The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-26
TIMBER AND THE SUPPLY


 On the last page of Thursdays Advertiser there was brief press des- patch from Chicago which was of more importance to ,Alahamians than they are aware. and probably but few read CTS of the paper noticed 1t. We allude to the meeting. of over 200 manufactu- rers in that city to consider the ques- tion of a supply of hickory timber for future use. As Is well known. hickory is an almost indispensable material in the manufacture of buggies, carriages and many agricultural implements, and for certain parts of shop machinery. In fact. for a number of uses nothing has yet been found which will fully take It's place. so that the question of future supply is an important one.
 At this Chicago meeting three points were prominently brought out. The first is that the supply of hickory tim Der is fast being exhausted; second. that 1t is being destroyed by an insect. and third that there are but three States from which manufacturers can now draw supplies. As to the first one of these points there need be no discussion. The immense quantities of this timber used in various manufact- ures. with no provision for renewing the supply. must inevitably exhaust 1t in a very brief period. and the wonder Is that 1t has held out as long as 1t has. That it is not already thing of the past shows how enormous must have been the quantity at the beginning of the onslaught on 1t.
 The second question is certainly a serious one, and the members of the meeting were so strongly impressed with its gravity that they speak of ap- pealing to the government for help to extermnate the pest. We must con- fess that this Is a danger we had not heretofore heard spoken of. We knew that insects are to be found in hickory trees as they are to be found in almost every other kind of timber. in small numbers. but were not before aware that they were so numerous in any part of the country as to threaten the total destruction of one of our most valuable timber trees. If this meet ing was correctly informed on that point an appeal to the government Is not out of place. and united effort may do much to ward off the threatened VIZ hA Hessian fly. the San Jose scale. the boil weevil and other insect pests which do harm to the farmer. the fruit grower and the gardener. and this hickory destroyer may be an evil as much to be dreaded as any of the others.
 The third point made at the meeting is not so clear. while at the same time it is of interest to our own people. That there are only three States from which a supply of hickory can now be drawn is news to us. and the, gentle man who made the assertion did not name the three States. However, we are sure that Alabama is not one. and this brings the question home to us. In the first settlement of this State there were enormous numbers of hickory trees. They abounded in all sections, from the mountains to the Gulf. more plentiful, perhaps in some regions than in others. but they four ished everywhere. The fire and the axe have made way with most of this timber, but there are vast numbers of the trees yet standing. In the un- cultivatible hill and mountain regions and in the thick swamps and lowlands there is much hickory. Some of 1t is coarse grained and brittle, not adapt ed to fine work. but much of it. Is as fine, tough and durable as any to be found in the Union. All of 1t Is too valuable for firewood and its value will increase constantly as the supply else where Is exhausted. The man who owns fine hickory trees has a bank ac- count which will continually grow. Such trees should not be destroyed or used for firewood. but should be pre- served and sold only for manufacturing purposes. Even if the insect alluded to can be destroyed and the trees thus saved the time is not far distant when the regions which now supply this tim Der to manufacturers will be exhausted and they must look elsewhere for their stock. When that times comes the hickory of Alabama will be in demand at good prices. It is the part of wis dom for land owners to preserve what will soon be one of the best paying products of their farms