36 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



AtlG. a, 1843. 



EFFECT OF TREES IN AMELIORATING of 'and belonging to the same proprietor, rich in 

 CLIMATE. nature's virgin strenjjth and fpftility, yet in useful 



To Ihe Eduor of ti.e New Enslan.l'Karmer; productiveness falh.ig short even of the last oh- 



S.R_Sumctin,e since, I wrote a coramunicniion ^'"''^- ^""'''^^^<i }>y ^'e alluvial deposits of 

 for your paper, in which I gove some of my ideas : ^S^^' ^^c brakes and bulrushes, or at best, rrrasses 

 on the subject of the probable effect of a proper I °| ""e coarser sorts, flounsh in rank luxuriance, 

 distribution of trees in ameliorating the climate of; ^° ^he owner of these two pieces of land, I would 



farther in- I *y "' the latter, reclaim it: here is productive 



a tract of country. Since that time, a 

 vestigation has led me to attach still greater im- 

 portance to tlie subject, and to think that still 

 greater advantages might be gained by a general 

 and spirited attention to the sulijnct. Although it 

 may not be denied that clearing a country of a 

 porlioii of the forests which for a long lime have 

 shaded its entire surface, has an effect to in- 

 crease the general temperature of it, even though 

 the work be indiscriminately executed, yet surely 

 this can be construed into no argument against the 

 opinion that the favorable effect would have been 

 augmented in a great degree, had the work been 

 done in a judicious manner. 



Il must be evident to the most superficial ob- 

 server, that in our State at least, the work of the 

 clearing away of the primeval forests has been 

 performed in such a manner, that those portions of 

 them nliich remain, and our cultivated lands, stand 

 in very disadvantageous relative positions. There 

 are loo many highlands laid bare and too many 

 lowlands uncultivited. That this manner of ope- 

 ration presented itself as the most natural, at the 

 time of the first settlement, I will not pretend to 

 deny : the humidity and fertility of the entire soil, 

 preventing that want of those two important quali- 

 ties, which many of our higher lands now experi- 

 ence. At that time they found the highlands 

 moist enough for agricultural purposes — the low- 

 lands far too much so. But now, (if I may be al- 

 lowed to make the chain of my argument com- 

 plete, by quoting from my former communication,) 

 '' the highlands by continued cropping, have be- 

 come exhausted ; whereas the lowlands, on account 

 of their receiving the soil necessary for vegeta- 

 tion, washed from the higher lands, retain their 

 fertility for a a longer period and probably nev- 

 er reach that permanent sterility which we so 

 often perceive in our exhausted hills." 



I have said that many of our highlands are ex- 

 hausted, and 1 feel no inclination to correct the 

 expression — I mean as far as they offer advantages 

 for cultivation in comparison with most of our low- 

 lands. How often, in our journeys through the 

 country, do wc behold large tracts of elevated land, 

 so sterile that they seem scarcely able to afford 

 nourishment to a crop of sickly niullens, and whose 

 desolate and barren appearance affects us with 

 painful emotions. The history of such a piece of 

 land is plainly to be read upon its face. Here the 

 father and grandfather of tlie pre.sent occupant, 

 even to the earliest generations, have tilled and 

 tilled ,nnd tilled. To produce alternate crops of 

 corn and rye, has been its task, and faithfully it 

 has repaid the toil expended on its surface, till 

 now, exhausted and weary of continued effort,' na- 

 ture can go no farther. The causes of its deteri- 

 oration have been two fold : first, the long contin- 

 ued annual draught upon its natural fertility ; sec- 

 ond, the facility afforded by a constant state of til- 

 lage, for the washing of a large portion of its con- 

 sequently loose particles of .soil, to the lands about 

 Its base. And how often have we only to turn our 

 eyes a little distance— perhaps but to the opposite 

 side of the highway—and we behold another piece 



reclaim it 

 strength yet undrawn upon, which of itself is able 

 to bear the continued taxation of many years' 

 cropping. Moreover, from its position, its con- 

 stant reception of the washings of the higher lands, 

 will prevent it from ever acquiring that almost in- 

 vincible sterility of many of the higher lands 

 about it. To such of our lowlands as admit of a 

 proper regulation of that great fertilizer, water, by 

 nliowing, at pleasure, of its admission and expul- 

 sion, this remark will apply with peculiar force. 



Concerning the exhausted field first spoken of, I 

 have no hesitation in recommending to the owner, 

 to cover it with forest trees. Cover it with forest 

 trees, if you desire to put it to the most profitable 

 use. To raise a crop of any esculent annual, you 

 have, in effect, to create the soil for its sustenance, 

 and that against obvious disadvantages — some of 

 which are the following, viz : its liability to drought, 

 on account of its elevated situation and loose com- 

 position, and its incapacity of retaining the various 

 applications used for its enrichment, for similar 

 reasons. 'J'liese difficulties of improvement, il can- 

 not be denied, form strong objections to the con- 

 tinuance of its culture. But even here, experi- 

 ence has proved that certain species of fore6t trees 

 will flourish well. Once established, their spread- 

 ing branches and fallen leaves contribute to their 

 own necessary moisture and sustenance. Such is 

 the readiness with which certain species of trees 

 adapt themselves to almost every variety of soil, 

 thai I doubt whether there are any lands so barren 

 that they may be said to be unimprovable. Kven 

 on our most barren and sandy wastes, pines and 

 some other sorts of trees, thrive with surprisin"' 

 vigor. 



