Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-11

The nolicv of the Agricultural Depart
.,+ d,,r,rg the administration of Secre-
tary Wilson has been to encourage anu
nronnote all mechanical and other devices
hy which the labor of the farmer may De
made more profitable and its results en-
larged. Many experiments of an economic
character are going on contlnualIy undei
Secretary wilson's direction and Wnle
uany of them fail they all teach NaiNa ~
1aesons and those which are successful
have already added enormously 70 ~
wealth. the prosperity, the Hap - ~.
leisure and the convenience OF the IAt I ing
community The work of the forestry pu-
resu of which Mr. Plnchot Is the Director
ia beginning to attract national atteltiol
outside of the timber interests. wnlch II Is
especially designed to serve: II ~ C,,t9'r np
ering several important problems. one OF
the most important IS the future supply OF
railway ties and telegraph poles' nave
had several articles on the subject o. rai
Way ties and not long ago descflbeI Tue
plans of the Pennsylvania Railroad C2ih-
pany which proposes to raise Its own sup
ply on the waste lands along Its rght OF
way. The telegraph and telephone com
panies are gradually approaching slInl-
lar disposition. The expense OF securing
poles is becoming a serious matter
There are $4,000, 600 telegraph ana tee
pbone poles in the United States, support
ing 500 eco miles of wire. The average life
Of a pole is twelve years, ana they cost
from seven TO ten dollars each; o a11
twelfth of the entire number, or Zbopooo,
have to be renewed every year, without
onsiderfng the number of new poles re-
quired for the extension of lines. II re-
quires a tree at least sixty years old 10
make a standard pole Therefore the sup
nly is being exhausted five times as fast as
1t is produced, and nothing has been pro-
posed until lately to relieve that situation
Every time a telegraph pole Is cut nVe
Young trees should be planted Otherwise
the natural supply will ultimately be eA-
hausted and our telegraph and telephone
companies will be compelled TO use poles
of hollow iron. as IS done In the arid coun-
tries of Europe and Asia, where there Is
no timber. Iron poles are very expensive
and although they last forever, in coun-
tries where the distances are so long as IN
the United States, the original expense Is
almost prohbitive.
Preservation of Wood.
The forestry bureau Of the Agricultural
Department has taken up this matter and
Is not only using It's influence to promote
the planting of trees suitable for railway
ties and telegraph poles, but is also making
various experiments to ascertain how the
material may be preserved as long as pos
sible All the telephone and telegraph
companies in the United States, the rail-
yay companies, the lumbermen and fndl-
yidlals who are interested in the subject
are cooperating In a practical and geler-
GUS manner and the agricultural colleges
and experiment stations in the different
states are taking the matter uTi with intel
iigent enterprise. 1t is too early to report
the results of the tests 1t will be several
years before the forestry department can
determine the various questions involved in
the experiments, but, in the meantime, IL
has issued a circular of instructions based
upon general knowledge of the timber.