The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1876-01-20
Tree Culture ON eur Prairies,

and by the discussion Of all questions
pertaining thereto; to secure the general
observance of "Arbor Day. throughout
the State, and 10 promote the ultimate
redemption of the treeless regions of the
State. The officers arc to be president,
one vice president from each congress
sional districtsa secretary, treasurer,
and an executive committee consisting of
the president, secretary and five elective
members. The president, in addition to
the ordinary duties as such, is to deliver
an annual address on the subject of forest
culture in Minnesota. The membership
fee is $l, and each member is entitled to
= copy of the Association S yearly trans
actions. The annual session is appoint.
ed on the second Tuesday in each Jan.
uary, its place of meeting and the times
and places ofspecial meetings being left
at the discretion of the executive com.
mittee, whose further duty it is to ar
range the programme for the annual
meeting.
The following gentlemen present, then
handed in their names to the Secretary
for membership. Messrs. G. F. Solberg,
l. Donnelly, j. A. Everett, D. A. Rob.
sertson, E. F. Drake, VIM. II. Brown,
Horace Austin, VIM. II. Miller, J. B.
Phillips, A. J. Jones. Loren Listoe, and
w. Petit. This gives the
new Association membership
already Of nearly SO, which it is believed
will be increased without trouble to
nearly or quite 1000.
After some discussion it was decided
that Arbor Day be held this year on the
first Tuesday Of May. In this connection
MIR. Ford said he was authorized to renew
through the Association the offer of pre-.
miums made last year by the Pioneer
Press, Mr.. Hodges doing the same on be.
half of the st. Paul & Pacific railroad, 1t
the same time mentioning that the pre-
MUM Of this company last year was
earned by Meeker county boy of 13,
who set out unaided, on Arbor Day, 3,0l3
cuttings. Mr.. Hodges also said his ex.
perience in tree planting was that the
earlier in the spring the work could be
done, the better. Heavy rains usually
fell in May, and this gave the young trees
the necessary chance to take root and
grow. Last spring, though it was back
ward season, the tree planting crew of
the railroad company set out 100000
cuttings on the first day of May, the
trees thriving we'll. He favored
special inducements being of:
cred through tho Associ-
alton for special observance Of Arbor
Day, by the offer of premiums, etc., and
closed his remarks by calling attention to
the fact that it took money to keep such
an institution moving, and therefore pro.
ceeded to pay over his dollar. an exam.
pie that was followed by the members
present.
said that for many years he had taken 4
lively interest in the subject matter for
the advance Of which the Association had
been organized. He did not think there
was any one subject Of more importance
to the people Of this State, and upon
which SO much depended in the future
settlement and development of the tree.
less wastes to the west of US, as tho en-.
couragement of tree cultivation. At
the first blush it looked as
if these great treeless sections
would have to be given over to perpetual
desolation. But not so. The time was
when it was thoug ght the great prairles Of
1llliois could never be settled. Now they
comprise the very garden of the State.
In our own State the experience has been
that settlers hugged close to the timber,
but We now find the prairies in all the
older settled counties, taken up and their
stertility and barrenness, removed by tree
planting, transformed into the most
valuable farming lands. We are in
the trout of a. wave that is
steadily moving onward, and that is des
tined to convert the trceless wastes int
very bowels of beauty and fertility. We
have seen Europe send out her floods of
population peop,eing new countries, and
yet still steadily increasing in popula.
ton. This will continue, and when this
infowing wave reaches the treeless
plains, tho problem will be, not .s it was
in the olden times in the old world, how
to convert heavily timbereda areas
to cultivation, but how to
make timber grow, 1s and trans.
form tho ,1nw hloeks - eo%ns sn%n :.h.l: