Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-22
Tree Culture.


| better than ''log-rolling' river and harbor
steal through Congress.
Tree Culture.
From the n Y. Times.
The return of Prof. F. B. Hough from Europe
| is announced, and to the majority of readers
the announcement conveyed their first knowl-
edge that the Agricultural bureau has Division
| of Forestry, of which he is the head. For seven
months he has been studying the schools of
forestry in various Continental countries of
Europe. and. having brought back large col
lection OF material, he proposes to make recon-
mendatiOns to Congress for planting. preserv-
ing. and maintaining forests on the prairie and
desert lands of the west. Some progress has
already been made in tree culture i'm this coun-
try. few states. by exemption from tax or
otherwise. have sought to arouse an interest in
the subject, but for the most part local and vol
nntary organizations have done all the work
In 1876 Mr.. B. G. Northrop, secretary of the
Connecticut board of education distributed
circular among the schools of that state sug-
costing. as good centennial Inconvenience to
end soon but to be cOntinued-an annual tree
planting on highways. He said then. in
pamphlet reviewing various educational topics.
that Mr. George h. Emerson. author of work on
THE Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts," had.
during that year, imported and planted more
than $4,000 European larches of two years
growth from the seed. That tree. long one of
nOunced by the Boston and Albany railroad,
after fifteen years trial of it in ties. as durable
as red cedar, and the Illinois Central road offered
to carry the European larch gratuitously to any
point on its lines. provided the trees were to be
planted near the lines Many millions of this
tree. and of the Scotch pine (said to be the best
tree for poor sOils) are growing i'm the west and
| (said this pamphleD sin the new arbOretum be-
longing to Harvard College. situated in Brook
line, and including $50 acres. are now growing
over 2OoOO small trees started from the seed.
including nnety-three varieties of evergreens.
$50 OF deciduous trees and shrubs. and thirty
| four of oaks" Connecticut. in 1877 passed
! law exempting from all taxation whatever for
term of ten years after an average of six feet
! in height had been attained any plantation of
any OF eight trees named, provided that the land
| SO used had not heretofore been woodland; that
| 1t was not actually worth more than SIS per
acre at the time OF planting, and that the trees
numbered at least 1 900 to the acre. In Massa-
chusetts draft of bill is ready for the legisla-
| ture. which provides that whenever any town
devotes by proper legal form. any part of its
| area to tree-culture. and whenever the apprO-
priation for buying this tract plus donations.
equals the assessed value of the real estate in
! GUIDED, the tract shall become public domain.
| the title to vest in the commonwealth, but the
| tract to be perpetualiy held for the benefit of
| the town. subject to some restrictions unneces-
sary to quote; the act shall not apply to any
! tract of less than 500 acres unless adjoining
|
continuous public domain. State board of
forestry is also provided tor
The foregoing only shows the drift of feeling
and is by no means a complete sketch OF the or
ganized movement which has rcsorted to
statutes and to work through fair and similar
associations. The best work, because the
| speediest and the most contagious is probably
That OF the village improvement society. Thus.
an item we have previously quoted from the
Springfield Republican. year or two old, reads
IN tlipn or ,np&
Society finished last week its tree-pianting and
there is now continuous row of over $50 elms
for three miles from the village to the North
Adams line. 1t asks North Adams people to
continue the row to their village" 1t is natural
Tor North Adams to do so. and for other vii
lagos to Initiate the example set. Here is
probably the most effective plan, needing only
that some public-spirited person in every vii
iage should stir about and make the start. But.
as we have already remarked the tree lines
should not stop where the village ends; they
should be continued until all the highways be-
come leafy lanes. The work is no very arduous
one, requiring only cooperation and concerted
action. Tree planting day. may be made one
OF the most delightful in the year. That the
mud will not dry SO quickly on shaded road is
true. but it is an error to assume the necessity
of having the mud there The trees will natu-
rally beget desire for good roads. which do not
include mud and sand and the farmer who has
intelligence to value tree except to fell it will
of good roads, even when they cost something.
DO trees pay? In part an answer may be had
to this if we suppose wood capable of being
mined, fruit and nuts growing on vines. and
then the earth to become treeless. Where trees
are wanting is desert: where they will
grow other vegetation will and their cultiva-
ton is able to remove sterility in many places.
Civilization makes a mistake in viewing the for
est as an enemy merely because it had the soil
first, and counts too much on the axe and
flScQS a q a of tr<Ao oiO
linked with high civilization, comfort prosperity
and education, and the rule should be every
where that trees should be wherever the soil is
not needed Otherwise-this would allow all the
forest and shade. The close connection be-
tween rainfall, drought and trees is becoming
seen; their intrinsic value is second
only to that of minerals. and
no investment yields so well, for their first cost
is inapprecable. Nor is it necessary to base
their culture solely on regard for posterity.
which has never done anything for u.s. because
decade or SO will make them useful to their
planters. Hard and slow work as it is to start
public movements which do not appeal es-
pecally to private interests-for example, in
the matter of the Niagara Falls international
park and the Adirondack reservation i'm this
state-there is gratifying progress in tree
culture. An evidence of it is the enlightened
selhshness which has led some railroad COM
panies to erect tasteful station buildings and to
beautify them cheaply by little tOwer-beds as
well as to discover the practical utility as well
| as peasanter appearance Of grassy rOad-bed.
Trees are good part of the original plan of the
world. and it is sensible to discover that their
destruction and repression are no improvement
upon it.
Regulators String Up a Young Lady by
the Neck.
The Harrison county, Ind, ':Knights of the
Switch" who whipped Philip Borden, an in
valid eX-soldier, in an inhuman manner. re-
turned next night, and taking Mr.. Borden's
step-daughter, young lady of about nineteen
years, from the house, they placed arope around
her neck and demanded that she reveal to them
certain secrets they accused her of being i'm pos
session of. She refused to do SO, and they