The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-04-25
PLANTING WASTE PLACES.


the new, there is more or less land that
is unfit for cultivation, owing 20 its
irregular or rocky surface. These lands
are usually considered of little value,
although when cleared of natural vege-
tation some of them will produce a
scanty growth of grasses and other
plants valuable as food for sheep and
cattle. But there are vast tracts of such
land that are not worth clearing even
for pastures, much of which is within
easy access of some of our oldest and
largest cities. From the greater part
of these lands the most valuable timber
has been removed, and they are then
left to produce whatever kinds of trees,
shrubs, or weeds may gain the mastery
in the natural struggle for existence.
At the end of twenty or thirty years, if
these woodlands are revisited by owner
or agent, whatever timber has reached
useful size is removed and sent to
market. In many localities in the
Eastern States this system has been pur-
sued for century or more, and for
aught we know will be continued for
centuries to come.
Within a hundred miles of this CITY
there are more than a million acres of
these wild lands that have been overrur
by charcoal burners, wood choppers,
and dealers in hoop poles, and, while
much of it is well adapted for cultiva-
ton, there are other tracts that are too
rough and uneven for this purpose.
But there is not an acre of these wild
and half-abandoned lands that could
not easily be made to produce ten times
as much as they now do to their owners.
1t is true that, to increase the product,
capital would be required in making the
change from a wilderness into cultivated
fields or Systematically arranged timber
plantations; but the capital and labor
are at hand, and the only thing wanting
is the will on the part of men of mean.
to enter into the work with determine
ton to succeed, and make fair profit
on their investments.
If those owning these timber lands
would incur the expense necessary to
remove worthless kinds of trees and
shrubs, and give room for the best and
most valuable kinds to grow, it would
be great improvement upon the sys-
tenn usually adopted, and which APP
pears mainly to consist in the removal
of such trees and saplings as have a
present value, without the least regard
to what may be most needed in the
future. If these wild lands are to be
kept for producing hoop poles, then all
other kinds of trees not adapted to this
purpose should be removed and their
places filled with the kinds required. 1t
would cost but little to remove worth
less kinds, or those of little value, and
fill up with the choicest or most desira-
BILE.
The natural growth in woodlands is
the best guide for selecting other kinds
to be planted on the same soils, and
where hickories and oaks are found
growing we may safely set out the same,
provided, of course, that the species is
adapted to the climate. But there is a
great difference in the value of species
belonging to the same genus. No ono
would care to encourage the growth of
the dwarf oaks or even even the black
jack oak to the exclusion of the white
or willow oak. The same rule may be
applied to nearly every genus of our in
digenous trees, for most of them con-
tain some valuable species and others
that are comparatively worthless. and
the experienced forester will not only
select the most valuable for propaga-
ton, but those best adapted to the soil
and climate of the region where they
are to be grown.
The waste lands, or those not adapted
to cultivation, should be kept covered
with forests of some kind, and with a
little care and attention in the manage,
ment of these forests they might be-
come a source of revenue for all time.
Changes can, of course. be made to
meet any change in demand; but there
are certain kinds of timber that seem to
be always wanted; if not for one pur-
pose it is sure to be for another. Among
the most familiar of these we may name
the hickory of various species, white
oak, ash, hard maple, beech, chestnut,
black walnut wildwood. elm and
black cherry. Recently the catalpa
has attracted considerable attention on
account of the rapid growth of the trees
and great durability OF the wood when
used for such purposes as railway ties
and fence posts. The pines, spruces,
and similar conifers are of course worthy
of attention, but not so much as the
deciduous trees named, because of the
large size and great age they must at
tain before becoming of much value for
lumber. But many of the deciduous
trees become valuable at the age of ten
years and upward, at which time the
thinning of plantations may commence
and some returns on investments be Sc.
cured, and this is certainly worth coz
.ldering by men whose capital is limi-
ted.
Government and other well-secured
bonds that have many years to run be-
fore payment are now commanding a
much larger premium than those that
mature earlier, and we can see no good
reason why the same idea should not
have its influence in promoting invest
ments in forestry. Trees that will ma
ture twenty to forty years hence, and
increase in value from the start sufficient
to pay good interest on the investment,
certainly ought to be worthy of the at
tention of capitalists, and probably
would if the capitalists knew more OF
this promising industry. The very cheap
lands now to be obtained in favorable
locations must certainly increase in val
ne, whether utilized for the purposes
named or left idle; but if those partly
covered with forests were stocked to
their fullest capacity, they would in a
very few years begin to yield fair re-
turn upon cost from the sales of timber
taken out to give room for those that
are to remain until fully grown.
The same is also true of plantations
made on cleared land, for if a man was
to make a plantation of hickories, he
would commence with about twelve
thousand per acre, and as soon as they
were tall enough to make hoops for
kegs, butter firkins, and similar wooden