Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-10-09
FARM MANAGEMENT.
Trees that Will Thrive Well if
Planted on Low and
Moist Ground.
Ths Profit in Pork Production Depends
Almost Entirely on Providing
Cheap Food.
Trees on Low Land.


plantinc trees designed to furnish tim
Der. fence posts, and fuel on high,
rocky, and sandy land. 1t has been
stated that land Of this character is of
scarcely any value for raising cultivated
crops, and is almost useless for produc-
ing grass or other forage crops. If
grass and clover do grow on land OF
this class it can not be harvested with
out great, expense, and the land can
accordingly only be utilized for graz
ING purposes. That trees valuable for
producing nuts, timber, and fuel can
be grown on such land is well known.
Almost all the high hills and mountains
in the country are covered from base
to summit with trees. Valuable trees
also grow among masses OF rocks, Oft
en- sending their roots down many feet
in search Of ,moisture. Most of the
great pine forests of the country are
on land so largely composed OF sand
that little else will grow on it. Many
kinds of trees appear to do best on
land that is too high, broken, rocky,
or sandy for general agricultural or
even for grazing purposes. IL farm
er owns land belonging to either OF
these classes which is not now covered
with trees, he will find it to his advan-
tage to plant them as soon as possible.
There is another kind of waste land
much more common than either OF
those referred to that could be planted
to trees to great advantage. 1t is the
land that is too wet to be plOwed and
planted to cultivated crops, and which
in its natural condition produces little
except rushes, very coarse grasses, and
semi aquatic plants. Such land is OF
very little value for grazing purposes,
as animals can only travel over 1T dur
ing the drier portions of the season.
Sometimes there is strip of such land
running through field or pasture. On
other farms the moist spot is of irRegu-
lar shape. If the farm on which this
moist land is situated is quite valuable,
and there is a natural fall, it will of
course pay to put down drain-tile for
the purpose of carrying off the water.
If the land, owing to its location, is not
very valuable, and there is scarcely any
natural decline from the part that needs
to be drained, if tiles are high and diff
cult to obtain it will be economy to
plant it with trees that will supply tim
Der, fencing, and fuel. There are as
good reasons for planting trees on land
too moist to cultivate as for planting
them on that which is very high. rocky,
or sandy.
Most persons have noticed that GER
tain kinds of trees will only grow on
land that is quite moist during nearly
all the year, and that others which will
thrive tolerablY well on fairly dry land
will make much more rapid growth
in soil that contains much moisture.
There are mosture-loving trees. bushes,
and shrubs as well as those which pre-
fer soil that is quite dry. There are
trees that prefer the rocky sides of
mountains, and others that delight in
very moist soils that are only found in
valleys, in the bottom of ravines, on
the shores of lakes, and on the banks
of rivers and small streams. Most
have observed that nearly all trees
that have attained gigantic or even very
large proportions stand on land that is
abundantly supplied with moisture dur
ing the entire year. Notable examples
of these gigantic trees may be found
among the expresses in the Great Dis
NAL swamp, the sycamores on the banks
of the Mississippi river and its tribH-
tsries, the hemlocks near the banks OF
the st. Johns and Aroostook rivers,
and the elms in the valleys of the Con-
necticut and Kennebec. Trees on
mountains and hillsides rarely compare
in size with those of the same kind
found on plains or near the sides oil
lakes or water-courses.
1t requires but little knowledge, OBJ
servation, and reflection to understand
why trees will flourish better and attain
larger growth on low and moist land
than on that which is quito high and
dry. The soil is richer on low than on
high land. Leaves and other vegetable
matter are blown upon it, and there de-
cay. In some places the surface is
constantly covered with o vegetable
mulch. The soil becomes very rich in
carbon and nitrogen Mineral salts
are dissolved out of the high land. car
ried down by the rain, and deposited on
the low land, where they are appropri
ated by trees and smaller plants. Trees
on low lands are much better pro-
tected from the wind than those thai
stand on hills, their roots are likely tc
be deeply covered with snow. The,
have sufficient moisture even at time,
whom similar trees on elvated place:
are suffering for want of it. All kinds
OF quick-growing trees require mucl
moisture. More than half the weigh
of newly-formed wood is water, as i
moro than three-fourths of the weigh
of the leaves. At all stages of ther
growth the leaves are constantly evap
Grating moisture, which must be sup
Piled by their roots fromithe SOIL
Several kinds of trees, many of then
very valuable, can not be grown O,
low, moist land. Among them are tn
hickory. black walnut, rock maple
white oak, and thrce-thorned acacia
All these trees. as well rs several 9th
ers, must be planted. to insure success
ON land that is quite high and dry
There are several other trees, many o
them very valuable for numerous pun
poses, that will do best on low an
moist hand. Among them are the blacl
and water ash, white and yellow birch
the red, scarlet, or swamp maple, tn
! pin or post oak, the sycamore. tn
white cedar, and the American larch
tamarack. or ,hackmatack. The latte
tree is found most frequently in swamp
that are so wet that il is very Difficult