Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1904-09-23

great lunlDer supply uiSlil|I ioi !c"'"'
There are even arbOrculturists in
the West who insist that it is not at
all unlikely that these three States may
work out the salvation of the country,
so far as the building material supply
problem is concerned.
Out here in the prairie country trees
don't grow very profusely of their
own accord. All the principal water
courses, naturally. are marked with
great fringeS of more or less scraggy
timber, and have been since the first
settlers discovered them.
TO relieve the monotony Of the Sky
line these pioneers planted trees
around their farmhouses, but their Sc
lections were not of the best. The
cottonwood, which is valueless for
building material, was a prime favor
ite. There were some hard woods,
oak, walnut and elm, in the belt, but
they were grown too far apart to make
much of a showing.
A Government expert who has been
in charge of the work Of inducing
farmers to devote portion of their
holdings to wood lots says that orig
inally less than three per cent. of the
States area was wooded. One-half OF
this timber skirted the Missouri bluffs
and the remainder was found in the
canOnS.
With the settlement of the State the
change began. Fires became less fire.
Quent, the trampling of the buffalo
ceased; and freed from these and other
destructive agencies, the forest sprang
into more vigorous growth.
Not the least interesting part of this
reclamation has been the encrOach-
ment of the forest upon the prairie
without aid from the people. Along
almost every ravine and stream the
forest has been advancing upon the
prairie.
Here it has been for only few
square rods, there for few acres
Near the Barnard farm in Johnson
County is a field which was under
cultivation twenty-five years ago, but
which is to-day covered by dense
forest of young timber.
In another place, not far distant, the
forest has extended up the ravine two
miles beyond its limit of twenty five
years ago.
Nebraska has to-day more than 2O0,-
600 acres of forest, and Kansas and
Missouri are in still better shape. The
cooperation of the Government with
the farmers in the planting Of trees
has covered a period of but few
years, and yet there are countless
groves of trees to be seen from the car
windows.
Former Secretary of Agriculture J.
Sterling Morton was one of the strong
est advocates of arborculture. He it
was who secured the passage of a
law making day in April Arber Day,
upon which each citizen is urged to
plant one tree. 1t has been great
help in educating the people to the
value of forestration.
The Morton farm, near Nebraska
City, is perhaps the best example of
natural timber under good manage
ment. The farm, in 1855, when Mr..
Morton bought it, included fifty-six
acres of brush land. Annually it has
been pruned, producing 5000 worth of
firewood, and to-day the timber. avail
able for numbering is worth $4,000.
State associations have, in the past
ten or fifteen years, helped wonder
fully. Their aims have been to get
the farmers to set aside twenty acres
for a forest plantation on each quarter
section, and it is this plan which will
in the next quarter Of century make
of the prairie States a source Of gen.
eral supply.
The largest area of timber land in
Kansas is the Yaggy tract of 500 acres
near Hutchinson. This has been I'M
der cultivation for twelve years. In
that time $4,000 worth of fence posts
have been sold and 100000 worth more
are ready to be taken.
All of this production has been Sc
cured simply by thinning out the trees
where the growth has been too thick,
and all of the larger trees are still
left for future profit. This gives an
idea of the immense profit in forestra-
ton.
In this work the railroads have
Joined hands with the Government and
the land owners. Twenty of them are
annual contributors to the National
Society of Arborculture, and most OF
them carry on independent forestra-
| ton. l.,
The Illinois Central has planted sew
eral hundred thousand catalpa trees
in the States along its lines in the
past three years, and others are doing
the same on more limited scale. The
Government has had experts in the
field in recent years, drawing plans
for wood lots and suggesting the
proper trees. These meu have also
been studying natural reproduction
with view to controlling it for prac-
teal use or assisting it where desira-
BILE.
The catalpa is coming into more gen.
eral favor as profitable tree. 1t is
of rapid growth and great durability.
1t puts on about an inch of diameter
each year. so that at the end of six
teen years good sawlogs are produced.
Much of it brings higher prices than
walnut, .come selling as high as 500
thousand feet.
The forest reserves up in the sand
hills of Western Nebraska have proved