FORESTS OF THE EASTERN SEABOARD OF AMERICA. 1 1 1 



in North America where the forest ceased and the 

 plains began, (the trees having* been cut away to so 

 great an extent,) but it is certain that the limits 

 of the forest bear away sharply to the eastward, as 

 we go northwards that is to say, the area of the 

 forest in the southern states is much greater, and runs 

 much further to the westward than it does further 

 north. To the southward it often passes considerably 

 to the westward of the Mississippi River, whereas in 

 Illinois the treeless plains come a long distance to 

 the east of that river, whose course, roughly speaking, 

 is pretty well north and south. 



It is evident that the influence of the wind, blowing 

 across wide areas of water, is the principal cause of 

 tree-growth; because when we pass still further to the 

 north, the winds passing across the region of the great 

 lakes again bring the forest growth into being, in the 

 States of Wisconsin and Minnesota: a region full of 

 beautiful lakes, scattered through the wooded country, 

 as a glance at the map will show. The same cause 

 would also seem to account for the existence of large areas 

 of forest in Canada, where the great lakes lay almost 

 completely embosomed in the depths of the primeval 

 forest, as all early accounts left by the French Jesuits 

 and other missionaries conclusively show. 



So also ancient records inform us that most of 

 Western Europe was in ancient times a forest country, 

 and in Scandinavia and Russia a great deal of country 

 is so still. 



Great Britain, for instance, was, as we know, once itself 

 a forest country, and was probably covered from sea to 

 sea with a luxuriant growth of trees. It is sufficient to 

 refer to any of the histories of England, relating to the 



