St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-20
WALNUTs FOR PROFIT.

From the time when the pilgrim
bound coast" where the 'trees against
a stormy sky their giant branches
tossed" to the time when the wave of
advancing settlement reached the tree
life was one long, hard struggle with
the forests that numbered the ground
out Of which his livelihood must be dug.
No one who has not shared in the open
ing of a farm amid the heavy timber
can realize the labor involved; the hard
toll of chopping, burning, logging, the
blowing among stumps, the patient
waiting for these relics Of the forest
to rot, so that they could be removed
and burned. One who has shared it
can appreciate the physical courage it
takes to tackle a farm covered with
timber and reduce it to arabic land.
A resultant 81 this long struggle oc-
cupying successive generations, is an
inbred antagonism to trees. There is
in this somewhat Of the feeling of the
frontiersman towards the Indian from
whom he has wrested the land in
bloody contests; and as the advance
guard of civilization regards no Indian
as good" one until he is dead, so the
descendants of the men who have clear
ed the forests from the Mississippi to
the Atlantic regard only that tree a
ic III;
feeling the efforts of forestry associa-
tons are waging a stout contest, find
Ing in it their greatest obstacle Rein
forcing it is the scanty margin be-
ready capital, the hard struggle to
make ends meet to imperative de-
mands on effort and time which rele-
gate to some more convenient period
investments in long time efforts such
as tree planting. The demand is for
quick assets with the Western farmer,
and crop that takes many years to
mature is one he cannot afford to
sociations that are trying to educate
the people into an appreciation of trees,
not alone for the sake of the trees but
for their larger utility in the practical,
everyday affairs of the farm. The
drouths that are becoming more fire.
quent plead more eloquently and con-
Vincingly for tree culture sand forest
preservation than do the members Of
the forestry associations; because
shortened crops and lessened income
appeal to the pocket, while the plead
ings of the horticulturist appeal to
sentiment dulled by an hereditary
Rntagonism
The early settlers Of this state found
along the rivers and on the hills a
plentiful quantity of walnut trees. The
timber was we'll adapted for furniture
making and, under the demand that
came for it, the land was soon denuded
Of that species Of timber. Walnut
furniture went out of fashion because
the supply of timber ceased, not be-
cause tastes had changed; and the oak
took its place not because it was better.
but because it was more plentiful.
What will replace the oak when it's
general use in building and furniture
and other construction shall have car
ried off the supply is an unpleasant
problem; deferred, with our customary
reliance on luck" to a more convenient
period. That the walnut can be quick
ly restored and that it's planting is a
profitable investment, that land unfit
for cultivation can be planted to these
trees. is matter of Importance to
which attention should be directed.
Eight years ago the writer planted a.
lot Of walnuts in his garden. The
second year they were transplanted
Last year some Of them bore nuts, had
attained a six inch body and are grow
ing Justify. Another ten years will
make stable timber of them. Wal
nuts can be chopped into the ground
in the fall, on the hillsides, among the
timber and bushes. and left to make
their own way, replacing, in time, the