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peach tree is grown for fuel on the extensive pampas of South America. Where land is cheap and the demand urgent, the same tree might be found very useful in some parts of the West, but will not perhaps take the place of other trees of rapid and larger growth. The climate will become more moist with the progress of forest culture. There is every encouragement for the dwellers in the plains, from the Upper Missouri to the Colorado, to plant trees. In many instances the seeds could be planted in the soil, and, with proper care, the plants would grow on the spot; but, in general, it will perhaps be found more expeditious as well as economical to transplant the trees from nurseries. Observation of the physical characteristics of the great valley of the Mississippi will show the danger to be apprehended from a removal of the forests too extensively from the Allegheny slope. The currents of air which convey the greater part of the moisture which is precipitated on the Mississippi valley come from the Gulf of Mexico. There are no mountain ranges or elevated table-lands to intercept with cool strata of air the water-bearing currents from the south. From the foot-hills of the Alleghenies to those of the Rocky Mountains, stretches an uninterrupted plain. The Allegheny half of this plain is well wooded; the other is largely deficient in timber, especially in the far west. We ought to consider what would be the effect of denuding the Allegheny slope of its forest covering. Another consideration should be the effect of re-clothing with forests the Rocky Mountain slope. Supposing the growth of forests in the Rocky Mountain slope of the Mississippi valley should keep pace with the denudation of the Allegheny slope, what would be the total effect? The arid plains of the Rocky Mountain slope would be somewhat cooled by the presence of a wide extent of forests. The moisture which does fall would be better retained, and the cool stratum of air among the foliage of the forest would cause a somewhat greater precipitation of moisture. This process would be reversed by the denudation of the Allegheny slope. The amount of water carried by the Gulf currents being nearly constant, the question arises, what effect would the precipitation of a greater quantity on the western slope have upon the eastern slope? Now the Gulf currents are deflected by the great north-western currents and their moisture precipitated further east. But this change would not probably be one of considerable magnitude unless the denudation on the eastern slope should be carried to an extreme degree. A more even distribution of moisture might result from a restoration of the forests on the Rocky Mountain slope and on those portions of the Allegheny slope where a deficiency exists, and by a cessation of the process of denudation which has been going on in those parts where forests exist.

Some countries have the sources of their water and timber supply at once in their own mountains, inaccessible to the agriculturist, impossible to the plow-regions which bear some considerable proportion to the extent of soil which can be reduced to cultivation. But from the foot-hills of the Allegheny to those of the Rocky Mountains there are no such timber reserves, no mountain torrents fed by snows melting in summer only. On the west the slopes are barren; those of the east are invaluable, but not ample enough to supply the demands of the great and busy people that we are. There is, however, no want of timber in this country yet, and still less is there any deficiency in the timber-supply of the New World. In the Allegheny Mountains and the other ranges and outliers of the same system, there is a supply practicably inexhaustible, but as yet inaccessible except at a few points. When the timber is removed from one region, it is suffered to grow again, and in the course of time will furnish another supply. We have scarcely yet tapped the forests of the southern sea-board; the hard pines of the Atlantic and Gulf border, and the deep cypress swamps of the South, will yet be a mine of wealth to the country. When we look beyond our own borders on the south we see

millions of acres of rank forest in which the sound of the woodman's ax has never been heard. In the West India Islands, in Central and South America, are forests waving yet in all their primeval richness, whose wood has every desirable quality, inexhaustible quantities-wood of every kind, for strength and for ornament, for dyes, for medicine, for all the arts of life and civilization. But if this wood could be laid down at our doors for nothing, we dare not neglect the cultivation of forests in our own country. The consequences of such a course would be fatal to our prosperity. Besides the imperative necessity of forests to maintain the productiveness of our own country, there are so many uses of wood that it must be had abundantly and at a low price, or the chief industries of the country would be undermined. Wood is a common necessity. It is one of the prime sources of employment. It lies at the source both of industry and comfort. The supply cannot be curtailed without calamity.

