Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 361 



tropical sun, this cloud was formed bj the ascending vapors from 

 the then densely wooded island. In destrojiiig the forests, to make 

 room for the further production of the grape, they " destroyed the 

 goose that laii the golden egg." The celebrated Madeira wine has had 

 its day, and it is asserted that not a grape is now grown on the island 

 of Maderia. From an island of luxuriant fertility. It has degene- 

 rated into a comparative waste, and the " cloud" has long since 

 vanished. Professor Kedzie, of the University of Michigan, and 

 the lamented Rev. Frederick Starr, Jr., of St. Louis, have written 

 scientitic articles upon this subject, and the planting of trees has 

 been suggested. But, as a pine log which has acquired a growth of 

 one, or even two centuries, is by no means large, this plan, alone, will 

 not solve the pine question. Many of the leading minds of the day 

 have anticipated the coming scarcity ; and it may be mentioned that 

 the Rev. Henry "Ward Beecher and several of the " railroad kings," 

 including Yanderbilt and Ogden, are said to have invested quite 

 heavily in pine lands. Timber-land bought ten or fifteen years ago, 

 at government rates, has been sold at from ten dollars, even to fifty 

 dollars per acre. For well-selected land, even the latter figure is 

 reasonable ; for a thousand feet in the tree would not be enough to cart 

 it very far away, when sawed, in view of all the facts, timber-land 

 must thus continue to advance, and in this lies the only protection. 

 Our government does not watch these interests with the same care 

 as is exercised by some of the European powers. Therefore, timely 

 speculation is the only remedy against the wholesale destruction of 

 the pine forests. Whole towns are constructed of pine ; houses, 

 barns, roads, pavements, sidewalks and fences. As the price of lum- 

 ber enhances, a substitute will be adopted in the more durable stone, 

 brick and iron. Then a large per centage of the logs now allowed 

 to rot in the woods will be saved, consisting of large "butts" par- 

 tially decayed, and of huge " tops," a little too knotty to be profit- 

 able, while good lumber is there s» cheap. Then the reckless use of 

 the circular saw, chewing one-third of the wliole log into 

 sawdust and the waste from thick slabs will be checked. 

 The latter often contains as much material as the eastern 

 saw-logs, specimens of which may be seen in booms on the 

 Mohawk, the Susquehanna, or the Delaware rivers, which western 

 lumbermen would compare to telegraph poles. But, without smiling, 

 they should see in these diminutive " logs " a moral. It will be seen 

 that the question is of vast importance, and one which merits the 



