Muscatine journal. [volume] (Bloomington, Iowa) 1849-185?, 1854-03-17
Correspondence Of the Cedar Rapids Era.
Timber in Iowa,

TIMBER In Iowa.
] Mr.. EDrToR:-Some persons object
settlement in Iowa, in consequenc
OF the scarcity Of timber. bur il is cor
tended that in twenty years hence,
Will be more abundant. by the arowt
which is now and will continue TO sprin
up, as settlements increase nd the fir
- Kept out. After the first fen.in.
very li':le timber is required TO keep j
ap. Where, then. is the necessity O
having u body for timber-lan alta che,
TO your farm. for which you have TO pa
taxes without any income there!rom
Every farmer who has not now a s,ic
on his land, may in a few years have
bosniifal supply. if he will take tn
proper measures for its ob;ainment. an
he may, a! the same time, make i,proi,
able, even more SO than the raising o
wheat mean by the planting O
locust seed and growing the locus,
One acre Of ground thus sown woul,
be sufficient On ,hs, quantity Of goo,
land Que thousand trees may be raised
each of which would, in ten years, pro
duce a; least eight posts and would b,
worth twelve and half cents apiece
from which deduct two and half cents
Tor the cutting. would leave te cents
equal to eighty cents per tree or eigh
hundred dollars per acre.
Suppose. on The other hand an acre
OF equally good ground was appropria,.
ed to wheat, and that 6 rain grown on i,
Tor Ten consecutive years-which all
know would be straining point-and
suppose, further, ,sa, The yearly prodrc,
would be twenty bushels, and the high.
est figure Of one dollar per bushsl COZ ID
be obtained for it, would in the ten
years produce two hundred dollars
From this aggrpgate, must be deducted
the cost OF tillage, seed, harvesting and
getting ready for market, which | put
down at one hundred dollars, leaving
the remaining on hundred dollars as
the profit for the ten year.. Deduct
this from the eight hund,el dollars, the
net product of the acre OF locust, and
you have gain Of seven hundred dol.
lars In favor Of the locust over the acre
OF wheat culture will submit TO any
"bsefsant cslcuIatoi, If | have not, in
the foregoing estinate, shown 4 faver.
lilsm to The wheat acre. There is anoth-
er consideration, that they require no
re planting. After they are cut off for
posts. five times the original quantity
will be produced from the sprouts which
put foflh, and will be. large enough to
supply the place Of the FIRST. long before
they are wanted. 1t is in TACT we'll
known to the writer who has been all
his If. familiar with the durabiiuy of
that wood, that a good locust post. well
air-seasoned before inserted in the
ground, will last for fifty years and il
sawed into fencing boards or palings.
would do SO much longer.
Some croakcrs will doubtless saw. ,h,,
II everybody gets to raising locust. there
would be no demand Tor the posts. The
same might be said of our darfers, of our
wheat, our cattle. sheep. hogs, &c, aud
yet the demand keeps pace with the
supply. And so il will be With the To-
Gust timber, for we may be assured that
there will be many that will act on the
above pri3cip and others SO negligent
tha. they will not go into the measure,
hence those that do so, will reap the
harvest.
There is another view to be takeu.-
We are about embarking IN the construc-
tlon OF railroads through our State, and
a large quantity OF timb ber Tor cross ties
will be wanted In their construction,
which will have to be supplied from our
Gatlvc forests These Will have to be
replaced every few years, and will ere
ale demand .or ioccsl tim her remun-
erating prices, because its durability is
such as 10 be preferred, at an enhanced
price, over all other kinds /, is an ac-
knowledged fact that the seed has TO be
scalded aud we'll soaked before planting
As 10 he mode of putting the seed into
the ground-wnether in drills or broad
cast am uot going to dic'ate, but leave
|. entirely to the taste of the person ex-
perlmen ting-but this much | will say,
that il will be much better to cover The
growth the first winter with straw or
prairie hay TO protect them from the
severity of The cold and frost. In con-
| advise my farmer friends 10
go nto the locust planting Immediate
ly, the sooner the bettr. lf you have
not seed enough tor an acre, be NOT de.
tered bu. pa, in u piece forty or sixty
feet square and in a few years you will
rsjoics that you had taken the advice
Ut b.