WHY TO PLANT. 19 



disturbed, the course of trade is disarranged, 

 and great inconvenience and loss result. 



Now, this is the condition of things at which 

 we have arrived. These evils already beset us, 

 or are threatening us, in a large part of our 

 country. And thus we have the answer to our 

 first question, Why to plant ? It is, comprehen- 

 sively, that we may, if possible, restore the lost 

 balance of the forces of Nature, and thus regain 

 the former conditions of life, or at least mitigate 

 the evils which have already come upon us, and 

 lessen, if we can not check, the greater evils 

 which threaten us. The question is one that 

 concerns not certain individuals alone, but is of 

 national scope and interest. Whatever special 

 answer the peculiar circumstances of any one 

 may move him to give to the question, our com- 

 mon interests as a people and our common needs 

 suggest a ready and pertinent answer to the 

 question for every intelligent person among us. 

 The dweller upon the treeless plains of Dakota, 

 or the valleys of California, may be moved to 

 plant by different considerations from those 

 which urge the resident in Ohio or Vermont; 

 but, dwell where we may within the boundaries 



