The Republican journal., 1901-02-14
CONCERNING FORESTRY.

WASHINGTON, D. c., January 30, 1901.
Interest in scientific forestry is rapid
ly increasing in the South. A prelimi-
nary examination has been made by the
Division of Forestry of the U. S. De-
partment of Agriculture of the large
forest in Polk and Monroe counties,
Tennessee, owned by Senator George
Peabody Wetmore of Rhode Island.
The examination has established the
suitability of this tract to be handled
under practical forest methods. Work
will now be begun and pushed in max
ing working plan for the forest, which
contains $4,000 acres of hardwood tim
ber.
The Division has also received from
the South two other important requests
Tor expert assistance in forest manage
ment, both from owners of private
tracts. The first is from the Okeetee
CLUB, which ownes 60, 900 acres of Short
leaf Pine land in Beaufort and Hamp-
ton counties, in South Carolina. Mr..
Overton W. Price, Superintendent of
Working Plans in the Division of For
estry, will make a preliminary exami-
nation to ascertain whether working
plan for the tract is feasible.
In addition to Shortleaf Pine, this
tract contains Cypress in the swamp
lands, and also some hardwood timber.
The Okeetee Clubs tract borders on the
,, savannah River, with markets by water
and rail at no great distance.
Ihe other request to the Division for
assistance comes from northwestern
Georgia, where preliminary eXamina-
| ton OF 10000 acres Of Shortleaf pine is
wanted
The Division of Forestry, through it's
section OF tree planting. has succeeded
| IN arousing widespread interest i'll the
| SUBJECT OF tree growing on the plains of
| the upper Mississippi Valley. An agent
| OF the Division has recently returned
from that region, and reports that the
farmers in the territory west of the
| Mississippi and north of the 10th paral-
lei OF latitude are awakening to the i'm
tance of planting trees, especially for
economic purposes. The planters of
this section are anxious to avoid the
mistakes made during the operation of
the Timber Claim Act The groves
being planned are designed to be perma-
nent features on the homesteads.
To that end, the farmers will use a
greater proportion of long-lived, slow
] growing species than formerly. The
demand for such hardy. drouth-resist-
ing species as the blackberry, Green
Ash, White Elm, Bur Oak Red Elm.
Red Cedar, and Western Yellow Pine
Bull Pine) promises to be greatly in
creased during the next few years. The
greatest present difficulty with which
the prospective tree planter has to con-
tend is the fact that commercial grow
ers of nursery stock are not supplied
with this kind of material. The nur-
series still carry large quantities of the
short-lived kinds, such as Boxelder,
Cottonwood, Maple, and Willow, but
are short on the more valuable species
The planting of conifers on the prai-
ries of the West during the past has
not been attended with general success.
This is owing to the use of Eastern and
! introduced kinds that are not adapted
to the country. There is abundant evil
dence, however, that the Red Cedar
and Western Yellow Pine Bull Pine
will thrive throughout this section
The desirability of evergreens for wind
breaks on a bleak prairie should lead
owners to turn their attention to these
| hardy native species.