This makes it both the duty of patriotism and the promptings of self-interest to promote the production of timber in our own country. This is the opportune time for the undertaking. It is none too soon to make a beginning; it is not too late, if the work is commenced now in earnest. The decrease of consumption of wood for fuel in all our cities and towns, and on our railroads and steamboats, will aid not a little in the preservation of our forests. It is important that trees which are undersize for making lumber should be suffered to grow on. There is now less temptation to cut down forests promiscuously than formerly, when wood for fuel was so much in demand. Where the best trees have been cut out for sawing into lumber, and the growth is thinned out, something should be done to replace those trees which have been removed. A little attention paid to planting young trees, or the seeds which produce them, will keep a forest full.

No tree is found growing indigenously here in Ohio which is peculiar to our State, or even which attains its best development only in this State. The whole of the surface of the State is either more than 432 feet or less than about 1,300 feet above the level of the sea; giving as the total range of altitude about 868 feet. But this does not express the entire case in regard to elevation; for while 868 feet embraces the extremes, a very small part of the State-the bottom lands of the Ohio river and its tributaries-is less than 800 feet above the sea level; so that the extreme range of most of the State, from the summit of the Ohio river hills to the highest points in the State, is only about 500 feet.

We are situated on the border of the northern and southern region, and this we must bear in mind to understand the distribution of our own plants. We are situated on the verge of the cypress, a lumber tree of inestimable value in the South. This tree will yet furnish valuable lumber to commerce-it is the white pine of the South, a mine of wealth hidden away in immense, almost impenetrable swamps. This tree does not grow indigenously in our State, but in Southern Indiana, on the Wabash, and in Illinois it attains a size scarcely inferior to what it attains in Louisiana. The cypress, unlike many trees, will thrive with its roots and the lower part of its trunk wholly immersed in water. It may be cultivated in any low, wet place, where but few of our timber trees could exist at all. It is a much more valuable tree than the white elm, and will grow any where it will grow, but does not make quite so rapid a growth. The pecan grows a little further north than the cypress-in fact just on our southern borders. The sweet gum comes into our southern limits, but does not make a large tree. Both the pecan and sweet gum will grow, if planted, any where in Ohio. The sweet gum is esteemed as an ornamental tree, but is not valuable as a timber tree. As an indication of our floral province, I will mention the Arundinaria macrosperma, cane, which may yet perhaps be found growing at the mouths of the Miamies, and which was very common, when all was forest, at Lexington, Kentucky. This plant makes a very interesting cluster when planted in a moist place

maintaining a thriving existence in the southern half of the State, and if it does not grow large enough for fishing poles, will yet furnish pipe-stems, if we must have them. The persimmon grows in the southern half of our State. The white cedar, Cupressus thyoides, comes over our southern borders, and the red cedar extends entirely across the State, but only in rare situations furnishes a trunk of sufficient size for many economic purposes. As we proceed southward we find this tree showing signs of being in a more congenial situation by a larger growth. No further south than the glades of Tennessee it makes a tree of good size for lumber, growing to a height of 50 to 60 feet, while in Florida and in the Bermudas it has a straight, tapering trunk 100 feet high. Several trees could be ramed which are to be found in the extremely northern part of the State, which do not occur in the south. On the northeast the hemlock spruce, Abies Canadensis, comes over our borders from the great forests to the northeast of us. This tree is found growing south of the 40th parallel, in Indiana, in several localities, where it nearly joins the cypress from the south. In Parke county, on Sugar creek, in that State, is the remnant of a hemlock forest; on the Wabash, a few miles to the south, is also the remnant of a cypress forest-some immense trees. These may point backward to a past chapter of our physical history-but, it would seem, in opposite directions. I think such facts rather confirm my statements in the foregoing remarks. Trees will bear greater extremes of climate than we might suppose, if the circumstances are favorable to them in the early stages of their lives. The black larch, Larix Americana, occurs north and northwest as well as the arborvitæ, Thuja occidentalis, and the Taxus Canadensis. In the accompanying list will be found further facts in this line. I will only name one more tree, the white pine, Pinus strobus, a tree of more uses than any other which grows on our soil. This famous lumber tree is not an important item among our forest trees, on account of its scarcity and inferior size in this State. It is found in numerous localities in the northern part of the State.

