Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-19

Most of 1t for the Next Generation-Bi
Prices for Walnut and Cherry.

Most of 1t for the Next Gsneration-Big
Prices for Walnut and Cherry.
From the New York Tribune.
good many people who would like to live
on farms of their own in the summer months
are deferred from purchasing forty or eighty
acres by the fact that there seems to be no way
Of getting any interest out of the capital in
vested. A good deal has been said recently
about the Abandoned" farms of New England
and the low prices at which they ha We been and
are offered for sale have attracted many long
inS ewes from the city's hot shops and close
counting rooms.
III could see any way Of making even the
interest out Of one," said New ork commits
sion merchant the other day. I'D buy a fifty
acre farm, repair the old house on it or build a
plain one and turn my family loose there every
summer. There would be no need then Of
keeping the children we'll dressed as one has to
do even In q country hotel or boarding house.
ana no bills to pay. except for food and a serv-
ant or two. But the very fact that these farms
are cheap is due entirely to the poor quality OF
the soil. If farmers could make wheat and oats
and stock pay well on these lands they would
not abandon them l have no time to farm.
anyway, and to employ others to do ii for me
would be throwing ayav money If the soil was
as rich as the Mississippi bottoms"
Now. what this man wants" said an en-
thusiastic student of forestry, lis knowledge
of some crop which, cnce planted, will take
care of itself for a hundred years. pay him
some interest on his money while it is coming
to maturity, if he gets his land cheap TO begin
with, and at the end Of forty years be worth
more than hity Of the original farms. Such a
crop is to be found in forest trees"
Forest trees" exelaims the New Yorker
DO you take me for Methusaleh? Before
fifty years are over will be engaged in other
pursuits than money-msking, theologians tell
me-"
''You don't heed to val. fifty years." is the
answer of toe forestry enthusiast. They don't
wait that long out west, where forestry is being
carried on TO some extent already. There a
man plants his prairie wood lot with various
kinds OF trees, some OF emquick-g growing va
rieties. others OF the Slower sort He plants
them close together, for several reasons. One
reason Is that the trees may force their way
skyward before spreading out. Forest trees
are mast-like in their proportions generally.
Each seeks to spread its foliage in the sunlight
above its fellow. Plant the same kind of tree
in an open field and it spreads its branches
out from the first. Sunlight is all around il
and there Is no reason Tor exertion. This tree is
| more symmetrical, on the whole, but not nearly
| So valuable for timber as the long, bare trunk
| of the forest tree.
Another reason for planting them close to-
gether Is that they may be Ihinned out with
| profit as they grow In few years the owner
| begins TO Gu. out his small trees and sell them
to be made up into barrel hoops. As they
grow larger they are II demand for hop poles
Larger still, they make fence posts and are
wanted for wood pulp in the paper mills and
/ then the remainder are far enough apart to be
let alone to grow into stout timber. This crop
OF small stun for hoops, poles. &C., does not
| cease at any time. 1t keeps coming up, year
after year, among the bigger trees.
| The secret Is to make the right choice OF
| trees. Probably the most valuable sorts are
black walnut, wild red cherry and white ash.
There will always be demand for these woods
| In the manufactures and the supply grows
! steadily less. The other day q man bought a
tract of forest land in of the southern states
and sold one big 'curled walnut tree on it for
almost half what he paid FOR the place. One
hundred dollars is not an unusual price at
present for big black walnut tree of the ordi-
nary variety. In parts of Illinois the early set
tiers cut up black walnut for fence rails.
Some years afterward. when the rails had rot.ed
away, the farmers were grubbing up the stumps
| aud selling the grarlsd roots at q handsome
profit. farmer In this or . neighboring state
who has many wild cherry trees on his land
need lot worry much over grain and root crops.
Spectators will come out from this city and pay
we'll for the privilege Of cutting his trees for
him and carrying them away.
| so That IL takes no argument to prove that
nifty acres OF such wood is a fortune in itself
equal TO a life insurance policy for the owners
| children and a source Of constant pleasure some
prof: and little expense to him while he lives.
Ii can be realized on, too, at any time after the
trees begin to approach maturity. Hickory and
| butternut are both valuable woods and the nuts
| from these trees al ways salable.
The demand for Christmas trees also grows
yearly. Canadian forests are now being drawn
on for New York supply.
| ION George Wander oilt's newly purchased
place in North Carolina forestry Is going to be
carried on in a large and intelligent way. He
possesses an advantage over prairie far mers in
having large part of his tract covered with
trees already, but he proposes to show that
contrary to the accepted idea Of treating wood
land, 1t is not necessary, in order TO make
money out o. it, to destroy the forest"