New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-08-10
MONEY IN TREES.
Worn Ont Farm Lands ShO1cn TO
Be NezO Source of Wealth.
from The Tribune Bureau. 7

Washington Aug 9-Unused lands in any
part of the country be made TO produce eacn
wear from Sc to $40 an acre through the intelli-
gent planting of forest trees This is the con-
viction of the national forest service Were
advantage taken of this fact every farmer III
the country who has a plot of rough and unpro-
ductfve land could change it into revenue pro-
Queer. Were so-called abandoned farms, espe-
cially their least fertile fields planted with trees
they would go on producing wealth autOmatical-
Iv wear after year planted in white
pine is an insurance policy maturing in forty
years and worth $500 at maturity a hundred
such acres, costing now from 50 to SlO an acre.
would be a handsome legacy. and the payment
of premiums upon il would be no great hardship,
as the trees and their value grow without labO-
rious attention cultivation. There are tim
bers which, like insurance policies. mature at
early dates The first cost of putting out the
timber compares not unfavorably with that of
taking out the policy, and ii may be "cashed
I'M" at any time, for the land is salable in pro-
portion to the development of the timber
Reports from all parts of the country TO the
forest service show that the last season mas
undoubtedly been characterized by more ex-
tensive planting of forest trees than any pre-
vious wear in the history of the United States.
The work is progressing very favOrably in every
state in the Union. 1t has been most extensive
in California, in the great Middle West and IN
the New England states. But even in the South,
because Of existing natural forests. the scope OF
the work has greatly broadened-
The trees planted have been mainly hard
woods Several large nurserymen. however, re-
port greater sales of cOnifers for forest planting
than they have made before. In the Middle
West cataIpa black locust, Usage orange and
Russian mulberry were the favOrite trees; in
the North and Northeast preference was given
to white pine. chestnut, larch and spruce; In the
South the native conifers held the lead, and all
H. Nor+H o,1I Ia rasf
is applicable TO any out fields in New York
and New Jersey.
A few figures readily show the value of forest
planting from a commercial standpoint. In Paw
nee County, Neb., a sixteen year-Od catalpa
plantation gave a net return Of s152 II an
acre at the time the plantation was cut. This
meant annual profit of IS "a an acre. A ten
ar-old plantation of the same species In Kan
sas showed net value of $191 80 an acre Still
another plantation in Nebraska, gave a net
income of s170 so acre when fourteen years
Old which amounts TO annual income OF SIS SO
an acre Several equally striking cases could
be cited throughout the entire Middle West, and
it is known that where the catalpa will succeed
other tree will pay SO well Good soil and
moisture conditions are however, essential for
success with this tree
Usage orange has been known to produce
high 2.640 first class posts and 2272 second
class posts acre. and it is well understood
that no posts are better than those OF Usage
orange. Lana producing suCn a forest as Ni4lS
could hardly be put to better use, since timber
is the easiest OF all crops to raise, and from
will never go begging for a market
Red cedar, in plantations twenty-five years
old. has reached value of $500 81 an acre Eu-
ropean larch. used for fence posts or telephone
posts, reaches an average value of 500 TO $500
White pine plantations forty years old have ex-
ceeded value OF $500
1t does take lifetime TO get results
Catalpa often reaches post size in from eight
10 ten years. and will give service as a post for
from fifteen To forty years. Usage orange. which
reaches post size IN from twelve to fifteen years.
usually lasts longer than catalpa- Black locust.
though badly affected by the borer In some re-
gions grows about fast as the catalpa and
has almost the same post value, while IL has
the great advantage over cataIpa of being able
TO thrive on poor land. European larch reaches
a size suitable for telephone poles IN twenty
five years. When treated with preServatlVe II
will then last from fifteen to twenty-five years
on favorable sites white pine VIII make saw
timber in from forty to sixty years Already
the demand for the timber of this tree shows
conclusiyely that the investment will prove I'M
mensely profitable
In every region of the United States there Is
ut least one forest tree, and generally there are
several forest trees. which can be planted with
| a complete assurance OF commercial success IL
the plantation is properly establislsd and given
proper care.
The government has made very careful
study of most of the forest plantations In the
United States. Its publications on tree planting
may be had free of charge upon application 10
the Forest Service of the Department or Asrl-
culture at Washington The studies on when
they we're based were made especially for the
benefit of farmers and other land owners. anu
to prevent the waste of thousands OF dollars an
nually lost by planting the wrong forest trees
or bv improper care of plantations
From the manner in which our natural TIMBER
has been cut it is clear that each region VIII
have 10 be made nearly self-supportlng IN
timber growth possible the lesson OF tIe
past is that the right forest trees grown IN the
rfcht way will bring big profit