The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1908-07-02
IOWA GIVES MUCH
FOR FENCE POSTS
FARMERS HAVE HUGE EXPENSE
BILLS EACH YEAR.
pRoBLEN OF GROWING TREES.
The Future Must be Wisely Provided
For or the supply of Timber
Viii Have Been Ex-
hausted.

| washington, IL. u, June Zl.--An an
nual fence post bill OF more than ST.
100000 is one item in the expense ac-
count of the farmers of a single agri.
cultural state. 1t is estimated that the
farmers of Iowa use posts having a
value exceeding this enormous sum
each year to maintain the fences on
the 25000,000 acres of improved land
in the state. .n,.,.r5.a,t u.
In making these estimates, II. p
Baker, formerly professor of forestry
In the Iowa state agricultural college
at Ames, and now occupying the chair
of forestry at the Pennsylvania state
college, figured that the farms of the
state required 100000 posts for
fences, oil 1000 to the square mile.
Placing the value of the posts at Is
cents each, the cost of renewals every
eight or nine years, which is the life
of the post, is $11.7ls,o00, making an
annual bill for renewals of $l,465, 600.
Like many other farming states,
Iowa has a lack of fence post mater
ial, but there is little excuse for this
condition, according to the foresters
who have made studies in the state. A
properly managed forest plantation
will produce, when the trees have
reached post size. $500 posts. to 5
inches in diameter per acre; thus, it
would take 22,350 acres about every
ten years to grow the necessary posts
to supply the state. Iowa is said to
| have 100000 acres of planted timber,
and yet the fence post supply is insult
fcient. If properly cared for, many
of these plantations can be made to
produce more timber, and thus insure
the future post supply.
These 100000 acres are not at
present furnishing the posts which 1t
is estimated can actually be grown on
22,950 acres of properly handled forest
land. This in itself in an astonishing
statement, but there are several rea.
sons for such a condition. They have
been summed up under the three fol-
lowing heads:
/. Failure to select species special
ly suited to the region and the land to
be planted.
2. No protection against stock 1t
is impossible to make land produce
both 1irst-class stock and first-class
trees at the same time. The animals
eat the terminal buds of young trees,
pack the soil so that it will not take
up the rain, and break and bruise the
trees, opening them to the attack Of
insects and fungi. The trees shade
out the grass and reduce it's forage
value.
3. Lack of protection against fire.
Many fine plantations have been ruin.
ed by permitting surface fires to run
through them. Fire protection, which
is often given by blowing two or three
burrows about the plantation, is espe-
cially important after the trees have
reached such size that they no long
er receive cultivation, as the litter
and brush form a dangerous fire risk.
Owners of planted woodlots ofteL
say that the land is too valuable to be
used entirely for growing wood, yet
it seems that if little more than ten
per cent of the present area of plant
ed timber were properly cared for,
protected both against fire and stock
the remainder of the land could be
thrown proftably into the pasture or
farms. AS it now is, the farmers of
Iowa have to buy many of their fence
posts from other states, which seems
like a burdensome and unnecessary
expense to those who have studied the
sINfl 60 nr
state.
Foresters say that under proper
management there are many trees
which can be grown in the state. The
black locust, chestnut, catalpa, Usage
orange, Russian mulberry and Euro
pean larch. Since these trees srould
be used only within their economic
planting range on soils adapted to
their growth, the number for planting
in Iowa is reduced, for the greater part
of the state, by one-half. There are
other trees which produce good post
material, but it always pays to grow
the best. This means the kinds
which are most durable in contact
with the soil, and have the most rapid
growth.
Black locust is subject to the at.
tack of the borer 10 such an extent as
to make its cultivation in Iowa a
rather doubtful proposition. In the
southern part of the state trees, once
established, make very rapid second
growth, and 1t is possible that under
these conditions, with short rotations,
small post size will be reached by the
trees before the borer has done any
serious damage. Black locust thrives
on fairly good sandy or gravelly
broken land.
Chestnut is not suited to Iowa
conditions and Usage orange is subject
to winter killing north of line drawn
west and south through Des Moines.
Usage orange makes very long-lived
post; its only drawback is a tendency
to split under the staple 1t grows to-
best advantage on deep, rich soil
with plenty of moisture, but will do,
| we'll on n variety of soils