xt7sxk84jq28 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7sxk84jq28/data/mets.xml Kentucky. State Geologist. 1882  books b97-20-37305203 English Stereotyped for the survey by Major, Johnston & Barrett, Yeoman Press, : Frankfort, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Botany Kentucky.Linney, W. M. (William M.) Report on the botany of Madison, Lincoln, Garrard, Washington, and Marion Counties, Kentucky  / by W.M. Linney. text Report on the botany of Madison, Lincoln, Garrard, Washington, and Marion Counties, Kentucky  / by W.M. Linney. 1882 2002 true xt7sxk84jq28 section xt7sxk84jq28 









GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF KENTUCKY.



JOHN R.



PROCTER, DIRECTOR.



        REPORT

            ON


THE BOTANY

           OF



MADISON, LINCOLN, GARRARD, WASHING-
     TON, AND MARION COUNTIES,
             KENTUCKY.


           BY W. M. LINNEY.



STEREOTYPED FOR THE SURVEY BY MAJOR, JOHNSTON  BARRETT, YEOMAN PRESS, TRANKPORT, KY.

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INTRODUCTORY LETTER.



                     HARRODSBURG, Ky., December, I882.
HON. JOHN R. PROCTER,
               Director of the Kentucky Geologieal Survey.
  DEAR SIR: Inclosed you will find a catalogue of the plants
met with in the counties of Madison, Garrard, Lincoln, Wash-
inigton, and Marion. With the list are some notes of general
2nd specific characters. If at times I have written feelingly,
it is because no man who loves and studies plant life can gaze
on its wanton destruction without emotion.
  Could I have written as I have sometimes felt, it would
1i.ive been a stronger plea to every heart to stop the wasteful
dcstruction of our native plants. Illustrating from them, such
a plea should have the grandeur of an oak, the solidity of a
beech, the s/-engt/h of a hickory, and withal, the finish of wa/nut.
It should also combine the beauty of /he rose, the moodesty of the
VAOl't, the gracefulness of the fern, the purity of the lily, and
the/ragrance of the mint,
                              Respectfully,
                                       W. M. LINNEY.

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REPORT ON THE BOTANY OF MADISON, LIN-
         COLN, GARRARD, WASHINGTON,
              AND MARION COUNTIES.



                       INTRODUCTION.
  No one subject connected with our material prosperity
deserves more attention and a closer investigation than that
of the vegetative life which covers the earth. Considered
only in the light of natural productions, plants and plant life
are sources of varied knowledge to the student, and afford
many pleasures to the mind. There can be no higher mental
enjoyment than the satisfaction of feeling that, in passing
through life, we have gathered to ourselves some lessons
taught by the trees of the forests, the grains of the fields, or
the smaller plants which surround us everywhere. There is
im subject by which the mind can be better disciplined for
thought, there is no field from which so many illustrations
can be drawn, and there is no branch of science by which
the mind can be more broadened and liberalized, and the
observing powers strengthened than that of botany. There
is so much to be learned from the habits and growth and dis-
tribution of plants, that no man should be content unless he
has acquainted himself to some extent with some of the pecu-
liarities and resources of vegetable life.
  Besides the enjoyments derived from an investigation of
the beauties and singular habits of plants, they are studied
in their adaptation to the more personal and general relations
they bear to the economy of our daily lives. To an almost
unlimited extent, they enter into the health and comfort and
pleasure of our every hour. It is to plant life that we look
for protection and shelter through the inclemencies of sea-
sons. It is from plant life that we derive the larger part of
the food which feeds us in hunger and the clothing which

 

