Ill 



all except prairie lands were reduced so much in fertility as to require the application of 

 fertilizers at great expense. Had the soil at first required these fertilizers the progress 

 of settlement would have been exceedingly slow or more probably there would have been 

 no progress at all. 



" Wa/r against Trees and its Effects. — The labour of cutting down great trees, cutting 

 them into short logs, and piling them into log heaps to burn, was, however, so great that 

 a feeling of dislike to trees as the settlers' natural enemy became general and the ven- 

 geance against them was so great that in extensive regions the land was completely bared, 

 and thus rendered not only unsightly but unsheltered. Bleak winds had full play and 

 droughts parched the earth. What was even worse, the clearing away of trees on the 

 hills and mountains by the settlers, the lumbermen and forest fires, left the snow of winter 

 exposed to the spring sun ; and the sudden melting and running oif of this accumulation 

 of frozen water made dangerous floods in the streams in jearly summer and left those 

 streams nearly dry in the hot season. 



" Galling a Halt. — At length the evil results of the indiscriminate cutting down of 

 trees began to be perceived. The improvidence of previous generations was lamented, 

 and efibrts to conserve what forests were left and to plant trees gradually became popu- 

 lar. The first class of efibrts was directed to preserving a few acres of the original forest 

 in each farm where that still could be done, and merely thinning the trees for firewood, 

 fencing, etc., thus leaving the smaller trees room to grow more rapidly. The grove thus 

 preserved became one of the most necessary and valuable portions of the farm, and that 

 without any labour of ploughing, sowing, or cultivating. It also afforded a delightful 

 shade in hot weather for man and beast. 



"Forests in the Territories. — The preservation of the vast forests in the territories 

 belonging to the nation attracted attention also, and laws were enacted to protect them 

 from wanton waste. Secretary of the Interior Schurz distinguished himself for endea- 

 vouring to enforce these laws, which are very difficult of execution on account of the op- 

 portunities lumbermen have in an almost uninhabited region of cutting trees on Govern- 

 ment land, and the frequency of forest fires kindled by careless Indians, hunters, trappers, 

 lumbermen and settlers. These fires often do more damage to a forest in a few days than 

 lumbermen could do in as many years, and how to prevent them is as yet an unsolved 

 problem. 



" Forestry Laws. — The only remedy, and that only a partial one that can be sug- 

 gested, for the wanton destruction of forests, is a national system of forestry laws, 

 somewhat similar to those of France, Germany, Austria, Norway, and other European 

 countries, which prohibit under severe penalties the injury or destruction of trees by un- 

 authorized persons, and also the kindling of fires, or even smoking in the woods. A forest 

 police was created to see to the execution of these laws, and at the same time providing 

 . for the utilizLug of forests by gradual thinning out and selling the larger trees, so as to 

 leave more room for the smaller ones. In this way the public forests are an annual 

 source of revenue, and after centuries of such management they are in as good condition 

 as they were at first." 



I will here iasert, also from the Forestry Congress, the statement of a gentleman of 

 great practical knowledge, concerning the first steps to be taken by any who may wish to 

 make plantations from seed for themselves. Mr. D. W. Beadle, of St. Catharines, 



" It has occurred to me that there may be farmers who are obliged to go to nursery- 

 men for young trees when they want to plant them either for useful purposes or for orna- 

 mentation, and if they want to plant largely they may find it impossible to get them 

 in sufficient quantity from nurserymen, who generally confine the planting to fruit trees, 

 and they have not grown, to any large extent, forest trees for the sake of timber. But 

 these parties can form a nursery of these trees themselves by procuring a small piece of 

 ground, and have it especially prepared and -well manured, so that there will be strength 

 in the soil for a few years, and then they can raise whatever kind of tree they want. 

 The seeds of elms, maples, ashes, and of the walnut and butternut can be found in almost 



