STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 103 



gladdening the inhabitants and causing the waste places to 

 "blossom as the rose." 



But, while referring to other lands, let us not shut our eyes 

 to the lamentable fact that our own country is beginning to 

 suffer from the wholesale destruction of its forests. 



The Ohio valley, once noted ft^r its magnificent grmvth of 

 deciduous trees, is now nearly denuded ; its perennial springs 

 have disappeared, and droughts are frequent and protracted. 

 In some parts of Ohio, water has been carried three miles for 

 culinary purposes ; and the famous blue-grass region in Ken- 

 tucky is not unfrequently deserted by cattle for want of water. 



There are those who dispute the theory of analogy between 

 the forests of a country and its rain-fall, and cite us to Ireland 

 as a proof to the contrary, that being nearly a treeless coun- 

 try, and yet its rain-fall is immense ; but this is no convincing 

 proof; it is only an exception to the general law, and this is 

 probably due to the fact that it lies in the track of the Gulf 

 stream, which washes its shores with its tepid waves, and 

 whose bosom is fanned by the prevailing southwest winds, 

 highly charged with vapor, which condenses in passing over, 

 thereby rendering it ever worthy of its appropriate name, 

 "Emerald Isle of the Ocean." 



But there are other reasons why we should care for our 

 forests and plant new ones in waste places. It is a fact that 

 the drain upon the forests of our country, is vastly in excess 

 of their natural growth ; the railroads alone require one mil- 

 lion acres of wood and timber per year to keep them in 

 running order ; the ship builders, carriage makers, house 

 carpenters and manufacturers of agricultural tools, consume 

 a vast quantity, to say nothing of that used for fence build- 

 ing, and with the large amount used for fuel and wasted in 

 clearing land, is enough to claim the attention of the most 

 careless mind. 



It is said that little, if any timber suitable for tools and 

 carriage work, can be found west of the Missouri river. 



The deciduous trees of California are not much better than 

 the coniferous trees of New England. This should encourage 