BOTANY OF MADISON, LINCOLN, GARRARD,



enwraps from  nakedness and cold; and it is to plant life,
when the diseases incident to life overtake us, that we turn
for remedies which shall restore us to health.
  Beyond the study of vegetation as an intellectual pleasure
or as elements of personal welfare, there is another and more
universal phase-the preservation of the race of mankind.
Of all the forces of nature, no one plays a more I important
part than does the plant life of the world.  lhie formation and
stability of climates, the distribution and preservation of inois-
tures, the-control and destruction of poisonous gases, anid the
preparation and protection of soils, are only some of the offices
which plant life perform in the economy of nature. As man
has the power to destroy all plants, he is fitted to make the
surface of the earth, by his intelligent care, a smiling garden
-or, by his ignorant destruction, a terrible desert. From an
ignorance of those laws fair countries have been destroyed
and depopulated, and the same destructive influences are still
at work.
  With the above facts before it, the State Legislature re-
quired that during the investigation of the Geological Survey,
the trees and smaller plants should receive some attention
from its members. Every note written on a. subject adds
some new value to it; one man does but little towards the
investigation of any one subject. Each man is apt to examine
one class of phenomena and pass the others by. In the brief
notes appended, a few facts gathered here and there are pre-
sented. The list of flowering plants and ferns is far from
being complete. The whole flora of a region can only be
made out by the work of local botanists. It requires the
constant work of years. Yet the notes and catalogue arc
of sqme value, for they add a mite to the work done, and to that
which is to be completed in the future.

   ORIGIN AND INTRODUCTION OF TIMBERS.
   It is impossible to determine from whence the original tim-
bers of this region were derived, and how much they have
been changed from their original characters. But it is proba-



6

 

WASHINGTON, AND MAtION COUNTIES.



ble that soon after the beginning of the uplift of the CUMBER-
LAND FOLD and the KENTUCKY ANTICLINAL, some of the species
may have sprung up on the accumulating islands; and it seems
possible, from the peculiar distribution of the pines in Eastern
and Central Kentucky, that the cone-bearing trees may have
been amongst the first introduced. The peculiar habitat of the
yellow-wood, found only at two or three stations in the 'Fate,
and those on the disturbances mentioned above, would seem
to place it among the original trees. Some species must have
been distributed very slowly until the introduction of animals
and man. Both of those agencies must have had much to do
with the distribution of certain, trees which bear edible fruits.
  There are certain evidences that appeal to the senses-and
ve seem to have but little occasion to describe them-which
make it appear that the distribution of some plants, like the
hickory, walnut, oak, black haw, persimmon, etc., was to some
extent the work of the ancient "1 Mound-Builders." We do
not know that any attention has been given to this theory, but
it is worthy of some attention. Outside of the influences of
wind and water in the dissemination of plants and the acci-
dental dropping of seed by man, the various species of rodents
appear as the great propagators of some species. We think
probably, from our own observations, that more than ninety
per cent. of the young hickory and walnut trees that come up
in the lorests, now, have been planted by squirrels. Those
animals will bury great numbers in a single season to prevent
their destruction by freezing and other causes, and that their
shells may be softened. As they are placed at the right depth
to germinate well, and are selected for their soundness, it is
evident that if the animals are killed or driven away, that all
these nuts come up; without such agency, only an accident
would so cover them under the surface that they could ger-
minate. Nuts are often carried long distances from where
they grew, and dropped in places favorable for germination.
The little striped ground-squirrel has something to do with
the planting of acorns, etc., and perhaps the wood-mice are
not unimportant seed-sowers.



7

 


