THE questions, how long, at the present rate of waste and j.- to«\J"" »"l»*AA VOU AIAVL WAXW DMMNU OCTT ****** , <•*«**. TW OHWO eww HVtWHViWK rapidly. This affords unmistakable evidence that it can not be long before our woods and forests will have totally disappeared.

Not very long ago, fanners were careful of their wood lot-indeed, it was regarded as the most precious portion of their farm; now, as a general thing, its value consists ehiefly in the dollars and cents it will command in market The high price of wood for fuel, the increasing value of farming land, and the facility for obtaining coal by means of railroads, are inducing farmers to prosecute the work of clearing vigorously; and so the country is laid bare at a rate that persons who have not taken some note of these matters can scarcely credit And if this has been so in the past, what will it be in the future, with a greatly increased population - doubling every twenty or twenty-five years!

It is the right and the duty of every man to manage his affairs in such a manner as may to him appear the most advantageous; and he who has had Pine lands in his possession for perhaps half a century, without realizing a dollar from them, is but too glad that at last they are available; and so he loses no time in converting them into money as fast as circumstances may require or justify. So it is with the man who has valuable farming land covered with wood that commands a high price for fuel; with farm crops at the present high prices, he regards it true economy to clear his land as quickly as possible, - and so it may be, looking only at the present We are not finding fault with this; we should probably do the same thing, if we were placed in similar circumstances; but what are to be the results ? This is the point to which we desire to call attention. In this fast age of ours, we are all too apt to become so absorbed with present engagements as to forget the future, and changes are effected with such rapidity that the most thrifty and sagacious are behind in their calculations. Our progress outruns the most sanguine expectations; and so every day, unexpected results overtake us. Beside, we are all for money-making; we value everything by the dollar.

So many acres of woodland will make bo many cords of wood, and by deducting the cost of chopping and carrying to market, we have its exact value. So many acres of Oak or Pine, or Hemlock forest, will make bo many thousand feet of timber that will yield so much per thousand; and there's the value of that, and the only value. This is the way in which the importance of our woods and forests is estimated. Few they are, indeed, who stop to inquire, or to reflect for a moment, how the next or succeeding generations will procure a supply of timber, - how the face of the country will be shorn of its beauty, or the climate affected by clearing off the forests. The new States offer such inducements to emigrants, that very few persons calculate upon their children or children's children succeeding them in the occupation of their premises; the population - a great portion of it, at least - is always on the move; and so there is no strong inducement to look far ahead, in the way of improvements. Then, among the larger portion of the agricultural population, there has not yet grown up much sensibility to the beauties of nature - the poetic element has scarcely taken root at all.

The circumstances of new countries - stern necessities and arduous labors - subdue the more delicate attributes of the mind; hence we seldom hear a regret uttered at the wreck of our beautiful rural landscapes. The noblest Oaks, that the contemplative mind would associate with majesty and strength, and with a long chain of events that have transpired during the period of their existence, are worth just so much per foot for ship-timber, and are remorselessly cut down; and so our finely-wooded hills and groups of forest trees, that now mingle with cultivated fields and green meadows, forming a charming landscape, will soon disappear, and the face of the country will become as bare and bald as an Illinois prairie. Would this not be a sad thing ?

We have no doubt there are men who will call us foolish for offering such an argument against the clearing process, but we trust there are not many such. Few men can be so destitute of feeling and of common patriotism, as not to prefer that his country should be beautiful as well as prosperous. Men who reside in cities, take a pride in beautifying them, and vie with each other in erecting tasteful buildings, and making other improvements calculated to excite atttention and admiration. Their interest, as well as patriotism, dictates such a course; and why not so in the country! Why can not neighborhoods of farmers cooperate in plans of improvement, - in preserving portions of their woodlands, - in making good roads, - in planting avenues of trees, - and in such other works as are calculated to augment their own comforts, and beautify the neighborhood. Men engaged in such works as these, would experience a degree of satisfaction that the most successful money-seekers never know. Beside, such improvements as these never fail to yield a profitable return in the increased value of land. We could point out farms in many parts of the country that have actually been doubled in their market value by tasteful and judicious though inconsiderable expenditure.

Men seeking a habitation in the country, whether to engage in profitable agriculture or to enjoy retirement, turn their backs upon treeless districts. Indeed, without an affluence of trees and woods, no landscape can please or attract people to it. Downing says, in his Landscape Gardening:

"Among all the materials at our disposal for the embellishment of country residences, none are at once so highly ornamental, so indispensable, and so easily managed, as trees or wood. We introduce them in every part of the landscape, - in the foreground as well as in the distance, on the tops of the hills and in the depths of the valleys. They are, indeed, like the drapery which covers a somewhat ungainly figure, and while it conceals its defects, communicatcs to it new interest and expression.