Box 4, Folder 1: Typewritten Letters 1857-1859

1093- 1857.

THE FOREST TREES OF WISCONSIN

By I.A. Lapham

(Vol. 4, Trans. Wis. State Agr. Soc., 1857.)

That the great Forest and Forest Trees of our country are worthy of much more attention, not only from the cultivator, but also from the artisan and even the statesman, is evident to evident to every one who bestows upon them a thought; and its gratifying to every true and intelligent lover of his country, to know that the recent efforts made to direct public attention to their importance, to the importance of their preservation and to the necessity of providing for their restoration where they are already destroyed, have been to a considerable degree successful. We may hope to see the time when many of our farmers and landowners will deem it a part of their duty to plant trees. Should this be done to any considerable extent their successors, at least, will have cause to honor and respect the forethought that preserved and handed down to them, their full share of this great source of national wealth.

The dense forests have a marked effect upon the climate of the country in several ways. They protect our houses and our cattle from the rigors of the north winds of winter, and from the fierceness of the burning sun of summer. They preserve the moisture of the ground, and of the air; and render parchment and uniform the flow of water in springs, brooks and rivers. By the fall of their leaves, branches and trunks they restore to the soil those elements of vegetable life and growth, that would without this natural process, soon become exhausted, leaving the soil barren and unproductive. Their leaves absorb the carbonic acid from the atmosphere and restore to it the oxygen; thus rendering it more

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pure and better suited for respiration by men and animals. Without this restoration agency all animal life would long since have ceased to exist.

The uses to which wood and other products of the forest are applied are very numerous and various; but so well known to everybody that it would be useless to enumerate them here. With us, wood is consumed largely for fuel, for building houses and other structures, for shipbuilding, fencing, furniture, and for the construction and repairs of Railroads and Plank roads. It is used for many implements of husbandry and of the household; for making barrels, wagons, carriages and for charcoal. Large quantities are annually consumed in the smelting of iron, lead and copper. The working of wood gives employment for numerous artisans, tradesmen and laborers. The quantity of wood annually consumed in the United States must be enormous.

Few persons can realize its extent or the amount we owe to the native forests of our country for the capital and wealth our people are now enjoying. Without the fuel, the buildings, the fences, furniture and thousand utensils and machines of every kind, the principal materials for which are taken directly from our forests, we should be reduced to a condition of destitution and barbarism.

Trees, besides being useful are ornamental -- they enter largely into the material of the landscape gardener. Desolate indeed would be our dwellings were their environs entirely treeless. They are associated with our early recollections -- they become in a great degree companions of our lives; and we unconsciously form

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strong attachments for such grow near our homes -- thus increasing our love of home and improving our hearts.

It therefore becomes a duty to study these noble specimens of vegetable growth; we should know what [what] trees we already have in Wisconsin, and what kinds it would be advisable to introduce. Every farmer at least should be familiar with the trees that grow in his woods; and know enough of botany and vegetable physiology to be able to preserve them from harm or injury. He should study to keep up a supply that shall always be equal to the demand, as the intelligent farmer strives to supply annually to the soil (by manures or otherwise) the exhausted elements, so he should provide for an annual growth of wood that shall be at least equal to the amount consumed.

We propose in the following pages to give so much of the botanical characters of the sixty trees indigenous to our state, as will enable any one by the aid of the illustrations to distinguish them with certainty; and also such general information in regard to their several uses, as will tend to call attention to the importance of the subject. A large volume would be required to contain all that could be desired in regard to these trees.

Though we have at present in almost every part of Wisconsin an abundant supply of wood for all our present purposes, the time is not far distant when, owing to the increase of population and the increased demand from the neighboring states of Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota a scarcity will begin to be felt. This scarcity may be considered as already begun in several of the counties along our southern border, where there was originally much prairie and open land. In these counties the annual fires being presented by

-1096- / 1867. settlement and occupation, trees are now springing up rapidly in all waste places; and in this way nature is already making efforts to prevent the disasters we are thoughtlessly bringing upon oursel[-] ves by the destruction of the forests.

These new growths should be protected as much as possible --in many cases by a good substantial fence. The value of these waste places will be, in a few year, greater than that of the cultivated land; and this with but very little cost to the owners. * **

From a recent report of the Board of Agriculture of the State of Massachusetts, we learn that the experiment of tree planting has already been tried in that state. Mr. Whiting Metcalf planted pitch pines twenty years ago, when he was nearly sixty years of age, and he still lives to reap the mental satisfaction and pecuniary returns, from the entirely successful experiment. From one and three fourth acres ten cords of small wood was thinned out; and there is left about fifteen cords per acre of good merchantable wood. It is estimated that the annual growth will be equal to at least one cord per acre hereafter; and that the result will be a profit of thirty per cent. per annum upon the cost of the land[insert space]and of the original planting. * * * This subject, the protection of our houses, gardens, yards, stock and crops, from the cold blasts of winter, is one of great importance to the farmers of Wisconsin, and should induce the immediate planting of trees where they are needed, even if there were no other reason for doing so. I have, under several of the species, indicated the character of the trees that [handwritten] renders them useful for this purpose. Of course, the more rapid growing trees will first be planted, so as to secure, as soon as possible, the expected benefits; but these should always

1097- / 1857. be mingled with others of slower growth and greater value. As the latter gradually attain their maturity, the former may be removed to supply the annual demand. By this planting different kinds of trees together, we secure a mere rapid and better growth; for experience shows that trees when growing together mutually protect each other, and produce timber that is better--being more straight, solid and free from knots. Evergreens should be planted with trees of deciduous kings; but care must be taken to prevent the too great interference of the branches. * * *

The loss of a large number of trees transplanted from the woods and nurseries is owing to improper treatment, and might be avoided by a little attention to some of the most obvious principles of vegetable physiology. Large numbers of evergreen trees are annually brought from the northern part of this state, from Mackinac &c., but not one in ten of such trees usually survive the careless process of removal.

The proper way to remove trees from their native places in the wood, is to cover the roots as soon as taken from the ground with damp (not wet) moss, which can be secured with twine. By adopting this course, nearly every tree, with careful management after planting will live. It would be well for every one about to procure trees from the north to remember this hint. The trees can be packed in open boxes and thus easily transported. Every raft floating down our rivers, at the proper season, could be made the means of supplying the country with evergreen trees [trees], by a little attention to [the letter "m" crossed out] the above suggestions. * * *

Doubtless many farmers and landholders are deterred from engaging in tree-planting, from a want of knowledge and skill in