BOTANY OF MADISON, LINCOLN, GARRARD,



        ORIGINAL CONDITION OF TIMBERS.
  When Boone and his companions first entered Kentucky,
this part of the State was an extensive forest, only broken
by the channels of the streams, and the few lick-regions, which
had been denuded by the tramping of buffaloes and deer,
while in quest of saline matters contained in the earth. From
the fringes of sycamores, maples, and elms which skirted the
banks of the Kentucky and Salt rivers, to the pines and
mountain chestnut oaks on top of Big Hill, there was one
wide sweep of magnificent trees, including many species. InI
this forest were long reaches where grew but little under-
growth; and then there were places where shrubs 'clustered inl
clumps; and then again, there were large cane-brakes almost
impenetrable. Grape vines of massive thickness climbed the
tallest trees, and flowers smiled from every nook.
  Altitudes had little, here, to do with the distribution of
the trees; only two natural conditions seem to have modified
their disposition: one of minor importance-the quantity of
moisture; and the other of much consequence-the character
of the soil. The last was such an important factor, that had
the earlier emigrants to Kentucky been possessed of greater
knowledge, the best regions would have been first selected
for occupancy. But, instead of this, many parties passed over
the richest soils and settled on the very poorest.
  Very few trees habitually grow along the banks of streams
and other wet places, that are confined to this isolated coildi-
tion; they may, in their natural state, be in unbroken forests;
but as latilds are tleared up and soils become drier, they adapt
themselves largely to the changed conditions. For instance,
sycainores and white elmns seem  naturally adapted to wet
places. Yet now, young trees of both species may be seen
coming up and growing in very dry situations. As much may
be said in reference to the water maple and the water beech.
They are species, however, which are here confined to damp
situations. The green ash we have never seen except where
its roots could reach running water; the box-elder grows only



8

 


WASHINGTON, AND MARION COUNTIES.



in very moist situations; the yellow-wood grows for some
distance only on the moist talus from the cliffs of Dix and
KentLtucky rivers  We have not in the region seen a single
birch; and its absence seems remarkable. The willows are,
of course, moisture-loving trees; but it seems impossible to
determine now whether they were indigenous.
  When we come to study the distribution of species over the
different geological formations of the region, we have a sub-
ject which is worthy of a more careful investigation than it has
received. It is a subject which should be studied separately
and with ample time. When all the observing powers can be
thus given tt one subject, the mind is not distracted and every
minute fact is noted.
  In the Reports made on the Geology of the various coun-
ties represented in this region, the rocks were divided into the
following groups: beginning with the upper and ending ,with
the lower:
                              Coal Measures.
      Carboni ferous, -     Upper Subcarboni ferous.
                              Lower Subcarboniferous.
      Devoiiian,  -   -  f Black Slate.
                              Corniferous Limestones.
                              U  Crab Orchard Shales.
      Upper Silurian, - -   Medina Sandstone.
                              Upper Hudson River Beds.
                              Middle Hudson River Beds.
      Lower Silurian,  -    Lower Hudson River Beds.
                              Trenton Limestones.
                              Birdseye Limestones.
                              Chazy Limestones.
  Chazy Limestones.-'rhis series of rocks is only seen
in the steep escarpments which rise above Kentucky river,
Dix river, and some of the smaller streams that enter them,
atnd the conditions would not seem favorable for preserv-
ing any marked characteristics in the distribution of plants.
But even here some peculiarity is observed. On nio other
soils have we been able to see any individual of the follow-
ing species: yellow-wood, wafer-ash, round-leaved catchfly,



9

 

BOTANY OF MADISON, LINCOLN, GARRARD,



prickly wild gooseberry, white enslenia, corky white elm, or
the wall-rue spleenwort. The latter we have observed many
times, and always as occupying a station on a single heavy
layer of limestone, following its dip up or down the river, but
never growing on other ledges.
  Birdseye Limestones. This group, like the last, is
seen only near the streams mentioned, making some few soils,
but covered sparsely with trees other than the red cedlar.
This tree still grows in immense numbers and of the finest
quality, single specimens having been seen twenty-eight to
thirty inches in diameter. The peculiar home of the cedar
seems to be on the limestone soils, and the purity of the
Birdseye series seems to bring it to its greatest perfection.
  Trenton Limestones.-The Trenton Limestones, in
their different classes of soil-making rocks, had distributed
over them different associations of plants. Over the deep
silicious clay soils peculiar to the base of these rocks white
oak, yellow poplar, and beech were the principal species,
giving out in a large measure, however, when these aluminouis
soils gave place to either the Birdseye group below or the
Blue Grass beds above. Measured by their general di-stri-
bution here, none of the above-mentioned trees are well
adapted to calcareous soils, but, on the other hand, require
clay soils, which contain a proportion of silicious elements.
The old people of the country tell of the remarkable belts
of white oak, beech and poplar, which originally grew over
some parts of these counties now denuded of forests. These
areas can yet be outlined by the character of the small wood-
lands not yet destroyed and by the extension of the soils on
which they grew.
  Over the Blue Grass beds, the forests were particularly
marked with blue-ash, white elm, white chestnut-oak, maple,
wild cherry, basswood, coffee-tree, large-fruited shell-bark hick-
ory, hackberry, and mulberry. A variety of other trees grew
with them, but not often in great numbers. The blue-ash and
wild cherry sometimes made up fifty percent. of the trees. These



