Our Forests the Great Assistant to Fertility.

To the Editor of the _Standard._ Sor,--I should like to address a few words to your readers on a very important subject--that of the relation of forests, woods, or even of lines of trees to the fertility of the adjacent land. It has been thoroughly observed and is a matter of history that those countries such as Syria, Spain, parts of Italy and France, and many another where forested land was altogether or chiefly deprived of its trees, grew less and less fertile, some portions becoming altogether barren. And this being observed, some of these, by replanting, are now, after about fifty years of gradual improvement, becoming fertile again. The reasons are these. Where a country is deprived of its trees, rain falling, passes away at once over the surface in torrents carrying with it much of the best soil to the lakes and rivers. Where woods abound, moisture is held for a long period, passing gradually away in creeks, water courses and the numerous underground channels of the earth, thus preserving the ground its great assistant to growth--its natural moisture. Where, too, there is no shelter from rapid winds, ground dries out very quickly, and thus loses the benefit of such rains as may have fallen much sooner than, with shelter, would have been the case. There is, too, another and very important cause. The presence of woods tends so to distribute the yearly rainfall, as to give, during the growing season, many refreshing showers--showers which would otherwise have added their amount to the heavy rains of spring and summer which are of course not so valuable. These reasons have given foundations for the statement made by those who have considered the subject that a country one-third or even one-fourth in woods will give more crops with less labor than one totally cleared. I would suggest that it should be the endeavour of every one to keep some portion of forest on his farm. To do this, it will be found of very great assistance to exclude cattle. If necessary a portion of woods may be reserved for them, not not the portion it is intended should remain in permanent forest. To keep a piece of wood in good reproductive condition, it should retain its soft leaf-bed over the ground, and should have a great many young trees springing up in all directions ready to replace the older ones in time, and in the meanwhile, to prevent the forest bed drying up and getting into grass, and to shade the trunks of the larger trees from sun and wind. Both of these objects, cattle if allowed admittance, will destroy they will trample and harden the leaf-bed and destroy the young trees. I would also recomment the planting of lines of evergreen trees along the exposed sides of a farm--say the north and west. These have proved of very great service in protecting the fall wheat and colver in winter, by diminishing the drifting snow, and have also been of much assistance in giving shelter from wind both in winter and summer. Evergreens are easily propogated if planted in the last week in May or the first in June, and care taken to keep the roots covered and moist between digging and planting. Yours, &c., R. W. Phipps.