Part 11 (2/2)
One of the first questions asked by a man who is thinking of buying a farm is about the water supply. He wants to know whether there are wells, springs, or living streams on the place. Almost everything depends upon the water supply. If there is an abundance, the farmer is likely to be prosperous. When he is prosperous all the rest of us are prosperous, no matter what our business is.
Are you not ready now to say that the Swiss are right in not permitting tree cutting upon any land except under the supervision of a forester?
The careless removal of the forests from the mountain slopes may affect the farmer in the valley fifty miles away. Do you not think that this farmer is very much interested in the management of the forest, although he does not own a foot of it?
Trouble always follows the destruction of the forests on the headwaters of the streams.
CHAPTER TWENTY
HOW OUR GOVERNMENT IS HELPING TO SAVE THE FORESTS
As long as the forest shall live, The streams shall flow onward, still singing Sweet songs of the woodland, and bringing The bright, living waters that give New life to all mortals who thirst.
But the races of men shall be cursed.
Yea, the hour of destruction shall come To the children of men in that day When the forest shall pa.s.s away; When the low woodland voices are dumb; And death's devastation and dearth Shall be spread o'er the face of the earth.
Avenging the death of the wood, The turbulent streams shall outpour Their vials of wrath, and no more Shall their banks hold back the high flood, Which shall rush o'er the harvests of men; As swiftly receding again.
Lo! after the flood shall be dearth, And the rain no longer shall fall On the parching fields; and a pall, As of ashes, shall cover the earth; And dust-clouds shall darken the sky; And the deep water wells shall be dry.
And the rivers shall sink in the ground, And every man cover his mouth From the thickening dust, in that drouth; Fierce famine shall come; and no sound Shall be borne on the desolate air.
But a murmur of death and despair.
ALEXANDER BLAIR THAW, _The Pa.s.sing of the Forest_; in _Century Magazine_, June, 1907
For many years it was thought the forests were inexhaustible and needed no special care. The national government encouraged people to acquire forest land and practically gave away 160 acres to every one who would build a cabin upon the land and live there for a short time.
Suddenly some of the wise people among us awoke to a realization of what was going on. They discovered that the forests were going very fast and that soon we should have none if something were not done. Between the fires that swept them every year and the wasteful lumbering, the forests were in a fair way to leave us as they had the wasteful and careless peoples of other parts of the world.
How fortunate it is that some of us did look ahead before it was too late; for, although the Eastern forests have largely disappeared, there still remain millions of acres of government-owned forests in the West.
These forests have now been withdrawn from sale and are to be held for the use and benefit of all. They are not to be permitted to pa.s.s into the hands of a few, to be cut and sold for private gain.
Our government is acting like a wise father who is interested in the welfare of his children, and who understands the need of taking care of their treasures until they are wise enough to manage them for themselves.
We are all concerned in many ways in the welfare of the forests. Whether we own any forest land or not, we are affected by the way in which the trees are managed. Because we are all dependent more or less upon the forests, they should be regarded as the property of us all, just as the air and water are. But because some of us do not yet know how, or do not care, to protect them, it is best that the government should do so for us.
[Ill.u.s.tration: _American Forestry a.s.sociation_ These men are replanting a mountain slope from which fire once swept the forest.]
It may be that you live in a brick, or stone house and burn coal in your stoves. You think that it makes no difference to you whether or not there are any forests. But stop and think a moment. Are you sure that you are really independent of them? How many things do you use every day that are made of wood? The list is surely a long one. If wood is rare and expensive, the articles which are made of it add to your cost of living and allow you less money for other things.
Let us suppose for a moment that you have no use for wood in any form.
Will this take away all interest that you may have in the forests? In any event you are dependent upon the fertility of your fields for the food that you require. Now, if there is a lumber company stripping the mountains at the head of the river upon which your home is situated, and as a result of clearing the timber from the slopes the floods become worse, your garden is buried beneath gravel and sand, and your orchard washed away, will you not think it _does_ make a difference to you in what way the forests are treated?
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