The hills of eastern Ohio form the outlines of the Allegheny Mountains. We may consider the sandstone bordering the lower Scioto the beginning of the Apalachian system. The flora also indicates a change in the geological formations. The chestnut begins to be a common feature of the landscape, so common that it may be regarded as a characteristic feature of the sandstone region of the State. No tree makes a better promise of reward for cultivation than the chestnut in the porous soils derived from the sandstone of the eastern portion of the State. It is a tree of comparatively rapid growth, and can be soon made to serve economic purposes. Like the red cedar and the black locust, a post of chestnut will endure in all situations, exposed to wet and dry, heat and cold, until another tree of the same species will grow to take its place. The chestnut, like the walnut, commences to bear fruit young, and such trees produce the best fruit. The Magnolia acuminata, or cucumber tree, grows a few miles further west than the chestnut, and is suited to a more compact soil-that resulting from the decomposition of the black shale. This tree follows the line of the shale throughout the State, and usually indicates the presence of a heavy soil. The pitch pine marks the beginning of the sandstone almost equally well with the chestnut. It does not usually attain a large size, although it is extensively used where it can be obtained.

As showing our relation to the Allegheny uplift, I mention our broad-leaved evergreens, which belong to the range of mountains to the east of us, but run along the spurs quite half way of the State; these are the Rhododendron maximum, the Kalmia latifolia, and, in the extreme south, the Ilex opaca, although this last does not characterize the spurs of the mountains as the two first mentioned. The laurels show by their growth that they are on the borders of their natural province. They continue to increase toward the cen

ter of the mountain chain, where they make such compact and tangled masses that the hunter finds it easier to crawl over the interlaced tops than to make a path amidst the crooked and interwoven stems and branches which bears alone can penetrate.

THE AGE OF OUR FOREST TREES.

There is an idea prevalent that it takes so long to reproduce our best timber trees, that many are deterred from planting them. It is true that the man who plants an oak or a walnut will not live to see it become a very large tree. At the same time, the fact that two or three centuries have passed since a tree began its career of growth ought to be a sufficient reason why a man should hesitate to destroy its life without sufficient cause. The time has gone by in this State when a bee hunter or a 'coon hunter should fell a poplar or black walnut of three hundred years' growth for the chance of a pot of poor honey or to see a 'coon-and-dog fight by moonlight. Yet for such or no better reasons many of the finest trees of our forests have been destroyed, and not unfrequently by the owners of them. We can all remember when a very low value was placed upon the best timber trees on a farm. The value of a tree furnishes the best incentive to its preservation. The addition to the present worth which each successive year will make will be all the argument which most persons will need to make them preserve what they have left of good timber trees. There are comparatively but few trees standing which had commenced to grow when the continent was discovered in 1492. The greater part of the denizens of our forests are less than three hundred years old. It takes about two and a half centuries for the best of our hard-wood trees to reach a diameter of thirty inches, allowing variations for the species, soil and locality. It is probable that a plantation of oak or walnut, ash or chestnut, well cared for and kept properly thinned out, would reach nearly this size in two hundred years. But they are valuable for many uses at all stages of growth. A plantation of white oak or hickory, chestnut, walnut or black locust will always furnish sticks of value for countless uses from the third and fourth year of its existence. The necessary process of thinning out will be a source of profit. The hickory and white oak will furnish hoop-poles; the chestnut, walnut and locust will furnish vine stakes. All of these will have a constant market. It will be more profitable in the end to put out new plantings of such trees as have been named on worn-out soil and on hill sides, and to continue to use the timber from the land partially cleared, than to try to grow timber in the shade of other forest trees. The species I have just named are not the only ones which should be planted. There are some localities in which there is a present deficiency existing. In such places trees of more rapid growth should be planted—the elms, maples, poplars, the ailanthus, and, for a small tree, the catalpa. In swampy places the white and slippery elms grow rapidly and make a highly valued timber. The best carriage hubs are made of slippery elm of thirty to forty years old. Waste land along streams should be planted with elms, sycamores (buttonwood), cottonwood and other trees of rapid growth. Ravines and steep hill sides should be utilized in the same way. The black locust does well on hill sides in limestone regions. Our fine country roads should be planted with a row of trees on each side, the species varying with soil and locality. Taxes being always disagreeable, road taxes might be paid by the timber raised on the roadsides. Without this consideration of economy, the example of tree-planting would be a valuable one. In France, when a charter is granted to a railroad company, the condition is imposed of lining each side of the road with rows of trees. The pleasure of traveling on a railroad would be enhanced greatly by the shade of trees, and if the choice were judiciously made, a considerable part of the ties of a road could be raised along the roadside. The

