The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1879-03-07


TREE PLANTINo.-Th time Is ap-
preaching when we should select out
our trees for spring planting. The
sooner trees are planted in the spring
after the ground Is in good working
order the greater are the chances Oi
future growth and thrift. The young
roots will be stronger and better able "a
furnish food TO the young tree during
the trying months OF August and Sep
TENDER.
The man who plants q tree benefits
himself and his children after him He
Is public benefactor. and this is so far
recognized in some Of the New England
and far Western States AS that rewards
are offered for the encouragement Of
tree planting.
There Is in the planting, as in many
other things, often times zeal without
knowledge. The man who plants a
silver-leafed poplar or honey locust
because Of their bright bark, hardy
growth and attractive foliage, may live
TO repent Of his folly. A few years since
the silver-leafed poplar was novelty
and much sought for, and extensively
planted in lawns and about door-yards
The fashion now is to dig them out, and
use great diligence, in season and out Of
season, to destroy them. They, like
other curses, when once rooted, are
most difficult To remove. The best
remedy is not to allow their introduce
ton upon the premises.
In planting trees it is well for the
farmer 10 look TO the useful as well as
the beautiful. MIR. f.. T.. Barney, Of
Dayton, has done good work in his
benevolent Efforts TO introduce the Catal-
pa. We do not remember that he has
recommended it As tree for the lawn
or door-yard or sidewalk. When stand
ing isolated it has sprawling growth
that renders it unattractive. The hard
maple and the elm are its superior for
such situations.
There is not farm in the country but
where some spot may be found which
would pay better planted in trees than
left unoccupied. Many old farms have
hillsides and quilted lands and knobs,
on which IL trees adapted to the soil and
exposure were planted the land would
be more vaiuable.
The chestnut will flourish on such
spots, and soon furnisha growth of val
liable timber and nuts, and prevent
further deterioration Of the soil, and
eventually enrich it.
But there are corners and places on
farms that are SO situated they are I'M
profitable for cultivation. Here we
should plant the kind Of trees that de-
mand rich lands. The walnut and ma
pie repay all labor bestowed. We
would suggest that the soft maple IS a
rapid grower, and beautiful tree, but
il has now an insect enemy in Illinois,
where the tree has been extensively
planted. This enemy threatens the de-
sruction OF this timber in some dis
tricts. In this latitude the tree still does
well. Trees of slower growth seem TO
repay the best, as the wood is more val
uable, and the tree less subject 10 at
tacks from insects.
If farmers in Ohio, Kentucky, Indi-
ana, Illinois and Missouri have ill-snap-
ed, fertile corners Of neglected parts Of
their farms (and who has not?) will this
spring before the corn planting time
prepare the soil. and plant with the
hardy Catalpa, they will find profit in
il, and do a good thing for their coun-
try. II even ressts the frosts Of Mime
sofa, and when planted in good soil, and
in groves, II growsitall, erect, and makes
8 handsome tree, and the timber is more
lasting than even the black locust or
cedar. Gen. Harrison reported il sound
in the stockade at Vincennes during the
Indian War, and in 1928 called the At
ten.ion of farmers at Carthage, o., TO
its value. The stockade at Vincennes
was built by the Spaniards, which must
have been before 1900, as then the
French the second time came into pos
session of the Louisiana Territory, or il
may have been antecedent To 1902.
Mr.. Barney gives numerous instances
where in Ohio and Illinois groves of ~
or II years. growth furnish excellent
posts for fencing, and some sre large
enough for railroad ties.
We add the following, from the pen
Of +. +. Barney
DIRECTIONS FOR PLANTING.
Plant in seed bed, in good mellow soil,
when he ground is fit for corn planting,
in rows two or three feet apart, and six
inches apart in the row. II all germin-
ate, thin out TO one foot in the row and
replant. At the end of one or two years
into we'll prepared ground,
four feet apart each way. II any tree
Is crooked or defective, cut down close
10 the ground, even when three or four
years old. 1t will shoot up a straight
stalk and grow rapidly. Keep the
ground clean and cultivate carefully two
or three years, after which they will
need little attention. In from six to ter
years, according to growth, cut out each
row. OF the various uses that may be
made Of the cuttings, is a post and rail
fence, using the larger ones for posts,
md the smaller. c,,t in ten or twelve