1846. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



203 



A few Words about Forests, &c. 



Happening, not long since, to take up an old 

 number of a former volume of the "Genesee 

 Farmer," I found in it an article recommending 

 to Farmers along the Erie Canal, and within the 

 distance of 8 or 10 miles, to clear all their tilla- 

 ble lands ; assigning as reasons, tlie unproduc- 

 tiveness of woodlands and the value of the same 

 when brought under cultivation; urging also the 

 (supposed) ine.xliaustible supply of coal in some 

 of the neigliboring states, and the low price at 

 which it may be ol)tained liy transportation. Al- 

 though 1 have little fear that the advice will be 

 tbllowed, yet 1 think the subject worthy of some 

 attention. I am glad that the farmers appear to 

 entertain ditierent views on the subject, from 

 those of the writer. J admit the writer's argu- 

 ments are solid, but it appears to me, they ar^i 

 one-sided. If there were no fZ?.s-advautages con- 

 nected with the carrying out of his recommenda- 

 tion, or no evils resulting from it, the aspect of 

 the subject would be entirely different. Unfor- 

 tunately, however, the reverse of this may be 

 true. 



If the positions taken in my article on ''For- 

 ests, &c." be correct, (and 1 believe it will be 

 difficult to show them to be otherwise,) it will 

 follow that the loss would be at least erpial to the 

 gain. The following, I consider, would be some 

 of the evils, all resulting from one cause ; viz., 

 a change, or modification of climate : 1st. Irreg- 

 ularity and increased severity of winter. 2d. 

 A corresponding change in summer. 3d. Se- 

 vere" and parching drouths. 4th. Failure of 

 springs and streams. 5th. Loss, or injury, of 

 fruit, crops, &c.,or increased labor and expense 

 to secure the same amount ; to say nothing of 

 the desolate appearance of a country thus wan- 

 tonly stript of its natural covering. Those who 

 wish to see the above considerations expanded, 

 will find the subject treated at some length in 

 the 5th number of the present volume of the 

 "Genesee Farmer," art. "Forests, their influ- 

 ence on Climate." 



I might also add, that if the appropriate food 

 of animals (that which springs spontaneously 

 from the untilled earth,) be destroyed, they will 

 turn their depredations upon the labors of man. 

 If we destroy their means of sustenance, they 

 will look to us for support. It is doubtless true, 

 that by cultivating the soil, we may desti'oy many 

 kinds of insects and small animals, and drive 

 away others. At the same time it is equally 

 true, that many others, and those perhaps more 

 injurious to man, are multiplied by the same 

 means. Hence doubtless one cause of the diffi- 

 culty of raising many kinds of vegetables, (on 

 account of their destruction by bugs, worms, &c.,) 

 which formerly were easily raised in abundance. 



The draining, or fall of the great western 

 lakes, is a subject that has attracted some atten- 

 tion of late, but no satisfactory cause has vet 



been assigned. I believe that one cause, per- 

 haps the only one, will yet be found to be, the 

 clearing of the country around the lakes. I do 

 not mean the immediate vicinity, but the whole 

 country drained by Ihe rivers that flow into 

 those lakes ; and 1 may add, many miles beyond. 

 These rivers are generally small, and drain only 

 a comparatively small extent of country, and 

 much of that country has been cleared of its for- 

 ests on both sides of lakes Firie and Ontario, and 

 also on the south side of lakes Huron and Mich- 

 igan. Now if we bear in mind that on account 

 of the circulating motion of the atmosphere, the 

 climate, (if affected at all,) is affected to the dis- 

 tance of many miles around, we shall have one 

 reason why, according to the present theory, the 

 supply of water must be diminished along the 

 whole southern border of these lakes, and the 

 northej-n border of lakes Erie and Ontario. In 

 regard to Lakes Superior and Huron, it is true, 

 the country to the north is still an unbroken wil- 

 derness, but the rivers of that country are small, 

 and furnish only sufficient to supply to the lakes 

 the loss by evaporation. This appears the more 

 probable, when we remember, that on account 

 of evaporation, all the great rivers of Southern 

 Europe, ^Vestern Asia, and Northern Africa, are 

 but just sufficient to supply to the Mediterranean 

 Sea, its loss by evaporation ; and that the Caspi- 

 an and the Aral Sea, from the same cause, never 

 overflow, though fed by several large rivers. — 

 Hence it is easy to perceive, that the small riv- 

 ers of the country north of lakes Superior and 

 Huron, can do little more (if any) than supply to 

 tlie great chain of American Lakes, the loss by 

 evaporation. Consequently, if the quantity of 

 water furnished by any portion of the rivers that 

 supply those lakes, be diminished, (and such I 

 sup; ose to be the case with the rivers of New 

 York, Ohio, Michigan, and Upper Canada,) the 

 lakes must fall below their former level. Some 

 allowance in regard to evaporation must be made, 

 it is true, for the difference in latitude of the 

 Eastern and the Western lakes; yet this diflej'ence 

 is not so great as to affect greatly the results ; 

 the VVest3rn lakes being in the" latitude of the 

 Northern parts of the Mediterranean, the Black, 

 the Caspian, and the Aral Sea. H. 



Fairpori, Aug. 18, 1846, 



Information Wanted. — Can any one inform 

 us lohere the Recording Secretary of the State 

 Agricultural Society is giving public lectures on 

 agriculture, agreeably to his engagement, and 

 the understanding when the salary of his Of- 

 fice was raised by the Board to something what 

 it should be, to pay for constant official expenses? 



Narrow circumstances are the most power- 

 ful stimulants to mental expansion ; and tlio early 

 frowns of fortune the best security for the final 

 smiles. 



