180 Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts. 



But, besides being objects of admiration, the forests afford 

 other subjects, of which let the author speak in the following 

 fine passage : — 



" The immense variety, the many and important uses, and the great 

 beauty of our forests, must, naturally, attract the attention of an obser- 

 ver ; and, as the preservation and improvement of the forests, in their 

 highest degree, are above private effort, require joint action, and must 

 be effected on a large scale, on a system wisely begun and long continued, 

 by the men of one generation for those of the next ; and by the application 

 of science, taste and skill, not by one but by many men, not in one village 

 or town, but in a county and state ; it is wise in a government, not acting 

 merely for the present, but extending its forethought generously onwards, 

 making its knowledge and wisdom an invested capital for future use, and 

 desiring to do for coming generations what they, when looking back, shall 

 wish it had done, — it is wise, prudent and patriotic for such a government 

 to order a survey of the forests, among its other domains, that the people 

 may know the sources of their wealth and its extent, and learn how to value, 

 enlarge and enjoy it. The conception and ordering of this general survey 

 was worthy of the descendants of those who established free schools, free 

 courts of justice, and freedom in religion. The idea was a noble one, with 

 whatever success the work may have been executed." p. 1. 



In a journal devoted, as is this, to one of the most useful and 

 important branches of agriculture, the important uses, which 

 forests subserve, in the great enonomy of nature, should find 

 place. We feel that it is benefiting and advancing the sub- 

 ject of Horticulture, by our presenting to our readers the follow- 

 ing valuable facts : — 



" Forests protect a country from the violence of winds. The lively au- 

 thor of ' Life in Mexico ' writes : 'M. de Humboldt, who examined the will 

 of Cortes, informs us that the conqueror had left sugar plantations near 

 Cuyoacan, in the valley of Mexico, where now, owing, it is supposed, to 

 the cutting down of the trees, the cold is too great for sugar-cane or any 

 other tropical production to thrive.' And a most intelligent gentleman in 

 Worcester tells me, that he attributes the greater difficulty now experienced 

 in the cultivation of the more delicate fruits in that town, to the fact, that 

 the encircling hills, formerly crowned with trees, are now, to a considerable 

 degree, laid bare. The laws of the motion of the atmosphere are similar to 

 those of water. A bare hill gives no protection. The wind pours overitas 

 water pours over a dam. But if the hill be capped with trees, the windy cas- 

 cade will be broken as into spray. Its violence will be sensibly diminished. 

 We are not aware, on the now protected and irregular surface of New 

 England, how important are the screens furnished by the forests. Travel- 