If the facts above stated are true, (and in their 

 assertion I believe I am sustained by the experi- 

 ence of others,) it cannot, I think, be denied, that 

 the re-covenng of some of our exhausted highlands 

 with such timber trees as are adapted to their situ- 

 ations, and cultivating in their stead, some of our 

 lowlands, whose productive power is as yet nntask- 

 ed, and whose position, independent of their inhe- 

 rent fertility, better qualifies them for long contin- 

 oed agricultural operations, forms, at the present 

 lime, a part of a system of husbandry that would 

 be most conducive to the profit of their proprietors. 

 Such are the motives to these practices, which 

 present them.sclves to tliose whose sole object in 

 their agricultural operations is the direct pecuniary 

 reward attendant on their labors. 



But the principal object of my communication 

 at this time, is to offer some remarks on the effect 

 of such operations as have been recommended 

 above, in ameliorating the climate of a tract of 

 country, — an effect limited or extended, of course, 

 in proportion to the limitation or extension of the 

 producing causes. Trees affect the warmth of the 

 atmosphere, both by the actual caloric imparted to 

 it from their own vital warmth, and liy their break- 

 ing the force of the winds. The advantages of a 

 piece of land well sheltered on the sides most ex- 

 posed to blasting winds, ' y impending groves, 

 over one across whose bleak extent they arc al 

 liberty to traverse unchecked, must, I think, be op- 



parent to any one. Take, for example, the east 

 ern counties of our own State, and I know no 

 how propel ly to estimate the value of clevatec 

 plantatiuiis of trees, in breaking the force of ou; 

 east winds ; and indeed, I cannot but think tha 

 were such plantations generally and judiciously in t 

 Iroduced, they would so break the force and harsh- 

 ness of these noxious winds, as not only to favoi 

 the culture of many tender plants, but also, by 

 preventing, in a measure, those sudden changes tr 

 which we are exposed, so affect the general cli 

 mate of the country, as to make it more healthy 

 and genial, especially to those affected with pul 

 monary complaints. 



But man is not the only animal whose comforl 

 and well-being would be augmented thereby ; out 

 domestic beasts, being unable to protect themselves 

 against atmospherical changes, by artificial means 

 would experience far greater benefits than he. In- 

 deed, my ideas on this subject are well expressed 

 in the following quotation from the (Edinburgh; 

 Plant. Kill. : — '■ When farm lands are exposed to 

 high winds, interspersing them with strips or mass- 

 es of plantation, is attended with obviously impor- 

 tant advantages ; not only are such lands rendered 

 more congenial to the growth of grass and corn, 

 and the health of pasturing animals, but the local 

 climate is improved. 



The fact that the climate may be thus improved, 

 has in many instances been sufScienlly established. 

 It is indeed astonishing liow much belter cattle 

 thrive in fields even but moderately sheltered, than 

 lliey do in an open and exposed country. In ihe 

 breeding of cattle, a sheltered farm, or even a shel- 

 tered corner in a farm, is a thing much prized ; and 

 in instances where fields are taken by the season 

 for the purpose of fattening, those most sheltered, 

 never fail to bring the highest rents, provided the 

 soil is equal to that of the neighboring fields, 

 which are not sheltered by trees. If we inquire 

 info the cause, we shall find that it does not alto- 

 gether depend on an early rise of grass, on ac- 

 count of the shelter afforded to the lands by the 

 plantations; but likewise, that cattle, which have 

 it in their power in cold seasons, to indulge in the 

 kindly shelter afforded them by the trees, feed bet- 

 ter, because their bodies are not pierced by the 

 keen winds of spring and autumn, neither is the 

 lender grass destroyed by the frosty blasts of 

 March and April." 



Thus I have briefly given some of my ideas on 

 the importance of the benefits to be gained by ex- 

 erting ourselves to get our cultivated and wood 

 lands into more advantageous relative situations, 

 and have endeavored to support my own opinions 

 in some degree, by citing the experience of others. 

 This subject, it appears to me does not receive 

 the attention which its importance demands, from 

 the community at large, neither is it sufficiently 

 encouraged by our agricultural societies. It ap- 

 pears to me that they can scarcely do too mucli to- 

 wards its encouragement, by means of pecuniary 

 premiums, and can by no means, loo strongly re- 

 commend it as a matter of general policy. 



Ideas have an influence according to the source 

 from which they come — and I am certain that noth- 

 ing would so much conduce to a general attention 

 to this subject, as the recommendation and encour- 

 ogement of agricultural societies. The man who, 

 by any extraordinary means, can, for one year, force 

 a piece of ground to yield rather more than an ave- 

 rage crop, is both hdiiored, and rewarded by a pre- 

 mium; while he who on a barren waste, is provid- 