IO

 


WASHINGTON, AND MARION COUNTIES.



soils, lying in comparative levels, were rich, black, calcareous
loams. In noting such trees on other groups, they seemed
to require near the same conditions of soil which existed here.
  The Upper Birdseye beds, with a return of very pure lime-
stonies. were marked, like the lower rocks of the same name,
with cedars, which either rooted themselves in the crevices
of tlih rocks and grew somewhat stunted, or, where the soil
wais deeper, they flourished as large trees. In each of the
horizons marked by this species, and so far 'mentioned, there
are layers of chert in the limestones; how much this has
affected the growth and character of the wood, it is impossible
to say.

  Lower Hudson River Beds.-The heavy clays at the
base of these beds are marked usually with post-oak and
laurel oak; and it is a very unusual thing to see a single tree
of either of these species at any other horizon over the whole
Silurian (Lower) formation. Why those two species should
adapt themselves exclusively to the soils derived from forty or
fifty feet of clay shales that do not seem to show any different
character from several other horizons, it would be interesting
to know. Altitude certainly had not influenced them; for all
the other beds may be seen at the same actual elevation.
Moisture could not have influenced their station; for these
soils are not wetter or drier than others. There must be
some peculiarity in the chemical constituency of these lime-
stones and shales to have so influenced them. The whole
group was covered with white oak, sometimes to the almost
entire exclusion of every other species; and from all the evi-
dences now to be seen, and from the information gained from
others, this species amounted to at least fifty per cent. of the
original forest oii the Lower Hudson River beds. The white
oak outranks in worth all the other species of timber trees in
the State, as it is especially adapted to so many uses, some
of which cannot well be supplemented by the others. This
belt of trees of large sizes and of the most valuable characters
extended through the whole region, and each county had a



I I

 


BOTANY OF MADISON, LINCOLN, GARRARD,



reasonable, share. There is enough of it in the small patches
of trees left here and there to give some idea of its original
imposing features. There were usually over this series argil-
laceous soils with but little loam; but where the rich leaf-mold
had been collected in deep hollows and on the protected
northern slopes, some other species prevailed over the white
oak.
  Middle Hudson River Beds.-This division of rocks
and soils followed the contour of the last-mentioned group,
'and -was almost universally characterized by the presence of
beeches. In places, these trees were equal to at least ninety
per cent. of all the individuals in the woods. Usually. how-
ever, there were many yellow poplars, and in these soils they
attained their largest size and their best quality. No tree ill
the State had grown to larger proportions than this, the most
valued here of all the soft woods. Sometimes where the inter-
calated limestones of these beds spread out for some distance,
sugar maples grew in thick set clumps, and the finest sugar
orchards we have ever seen were on these soils. In certain
places, also, were to be seen more or less white oak; but
taking it all together, it was preeminently a vast beech forest.

