Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-12-08
TIE TREES GROWING.


The unromantic section of timber
that lies imbedded between the rails
until rooted up and burned, too old
for service, has assumed d vast mn
portance in the estimation Of practi-
cal railroad men, says the Morrisville
correspondent Of the New York Her
aid, for the forests from which come
the trees that are cut into ties are
becoming exhausted and the prices Of
this material are being advanced to
such an extent that some radical
steps have become absolutely neces-
sary.
The Pennsylvania railroad is the
pioneer in the departure that 1t is
thought will solve the problem. A
large piece of farm land belonging to
the company here has been set apart
for forest reservation and here, under
the direction Of the forestry depart
ment of the railroad, millions Of seed
ling plants are being nursed into a
sufficiently robust life to allow for
their removal to other lands belong
ing to the company, where they can
be permitted to take their chance Of
growing to maturity.
The trees selected for this planta-
ton are those which have proved the
most desirable for railroad ties. There
are acres of oak seedlings, chestnuts,
catalpa plants, black locust, Scotch
pine, Austrian pine, Douglas fir and
other trees that are Of the right ma
terial for cutting up into railroad ties.
Beside these trees there are a vast
number Of seedlings that have never
been tried for the purpose to which 1t
is intended to put these trees when
they reach maturity, but which might
prove even superior for that purpose
to the trees that have always been
selected. These seedlings are being
grown for the purpose Of providing
the railroad with a variety Of trees,
so that experiments can be made In
the future to determine which partic-
ular tree is actually the best for fur
nishing the all-important rail on the
company's way.
1t will be forty years or more be-
fore the trees that are now In seed
ling state will have attained growth
sufficient to justify the forestry de-
partment in cutting them down for
railroad ties. The plan Is to nurse the
seedlings along at the forestry reser-
walton until they are sufficiently big
to permit transportation. They will
then be taken up and replanted in
some of the many vacant lands owned
by the railroad.
The seedlings will be planted six
feet apart and will then have to take
their chance Of surviving. The fos-
tering care of the forester cannot fol-
low them further. AS they will be
planted on ground belonging to the
railroad, on which no one will have
the right to trespass, 1t is probable
that most of the trees will reach ma
turity and will eventually fulfill their
destiny, becoming railroad ties
The railroad companies possess
IltIlSe SlIelCICS VI lCLlllOlJ
the line Of the permanent ways,
ground that has been acquired per-
force because a right Of way could
not be obtained without buying extra
land, and farm land and other real
estate that has been purchased be-
cause 1t was seen the company would
some day need 1t for one Of the vari-
ETY. Of uses to which a railroad can put
vacant spaces along its lines.
The reservation here was one Of
those vacant stretches, and when the
forestry department took 1t in hand
it required the services of small
army of Italians to redeem the land
from a state Of wildernesslike confu-
sion. Now everything on the planta-
ton is in scientific order and the fine
hand Of the skilled forester Is evident
In every line Of Seeding rows.