Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1901-08-16

About Tree Planting.

About Tree Planting.
BY DOANE ROBINSON.
"Let him who would build for the
future, plant trees"
Few of Gods good gifts to man serve
him 80 diversely and 80 well as do the
trees.
They house him, warm him, shelter
him from the st torms of winter and pro-
tect him from the fervent heat of sum-
mer.
Their fruits supply him with food,
and their bodies with the material for
ships, vehicles, packages and utensils.
They adorn his grounds and afford
him models for architecture and artis-
tic forms.
They are the benediction of Heaven,
clothing and ornamenting the rough
and waste places, healing the man-in-
fiicted scars upon the earths counten-
ance, modifying the climatic rigors.
inviting the summers showers and re-
tanning the warm blood of the rain to
fatten and ripen the harvest.
They afford shade for his labor, tenn
Piles for his worship and they are the
apotheosis of his dreams Of relation
and ease.
Blessed be the trees and blest be the
man who plants and successfully nur-
lures them.
Naturally, great sections of South
Dakota had few of these blessed gifts,
but generally the industry of men and
the fertility of the soil have conspired
to supply the deficiency and with sue
. cess that already areas many counties
in extent are dotted with beautiful
groves 30 thickly that every horizon
presents an apparently unbroken tim
ber line.
Blessed be the trees of the prairie and
blessing upon their sturdy planters
. May they live long and enjoy the fruit
Of their planting.
Nevertheless there are still extensiv.
sections within South Dakota almos
destitute Of trees.
The Monthly South Dakotan hopes t
become factor in awakening re
newed interest among the land-holder
Of The State which shall result in ex
tending the delightful, home.adorninl
and home-protecting groves to ever.
quarter-section.
This is no impossible dream. Will
rational treatment, every portion o
South Dakota will produce abundan
and beautiful trees
A short time since the writer ad
dressed an old settlers association in
a western county-an old settlers asso'
citation, mind you-picnicing in the
shade of grain elevator. He looked
about and not one tree appeared within
the range of his vision, and he felt tha
it was reproach to the old settlers O.
that community
That locality produces excellent, thrift
ty trees, as proven by fine groves but {
few miles distant in either direction.
The greatest obstacle in the way o.
l tree planting in the western countries il
the Encouragement incident to the fail
ure of the old timber.claims.
In the main these failures were du'
to the attempt of inexperienced plant
ers trying to put into effect the require
ments of an anomalous law upon raw
and unsubdned prairie soil
Under all Of the conditions existing
at that time it is q great wonder tina
any one succeeded at all.
The Monthly South Dakotan does no
deem it wise or practicable to attemp
! to plant trees upon the scale contem
plated by the timber culture act, but
does believe that every farmer shoul'
have and easily can have few trees
and it believes that every land owne
who fails to provide his share is failing
in the duties Of citizenship.
1t is not good pleading to declare tina
trees cannot be successfully grown, be
cause you have tried and failed, TO
there is scarcely township east of tn
Missouri river where some persis,en
and intelligent planter has not succeed
ed in securing an excellent growth.
No better investment of money cal
be made, for every tree planted add
ten times its cost to the value of tn,
land
!. As the crop for the market trees ar
not equaled by any other, COTTONWOOD
tree, under favorable circumstances
anywhere east of the Missouri river
will in sixteen seasons growth, yield
$ cord of wood, worth five dollars in tn
local market.
An acre will yield one hundred sucl
trees, or five hundred dollars for sixteel
. years use of an acre of ground. This
, not an idle dream, but potential fac
c not awaiting demonstration. It ha
frequently been proven.
Tree-planting is subject pregnan