chestnut, walnut, wild cherry, catalpa, black locust and white oak would be suitable for this purpose. The telegraph lines may as well be hung on living trees as dead poles. In a few years a row of black locust or chestnut would support the wires. The locust will bear much trimming, as will many other trees also. The black locust, elms, chestnut and catalpa, especially the latter, on account of its size, may be planted in rows and made to support wire for fencing. It will not hurt to nail the wires on, and in a year or two the wood will grow over them, and such a fence will need little repairing, except the renewing of the wires every twelve or fifteen years. The timber is increasing in value while it serves as a fence. The catalpa, being a small tree, and not having a very large head, will not throw much shade on the fields adjacent. They will also bear much cutting and nailing without endangering their life. It is a tree of rapid growth, and is said to furnish valuable material for railroad ties.

LIST OF TREES FOUND GROWING INDIGENUOUSLY IN OHIO.

REMARK. While it is believed that this list is quite full, it is probable that a few unimportant shrubs may have been overlooked. I did not, at first, intend to embrace in the list shrubs under about ten feet in height, but it was found difficult to draw any line between those to be admitted and those to be omitted; so there may be some left out equally entitled to a place in the list with some in it.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

I have received assistance in compiling the following list from several botanists and others in this State, whose aid is hereby freely acknowledged :

Dr. Beardslee, Painesville, Ohio.

Rev. C. H. Warren, Nelsonville, Ohio.

Dr. J. H. Warder, Cleves, Ohio.

Rev. E. P. Pratt, D. D., Portsmouth, Ohio.

D. W. Pampell, Esq., Houston, Ohio.

The basis of the list is the catalogue of Ohio plants by John H. Klippart, Esq., published in the Ohio Agricdltural Report for 1859.

Loveland Ohio, August, 1873

JOHN HUSSEY.

MAGNOLIAS,

Magnolia acuminata, L.

Found sparingly in the western part of the State-more frequently the line of the outcrop of the Black Shale is marked by the occurrence of this tree.

macrophylla, Michx. Rev. C. H. Warren found one tree on Salt creek, Vinton

county.

Umbrella, Lam. Plentiful in Ross and Jackson counties, etc.

TULIP TREE.

Liriodendron tulipifera, L. Tulip tree, yellow poplar (or, in southern Ohio, poplar). Widely diffused; furnishes much fine lumber in the south

ern part of the State, where it attains to a very great size on protected hill-sides.

PAPAW.

Asimina, triloba, Dunal. Papaw. Indicates a rich soil; especially so when found as an undergrowth with sugar maple, black walnut, burr, oak, etc.

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