Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-01-11
Dakota Timber Culture.
FORESTRY SCHOOLS AND EXPERIMENTAL
STATIONS.
dakota Farmer.]

The establishment of q School Of
Forestry, and experimental forest
stations in Dakota, by the State or
the National Government, is abso-
lutely necessary in order to deter
mine under what condition of soil
and climate the most useful timber
trees can be successfully and profit
ably grown. =-.D=
Individul effort and various private
enterprises have inaugurated a series
OF forest planting for the purpose of
experiment and profit.
These paintings recently undertak-
en- by thousands of citizens, having
little or no knowledge of the best
and cheapest methods of preparing
the soil, the planting, the cultivation,
the care, and the most useful kinds
OF trees to plant, having resulted in
many failures.
Many planters of limited means,
and other parties on the score of sup
posed economy, have commenced or
made these paintings with seeds.
These seed paintings, made in per.
manent forest form have in nearly all
instances Except in the cases of black
walnut and other nut seeds), resulted
In partial or complete failure. These
results are no doubt attributable to
the fact of seeds terminating so
slowly. that the weed seeds terminate
and make a growth of several inches
before the appearance of the tree
seedlings, which are smothered and
killed by the overshadowing growth
OF the weeds, unless eradicated at a
great and unlocked for expense by
means of hand wedding, and the use
of the hoe.
The many failures resulting from
seed planting, and partial failures
made in the planting of cuttings and
trees, owing to the lack of knowledge
required for the successful planting
OF trees, and cuttings, have caused
the abandonment of, or the changing
OF lands taken under the timber cult
ure act, to prescriptions and home
steads and thus, in a measure, at
least to defeat the obvious intention
OF Congress, of encouraging forest
planting, by means of the provisions
in the timber culture act.
Congress-, can, no doubt cure this
defeat by an amendment that a tree
claim shall remain as such, and slim
iting eighty acres to one person." in
stead of one hundred and sixty acres
as the law now provides.
The limiting of eighty acres to one
individual would practically bar en-.
tries being made by non-residents as
has been the case, for speculative
purposes. 1t being presumed that
so small an area as eight acres would
be of SO little prospective value as
not to justify the expenditure of the
time and the money required to jour-
ney from distant localities to the land
district to make the location, hence
the entries no doubt would be princi-
pally confined to residents having an
interest in other lands not far dis
tant.
Although such legislation would /, n
a great measure, cure the defeat re-
ferred to, yet the lack of proper
knowledge on the part of tree
planters, and the failures resulting
therefrom would tend to dis
courage individual effort which
can be the soonest obviated by
the dissemination of information
upon the subject by the State.
Such information can be impaired
to the people at large by the means
of forestry schools, and experience
stations. These schools and stations
may be established and maintained
by means of a grant of a portion of
the public domain, requiring little or
no cash expenditure from the public
treasury.
Such grants of lands have been
made to the States for the purpose of
establishing universities and agricult-
ural colleges. These grants have
met the approval of the country at
large, and in time, no doubt, will re-
suit in materially assisting the ad-
vancement of literature, the arts, the
sciences, and the development of ag-
r%icultural knowledge.
The history of European nations
shows most emphatically the rela-
lions of forest to climate, and the
MANUFACTURER g~interests of commerce