PAPERS BEAD BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION. 



27 



"their value to us for economic purposes can- 

 not be overestimated; they are, in fact, the 

 foundation of every industry. The ancient 

 philosophers had an axiom which the pro- 

 gress of time and scientific thought has not 

 disproved, that "Nature abhors a vacuum." 

 Wherever man has adopted such agricultural 

 methods as have resulted in the sterility of 

 his land, and his own forced abandonment 

 thereof is the consequence, we see Nature en- 

 deavoring by means of the humble lichen, 

 the sedge and myriads of similar auxiliaries, 

 which soon set in, and in their successive 

 growth and decay, establish a nidus by which 

 the development of the mighty oak is ren- 

 dered possible. This is the round 

 of organic life (if conditions be fav- 

 orable) so often observed, and is suggestive 

 to us of th is much that in the successive growth 

 and decay of plant life we must recognize 

 the salvation of the soil from sterility. In 

 re-pect to the profitableness of tree culture 

 in most of the prairie States so many facts 

 could he adduced, established by actual trial, 

 as to convince the most skeptical. In this 

 State we are too young in forest planting, as 

 yet to have determined more than a few 

 years' growth, but even this is quite encour- 

 aging, as what has been done on a small 

 scale may surely be accomplished on a much 

 larger one. We know but little as yet of the 

 possibilities of these plains for the produc- 

 tion of tree growth under improved methods j 

 of culture. Yet it is worth much to us to j 

 know I hat we don't. Some men know it all I 

 in the various branches of human knowledge, 

 though perhaps some may be suffi- 

 ciently modest to admit that they 

 are 'iot quite thoroughly versed 

 in matters that concern the pursuits of others. 

 It will indeed have been happy for us in this 

 new field of investigation if we can have 

 progressed to this point safely; that taere are 

 some things in regard to forestry generally, 

 but especially oa these plains, that are as yet 

 a sealed book to us; and further it is hoped that 

 we shall set about finding out from this day 

 on what that new field is about which we are 

 so ignorant in the premises, and this can- only 

 be accomplished by the heartiest ''ndividual 

 and collective efforts. First, there is work 

 here for and by the people; second, there is 

 work here too for and by the Agricultural 

 Colleges; and third, there is work here for 

 and by the State through the Legislature, 

 Colorado is but a young State, but she has a 

 full complement of young, men who will fol- 

 low your lead in this matter of tree planting, 

 and thus early secure an interest in them; 

 and we may thus rest assured of success. 

 The best laws remain dead, the best coun- 

 sels are preached to deaf ears if the youth of 



the land be not enlisted in favor of every 

 good and wholesome innovation. 



Every person should be familiar with the 

 appearance of trees under all circumstances, 

 in summer and winter, standing erect or 

 prostrate on the ground; or when worked up 

 by the artificer int'> any of the secondary 

 and ultimate forms to which trees may be 

 applied. All trees a^d plants possess pecu- 

 Ifarities of trunk, branch, stem, twig, buds 

 and seeds, and we should know the by 

 their peculiarities. Thers is a broad field 

 here for investigation, through the intricate 

 labyrinths of which we may wander at will, 

 always finding something to excite our de- 

 sire 'for knowledge. From the meanest 

 weed to the gigantic eucalyptus there are in- 

 fluences at work upon the soil beneath us, 

 and in the air abo^e us, the silent working 

 of which to us we never notice. Tree-plant- 

 ing, too, is fitted to give the juvenile mind 

 a useful lesson in forethought. Living only 

 in the present, and for the present, too often 

 youth will only sow where they can quickly 

 reap. Youth should learn to forecast the 

 future as the condition of wisdom. Arbori- 

 culture is such a discipline. 



We are but tenants of this beautiful earth, 

 and so have no right to trench on the in- 

 heritance of others, but rather it is a duty in- 

 cumbent on all patriotic citizens to have this 

 earth better for our having occupied it our 

 allotted time. The great lessons inculcated 

 by the facts of history for the benefit of man 

 is that he is endowed with ability to become 

 an ametiveating agent of the earth; that he, 

 within certain limi s, can control the ele- 

 ments and make them minister to his wel- 

 fare and happiness, by planting trees where 

 they have been destroyed or where absent, 

 and thus realize the truth of Mohamed's ben- 

 ediction: "Blessed is the man that planteth 

 a tree." In an aesthetic point of view, trees 

 cannot be too highly extolled, as they give 

 an added charm and beauty to the 

 landscape that nothing else in nature can 

 bestow. There is no other agency of 

 nature which is so intimately connected 

 with all that is worth living for, so 

 necessary to the contiued fertility of the 

 soil, as the trees of the forest. Says Wash- 

 ington Irving: "There is something nobly 

 simple and pure i a taste for trees." It argues 

 a generous nature to have this strong friend- 

 ship for the hardy son of the forest. He 

 who ptants an oak looks forward to the 

 future, and plants for posterity. He cannot 

 expect to enjoy its shelter, but he exults iu 

 the consciousness of the fact that he has ac- 

 complished an unselfish act. It was the tr es 

 of his own planting more than the beauties of 

 surrounding landscape that bound Irving to 