  Upper Hudson River Beds. It is but few steps from
the Middle on to the Upper Hudson River beds; and with
those steps was an almost absolute change in the distribution
of the trees. At the base was a return to the conditions
existing in the Blue Grass beds-the presence of the rich,
black, calcareous soils, and an absence of those deep silicious
clays which marked the growth of beech, poplar, and white
oak. lIi their place were long stretches of blue-ash, white
oak. wild cherry, scaly-bark hickory, yellow chestnut oak,
white walnut, and hackberry. The white oak, beech, and
poplar were almost absent over these soils, and the distribu-
tion very much like, but still distinct from, that of the Blue
Grass beds. But it may be repeated here, that those two
soils are the best in the State, and that the distribution of the
timbers, mentioned in connection with them, marked the out-



12

 

WASHINGTON, AND MARION COUNTIES.



crops of the most valuable lands. Above these nearly pure
calcareous soils were some heavy clay beds that gave a return
to a region almost exclusively of white oak. This belt was
not a wide one, being included in small areas within a narrow
range; but its longitudinal extension was as great as that of
the others. Mixed timbers were over the remainder of the
division, in what proportion and of what species we have not
notes to determine.
  Medina Sandstone.-The characteristic trees on the
Medina Sandstone were oaks, and those with thick tomentous
leaves, like post-oak and Spanish oak, largely predominated.
In fact, those species seem tlo have marked the limits of this
silicious series. -The white oak was in respectable numbers,
never growing to a very large size, but producing very good
tough wood. Red cedar was quite a plentiful growth on these
soils; while large sassafras was in greater numbers than on
other groups.
  Crab Orchard     Shales.-Those shales were usually
wet and decomposed to a considerable depth, making quite a
contrast to the thin loose soils of the Medina, and produced
another change in the distribution of plant life. Here sweet
gum was first seen, and with it the following unusual assem-
blage of trees: white elm, white oak, post-oak, red oak,
yellow chestnut oak, burr oak, red maple, shell-bark hickory,
black walnut, honey-locust, sycamore, and box-elder. The
sweet gum grew to very fair proportions, while the others
ranked well in size and quality.
  Corniferous Limestones.-While marking a belt
through all of the counties of this district, the lateral exten-
sion of the soils derived from the Corniferous is very limited.
The cherty fragments overlie, and are often mixed with, other
soils in tracts of some extent; but as purely derived soils,
they are too narrow in range for the past relation of their
timbers to be studied. They seem to have been well marked
with sugar-maple, as is a common fact where limestones are in
ledges on and near the surface and the drainage is good.



13

 


BOTANY OF MADISON, LINCOLN, GARRARD,



  Bllok 3Slate.-The Black Slate through this region has
severtl phases-one where the shale is level and not well
drained, and the other where are well drained slopes. The
first had many glady places with small trees of white oak, red
oak, black oak, laurel oak, and post-oak. The last'was well
defined, with'a beech forest, in which some white oak, poplar,
red oak, and other species grew. Sweet gum, in patches here
and there, was a common tree.

  Lower Subarbonfferous.-This formation, which con-
stitutes nearly the whole surface of the so-called Knobs, which
lie on the south side of this region, is well outlined in all the
counties of the district, with the exception of Washington.
The soils were not valuable for-the better purposes of agri-
culture; but they possessed a great variety of trees, many val-
uable species growing to good size and desirable qualities.
With the exception of the top of Big Hill, and one or two
other high points in Madison county, pines, chestnut., moun-
tain chestnut oak, sour-wood, laurel, and some other species,
were exclusively confined to those soils. Fine poplar, white
oak, white ash, black gum, white hickory. walnuiit. maple, and
basswood were everywhere. Besides those, many shrubs,
vines, and flowers were restricted alone to these soils.

  Upper Subcarboniferous.-The limestones of the
upper' part of the Subcarboniferous group make several
classed of soils, but they are restricted in their development
here, and do not, as a consequence, give much latitude for an
investigation of the peculiarities of the plant life over them.
White oak, red oak, scarlet oak, black jack oak, Spanish oak,
post-oak, walnut, hickory, ash, and poplar were the principal
trees. The black jack oak was nearly confined to this geo-
logical horizon; the scarlet oak was rarely seen away from it,
but the cedar was distributed over the more exposed beds
of heavy limestones.

