The bee., 1905-11-16
WASTE PLACES
MADE PROFITABLE.
Millions Of Acres Not Adapted to
Farming Would Pay Hand
somely
PLANTED IN VARIOUS FOREST TREES
Railroad Companies Establishing Large
Forest Plantations for Gross Ties.
SPECIAL TO THE BEE.

SPECIAL TO THE BEE.
Washington, d. c., Nov. 13.-Iff
the old days wood was burned by
the engines of the Galena & Chicago
Union Railroad, the parent company
of the present Chicago & Northwest
ern System. At one of the annual
meetings of this parent company,
President Van Nortwick announced
to the stockholders that he had
bought a certain woodland at Elgin,
Illinois-now little more than SUBJ
ulb of Chicago-and that he felt like
congratulating the company that
this wood tract would forever secure
sufficient fuel for the company's To-
comotives. Some years later, when
the Chicago & Northwestern was
perfected, the attention of one of tile
officers was called to President Van
Nortwick's statement This officer
made rapid computation. which
showed that the Elgin woodland
would not furnish kindling wood
enough for the roads locomotives
for even a single year. Which sug-
gests the fact that the annual con-
sumption of railroad ties alone in
the United States is 120,000,000, or
fully one-sixth of the total cut of
timber. In addition to this there
are vast drains upon the forest for
telephone for telegraph and tele-
phone poles and for cross arms, and
| for timbers tor railroad construc-
ton. At the present rate of forest
destruction the United States within
forty years will be absolutely de-
nuded of merchantable timber.
Maude Adams Tree Planter.
Maude Adams is credited by the
daily press with a deeper Insight
4 into the needs of the future than
the railroad presidents, for she is
stated to have planted upon her
Long Island property a hundred
thousand locust trees, which Will
make the very best and most lasting
telegraph poles and railroad ties.
The railroads have given good
deal of consideration to lumber sup
plies; the spectre of timber famine
is prominently before them, and is a
recognized apparition. Ten years
ago only the sounGest ties were ac-
copied; seconds and thirds were
promptly thrown out by the purch-
asing agents. Today these are all
utilized. A few years ago red oak,
black oak, beech, gums, pines and
other soft woods were considered
useless.
These woods are now being purch-
ased in great quantities and treated
with creosote and other preserva-
tives for ties, poles and cross arms.
This treatment, which quadruples
the life of a soft wood tie, has open
ed up a supply which will meet the
demand for some years. But short
age is distinctly in sight and some
broader plans must be undertaken
The only remedy is tree planting
and forest management.
Experimental Tie Plantations.
Some six years ago experimental
! tie plantations were started by a
number of railroads. The more i'm
portant of these are the Illinois Cen
trail plot at Harahan, La, where 20C
acres were planted in 1909, and Du
Quoin, ILL.,, where 1870 acres were
planted in 1903; the various planta-
tions of the Louisville & Nashville
) Railroad in Illinois, Alabama, Flor
ida and Kentucky, and the various
black locust plantations of the Penn
sylvania Railroad throughout the
State of Pennsylvania.
Plantations so far have been de-
voted to the growth of catalpa and
locust, but it is certain that as time
goes on the work will be extended
to include chestnut, red oak, Euro
pean Iarch and similar woods which
are rapid growers and vi FOOD
timber. Over large ar the
country chestnut grows u The
United States Forest Ser is au-
thority for the stateme that "a
chestnut forest started i'm the
seed can BIS cut over q ,mber of
times at intervals of 30 to 40
years, yielding, under4 I'd forest
management, from 200 to 400 ties per
acre at each cutting.
Some desultory tree planting was
done by railroads as long as 80 years
ago, but has demonstrated nothing
other perhaps than In the darlington
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