69 



" Unhanced Value of Farms from Tree-planting : — In almost every instance in which 

 a farm is to be let on lease the offerers are influenced, in a greater degree than they them- 

 selves are aware of, by the first general appearance which it presents. If the exposed 

 parts are partially under thriving, well-enclosed wood, the whole fields, within the range 

 of vision, have such a look of warmth and fertility that, as if by intuition, a few shillings 

 more per acre are put upon the land than would otherwise have been given. The amenity 

 and value of landed property are so linked together, that in ordinary cases the one cannot 

 be increased without a greater or less addition being made to the other also. It has been 

 proved by experience that in proportion as well-laid-out plantations are extended on an 

 estate, up to but not beyond a certain point, the yearly value of its farms advance. I 

 know property, which, eighty years ago, did not yield more than half the rental derived 

 from it now. It was then, according to the testimony of old men in the district, little 

 more than an open waste ; but the proprietor began about then to plant extensively, and 

 as the plantations increased in number and age, the rental of the estate advanced with 

 them, though the farm was anything but good. With right management the same result 

 may be expected on every exposed property." 



The following article upon the forests of Europe and America is from J. G. Lefebvre 

 (du Havre) who has long been intimately acquainted with the practical details of the 

 timber trade in France : — 



" One of the most important questions that presents itself to the attention of the 

 principal producing and consuming countries in the article of wood, is beyond doubt that 

 which relates to forests. 



"It is an unfortunate fact, and becoming more and more true, that the clearing of 

 woodlands is encouraged, and we may say, stimulated by the formidable and continually- 

 increasing general consumption, which leads to proportions vastly exceeding the normal 

 annual production, as we shall presently show. There evidently results a most threaten- 

 ing danger, which has already been often pointed out with energy, and against which the 

 general welfare requires us to adopt on every side the most effectual and decisive mea- 

 sures, which should be executed with activity and perseverance, if we would seasonably 

 avoid the consequence of a lamentable crisis. 



" Taking a general review of the immense areas of ground, which various statistical 

 works admit to be still covered with forests, it might at first sight appear that our fears 

 were taxed by groundless apprehensions of exaggerated evils ; but we feel assured that, 

 considering the innumerable quantities of trees cut every year, the number prematurely des- 

 troyed, and the number wasted, it must be admitted that we should lose no time in trying 

 to remedy, as speedily as possible, a condition of affairs so much to be deplored. 



" We ought not to forget that in addition to the economical value of the forests, 

 taken as a part of the wealth of the country, and in the welfare of its inhabitants, their 

 protection in a climatic relation becomes a necessity of the first importance. No one 

 is so ignorant as not to know that the inconsiderate destruction of trees reduces the 

 water-courses, and causes disastrous inundations. We believe that the multiplied bene- 

 fits derived from the presence of forests are not enough appreciated, such as the sanitary 

 improvement of marshy places, the moderation of the temperature, the protection of open 

 plains against violent winds which have their force broken and their currents divided by 

 the trees ; and, finally, the prevention of prolonged droughts, which too often desolate 

 regions of country where the wood has been taken off, as has been frequently proved by 

 examples down to the present time.. 



" We should also not fail to remark that we often find tracts of land masked by a 

 thick covering of verdure, that are in reality nothing but immense wastes occasioned by 

 fires or storms, and which contain little but the wrecks and remnants of trees, and are 

 sometimes overrun with wood insects, some species of which in a little while may destroy 

 whole forests, as was lately seen in Bohemia, where a million of cubic toises of wood were 

 ■entirely destroyed. 



" If we now approach the question of production and consumption in the principal 

 countries of Europe that are now occupying our attention, we shall find conditions of a 