  Cool Meas    e.-The restricted areas, where remains of
the conglomerate sandstones and the carboniferous shales had



14

 


WASHINGTON, AND MARION COUNTIES.



been left from erosion, gave little evidence of the distribution
common to those soils where they are more extensive. The
yellow pine and the cucumber tree were two species which
marked the peculiarities of these soils; while poplar, oak,
chestnut, and some other species, were distributed with them.

  Exceptions.-In Washington county, at a point situated
nearly thirty miles from the nearest outcrop of the Lower
Subcarboniferous, are several mountain chestnut oaks; they
were native to the soil, and presented no differences inl char-
acter from those seen in their usual habitat. They grew on
calcareous clay soils, and it is the only instance where we have
met them or heard of them on lower groups than the Sub-
carboniferous series. In the lower part of Garrard county,
situated on the Trenton Limestones, are several cucumber
trees growing, but they are rooted in beds which have. wasted
from the conglomerate sandstone. We have seen several
chestnut trees which were indigenous to the localities on the
Trenton north of the KENTUCKY ANTICLINAL, but they grew
also among the silicious remains of the Coal Measures. In
Garrard county is an isolated knob, containing Lower Subcar-
boniferous shales, and fourteen miles from any remains of
the same formation; it has on it, now, quite a number of moun-
tain chestnut oaks. Formerly, the chestnut grew with them,
yet neither of those species had spread on to the lower soils
around them. The closeness with which some species retain
their habitats on particular soils is an evidence that they
require exact conditions or almost definite compounds for their
food.

            DESTRUCTION OF TIMBERS.
  There is no truer aphorism than "d Man marks the earth
with ruin." The boasted axe of civilization () has swept like
" a besom of destruction" through the grand old forests, and
its sound is still heard on the air, ringing the death-knell of
every tree whose faill will add a penny to the pocket of
avarice.



r 5

 


BOTANY OF MADISON, LINCOLN, GARRARD,



  A careful, intelligent clearing of forests is -all right; but an
ignorant destruction of the plant life of any locality is all
wrong. One hundred years is not much in the life of some
nations; but a hundred years from the opening up of a coun-
try covered with a wealth of plant life, is too short a time for
such widespread destruction as marks the timbers of this
country.
  Had there been a power to control, and an intelligence to
direct the clearing of forests for agricultural purposes, and the
preservation of young trees in given conditions, this region
would have been the fairest under the skies. H ill-sides now
washed into deep hollows and covered with loose blocks of
stone, would have been clothed in valuable trees. Licks
which exhibit nothing but utter desolation, would have been
robed in green. Creeks whose beds are either raging tor-
rents or dry gulches, would have been hemmed with a garni-
ture of shade " over purling waters' flow." Springs of sweet
water would have gushed forth under leafy trees and amidst
blooming flowers, where now only muddy seeps are seen.
Along the margin of rivers, where wide bottoms extended, a
strip of forest would have protected the rich fieldls, where now
the freshet tears away the fruitful lands. Where now stand
ragged clumps of injured and dying trees, long lines of valua-
ble timbers would have shed their moisture to the thirsty air.
Where great fields of corn are now grown, to be distilled into
death, flowers and orchards would have wafted their perfumes
on every breeze.
  For want of system and intelligence, despoliation has been
the rule. - Lands, which should have been left as wood nur-
series for all time, have had their protecting trees removed,
and the soils have been carried away by the action of water.
Streams on which old men have gone to mill, or from which
they have drawn fish in their youth, "s are numbered with the
things that were;" and where springs bubbled and flowers
bloomed in sweetness, offensive slop-yards now "1 smell to
heaven."



I6

 

WASHINGTON, AND MARION COUNTIES.



