1877.] 209 [Price. 
with great rapidity, and the vast expanse of treeless prairies, which a few 
years ago stretched in every direction as far as the eye could see, is now 
dotted over with beautiful groves, which greatly add to the wealth of the 
eounty,’’ and in Cherokee County it is reported, ‘‘ A great many are plant- 
ing timber, which grows fast.’’ For Missouri it is reported that, ‘‘ In the 
portions of the State that were originally prairie land or openings, sponta- 
neous and thrifty forests have sprung up and increased, as increasing set- 
tlements have prevented annual prairie fires ;’’ for the County of Greene it 
is stated, ‘‘ Nearly all the old timber is inferior, for the reason that the 
woodlands produce abundant grass, which is burned over every season, 
and injures the trunks of the trees. Forests, from which the fires are kept 
are very thrifty, many of the trees adding one inch to their diameter an- 
nually.”’ See Agl. Rep. for 1875. 
For Kansas and Nebraska, the Report of 1875, says, ‘‘On original 
prairies, forest growth is increasing rapidly from two causes: The first is, 
the arrest of prairie fires by cultivation, which has resulted extensively in 
the spontaneous springing up on uncultivated portions of a thick growth 
of young trees, which grow with wonderful thrift ; the second cause being 
the planting of forests, now doubly stimulated by legislative encourage- 
ment, and by assured success in respect to both growth and profit. In ad- 
dition to personal advantages to the planter, in the increased comfort, 
beauty, and money value of his premises, it is claimed that a public bene- 
fit is already perceptible in a modification of the climate, particularly in 
the way of assuaging the severity of the once unimpeded winds.’’ Of Jef- 
ferson County, Kansas, it is said, ‘‘ The forest area is rapidly increasing in 
consequence of stopping the prairie fires, and the planting of new groves ;”’ 
while of Barton County, it is said, ‘‘ Flattering results have been obtained 
from planting tree seeds and cuttings.” 
Tree planting in California is receiving much attention. Before the 1st 
January, 1876, James T. Stratton had planted in Alameda County, 195 
acres with 130,000 Eucalyptus trees, that is the Blue Gum of Australia, 
eight feet apart each way. The company owning the railroad between 
Los Angelos and Anahelm. in Southern California, had planted 140 acres, 
with about 80,000 Eucalyptus trees. In the spring of this year it was an- 
nounced that, ‘‘ The Central Pacific Railroad Company has lately arranged 
to have 40,000 Hucalyptus Globulus trees set along the 500 miles of the 
right of way of the company. This is only the first installment, as it will 
require about 800,000 of the trees for the 500 miles of valley where they 
are to be cultivated. The immediate object of the plan is to increase the 
humidity of the region, and lesson the liability to droughts.’’ 
The United States Government has begun to take a deep interest in the 
subject of the preservation of American Forests. This appears to have 
had inception in a Memorial to Congress of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, upon the cultivation of timber and the pre- 
servation of forests, in August 18735, signed by Franklin B. Hough and 
George B. Emerson their Committee, which being referred to the Com- 
PROC. AMER. PHILOS. soc. xvit. 100. 2A. PRINTED JAN. 12, 1878. 
