St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-07-14
TREES ON POOR LAND.
why Farmers Need Not Expect Any Pc
cuniary Benefit from Them.

why Farmers Need Not Expect Amy Pc
cunary Benefit from Them.
Much has been written during the
past few years in advocacy of planting
trees designed to furnish timber, posts
and fuel on land so poor that it is of
no value for producing crops. Farm,
ers have been reminded that the pine,
larch and hemlock are often found on
land where nothing else will grow.
Their attention is also called to the fact
that rocky hills are generally covered
with maple, beech. birch and hickory
trees. They, too, are informed that
the swamp oak, American larch, will
low and poplar do best on land that is
too wet to pillow or even to produce
good grass. The impression is given
in various ways that timber trees do
not do well on land that is rich enough
to produce corn, potatoes, and the
various kinds of small grains. Most
of the first settlers ON the prairies were
of the opinion that common forest
trees would not grow on them. They
of various kinds On the elevations in
the vicinity and along the water
courses. They came to the conclusion
that prairie soil was too rich for forest
trees.
1t is true that the sand plains and
ridges OF Michigan were covered with
pines and other kinds of evergreen
trees. So was the almost barren soil
in many parts of New England and the
Southern States. Almost all the.
mountain ranges in the country are
covered with trees of some sort. Much
of the very low land in the South is oc-
cupied by cypress trees, while cedar
and tamarack trees grow in swamps in
many parts of the North. 1t is not
true, however, that these locations
and these sorts of soil are the best for
them. They flourish not because their
conditions are the most favorable to
them, but for the reasons that they can
adapt themselves to unfavorable con-
ditions and make the best of them.
They show that they can make a brave
struggle for existence and can succeed
in spite of very unfavorable circum-
stances. They do not indicate the best
places to plant trees to insure the
largest or the quickest growth. In
many cases they simply show that the
stones, barren soil, or moisture, have
prevented their being destroyed by
fire
Persons who see trees of consider
able size on sandy plains Or rocky hill
sides or in swamps do not consider how
long it took them to attain their
growth. Many of them, in all prob
ability, were growing and were of con-
siderable size when the continent was
discovered by Columbus. There is no
perceptible change in their height or
circumference during a decade. They
did not pass from large to small tres
during the lifetime of man nor daeE.-
ing century. One of these trees rep
resents the slow growth made during
many generations of men, 1t may be
well to set out trees on unsightly por-
tons of land to which no manure has
been applied and which has never been
prepared for planting But the planter
should not expect that the trees will
make rapid growth Or that he will
ever derive any pecuniary benefit from
them. The most that can reasonably
be expected from them is that they
will cover the nakedness of the land
go that the owner will not be ashamed
of it Chicago Times.