The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-02-20
The Santa Fe Is Rushing Tree
Planting in California.
Eucalyptus Trees Raised for
Railway Ties. ass
FAULKNER In CHARGE.
Project the Greatest of Its Kind
In the World.
Gossip and. Matters of interest
. in Railroad Circles.

A large force of men are at work on
the San Dieguite ranch, FL miles nortn
the San Dieguito ranch, 81 miles nortn
direction of E. o. Faulkner, manager
of the tie and timber department of
the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe
railway company. The men are
planting seedlings .Sof the eucalyptus
tree on a tract of 700 acres OF the
ranch that embraces nearly 5000
acres of land.
The trees are being planted for the
purpose of growing timber from Whlch
to cut a portion of the ties to be USED
by the Santa F'e railway: and rs IN
doubfedly the largest underta king OF
| this kind under way any place IN the
world. -; sses3 - - +
The eucalyptus was selected after
careful consideration and because II
presented the features desired IN tim
Der for this purpose, and in every
manner seemed to embrace more
things that qualified it as being more
suitable, than any other KIND or tree.
Two principal reasons for It's selection
were that the wood is the hardest of
any ever used for railway ties and the
tree grows more rapidly than any 9TH
er forest tree.
Seven hundred acres of this ranch
will be planted each year for twelve
years, shortly after which time the
first batch or the 700 acre tract that
is now being planted, will be ready for
harvest. Each successive year there
after a tract of 100 acres will be ready
for cutting. After the first round Is
completed, it should not be long be-
fore the. second round or cutting =
ready.
Every tree is grown from a seed
and every plant is transplanted into
shallow boxes when it is about an inch
above the ground. These shallow
boxes hold one hundred young trees
and are stored in .'lath houses" until
they are three or four inches high
when they are ready for the field. 1t
takes from three to four months from
the time the seed is planted till the
young plant is ready to be set out m
the field, the final planting being done
in the months from February to May.
The first tract Of 700 acres is being
planted now and by the first to the
middle of May the work will have been
completed. When planting was begun
during the first week in February,
325, 900 young seedlings were already
in boxes awaiting the proper time to
be set out in the field. Seedlings Will
continue to be raised so that by the
first of May over $50 900 young plants
Will have been raised and handled. 1t
is estimated that fully 95 per cent or
the seedlings sNiIl take root and grow
at the firsto planting. Those that die
will be replaced and no space will be
wasted. - r
The method of planting the seed
lings is interesting. They are set out
apart in the rows according to modern
methods. A machine is driven along a
marked line, carrying a large barrel
filed with water, and with two rear
seats for the men who do the planting
or placing of the young seedlings in
their proper place in the rows, the
shallow boxes containing them being
carried conveniently at hand on. plat
forms.
AS the machine is driven along It
marks a line for the next row, auto
matically makes trench or hole In
the ground every five feet where the
tree is to be planted and drops some
the men on the platforms in time to
place the young tree in the hole, which
they do alternately. A man follows be-
hind to watch the operation and to
press earth around the stems.
Very little care is required during
the first two or three years. They wiz
be watered from a tank two or three
times each year and thoroughly Gull
tivated, after which it is expected that
they will do without any further at
tention. They are grown close togeth-
er to insure straight and perfect
trunks without branches. All danger
of growing crooked or branching will
have passed after a few years and ev-
cry other tree in each row will be cut
out and used for fence posts, leaving
the trees ten feet apart in the rows
that are originally planted eight feet
apart. Thus about $50 trees will be
grown on each acre, and it is calculat-
ed after Is years growth. each tree
will yield ties, making about $500
ties per acre. Approximately $780,
600 ties will be harvested from each
tract of seven hundred acres every
Is years, at a total estimated cost OF
not more than one-third the present
ms l<Rf nFic0-