  So far we have only written of the destruction over the
parts of those counties, which have been almost denuded of
their trees, for farming purposes. When we come to examine
the timbers of those regions that are above the Corniferous
Limestones, the destruction has not been so large. The val-
uable trees have mostly been culled out, while the poorer
ones have been left, because there was no demand for themn.
Each day sees the better ones going; and it is only a question
of a very few years, when not a tree of value will be left.
But, if even the last desirable tree of sufficient age for lumber
had been destroyed, the loss would not have been irreparable,
had they been removed with care. Over the entire section
young trees remain, and in time would be of value, if any
care were given them; but it is not done. In the destruction
of one single tree, through ignorance and carelessness, often
a hundred young ones are either destroyed or forever injured.
  Sometimes, persons passing through the woods gash every
tree which comes within reach of axe or hatchet. Roads are
cut in every direction, requiring the demolition of thousands
of fine young trees. Wagons and logs are dragged over
them, bending, breaking, and bruising every shrub or sprout
in the way. 'fhe whole region has been nearly dismantled of
its chestnut oak. The bark has been taken away, and the
remainder-trunk and branches-lie rotting on the ground.
The poplars and the walnuts are about gone; and the white
oaks are fast following in their wake. Hundreds are felled in
a few days; those that hre good have two or three sections
cut fromn them, and the trunks and branches are left to decay.
If others are not found to be so good in timber when felled,
they are left to rot with the trunks and branches of the others.
If we pass through those regions, we see otl every side the
most mischievous waste or the most criminal destruction.
  But the evil does not end yet; for often among the felled
tops and withered shrubs, fires are lighted by careless or
vicious hands, to 'sweep in conflagrations among the dead
waste, the prepared lumber and the green trees. Sometimes
these fires burn for weeks till the clouds, more merciful than
    GEOLOG. SUMR.-2



17

 

BOTANY OF MADISON, LINCOLN, GARRARD,



man, send rain to arrest the desolation. It has sometimes
occurred that the leaves have been set on fire that a few
chestnuts might be gathered, and, in consequence, many acres
of land have been burned over, entailing utter extermination
of the young growth.-

                  POLITICAL INJURY.
  Over part of this region there have been injuries of a differ-
ent character, and which have extended over whole counties
in the State, outside of this district. They have grown out of
the extension of railroads through or near some of the wooded
regions, where farms and pastures had been opened, but still
surrounded by an almost untouched forest. The farms, with
all farming and stock-raising interests, have been neglected,
and every man almost has gone into some kind of timber
destruction-tan-bark, hoop-poles, cross-ties, lumber, etc.
Young men are led from home and its quiet agricultural
pursuits, and few ever return.  The introduction of vicious
elements bring ruin in morals and manners; and the aged
are dependent on their own exertions.  What were once
smiling farms and happy homes too often are now but neg-
lected fields and saddened firesides.
  The lands ruined of their timbers have become almost
worthless; farms overgrown with weeds, and pastures dis-
regarded, have decreased in value. All these are direct and
baneful losses to the State. The money received for those
timbers has rarely been retained. It has gone into the pock-
ets of speculators from a distance, or been spent in supplying
the losses from the destruction of farming interests. The
lands are poorer, the citizens are more needy, and the State is
a loser. Had intelligence ruled, those lands would have been
a continuous source of wealth to the people; the farms would
have been improved with some of the proceeds of the forests
cut at the proper time, and a part would have been invested
in good teachers, books, and other means of improvement.
which make hormes brighter Old people more intellectual and
happier.

 

WASHINGTON, AND MARION COUNTIES.



   Other countries have been so despoiled of their forests and
 afflicted with the consequent evils, that their governments
 have had to extend the strong arm of the law, take possession
 of all the timber growth, and protect what has been left from
 ultimate destruction. They have also encouraged its restora-
 tion under wise provisions, until the people could be taughlt to
 take care of it for themselves. It seems that here the. same
 course will have to be taken, and the sooner the better for the
 good of both the individual and the Commonwealth. This is
 the only remedy. People educate themselves slowly, and the
 fostering care and encouragement given by the State to edu-
 cation is not, by any means, too generous.
 States pass bills creating sanitary commissions and boards
 of health; but neither State, commissioners, or boards prevent
 the accumulations of sawdust in towns and country, which rots
 and festers in the rain and sunshine, breeding disease and
 death among the people. A State may provide agents and
 money t