the trees because thej' obstruct his view, 

 for he values prospect more than protection ; but later in life he 

 will sigh for a few of those grand old trees to shield him from the 

 burning sun of summer and the keen blast of winter. Is it not 

 l)assing strange that a majorit}' of mankind find no useful lesson 

 In the history of the past, but continue to travel iu tlie channeJ 



