The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-31
MAY BE THE REMEDY.

MAY BE THE REMEDY. From The Washington Times we
 copy the Following:
 r.IsSsnnsngg. HIsslnnIng risas here l. l. our own Is growth of what ia known in the country stcre as old -field, pine.e Of nciaily it is "1obIollyr pine. the which with matter for various absorbing nov elettes. This timber has sprung up Tn the old and now unused fields. the areas under cultivation before the civil cause of the comparative disappearance of farm labor. It's seed Is light and carried far on the winds, 1t grows quickly ,n.,si and easily. and t has been has been phenomenal. the trees being often twelve to fourteen inches in di- amater at an age of twenty or twenty
 "oid-neld pinev was scorned once. Now it finds a ready and profitable market. Longleaf pine. which was for merly favored to the exclusion of the loblolly, Is today scarce az oak. Lob lolly the ugly duckling. has taken on trade beauty when dipped In creo- sote. which makes it exceedingly dur able. W
 Those familiar with pine timber
 hardly need to be told that this old field pine has never been considered
 of much value in this country, and that for two reasons. In the first
 place, these trees do not have the long.
 straight-and symmetrical trunks of the
 yellow pine. The limbs commence near
 the ground and hence 1t is practically
 impossible to get long blanks or scantling tree from knots. The trees of abandoned soil. One of the pecu- liarities about 1t is that when a field which has been long cultivated is turned out" there will soon spring up all over it young pines of this va riety. There will rarely be seen any long-leaf pines growing up. but plenty of the old-he1d variety. which. for the reasons given. has never in the past been locke ed on as of much value.
 Another reason for the disfavor in which this species of pine has been held is It's lack of durability when used in it's natural state. Being almost en- tirely destitute of heart, and deficient in resin. in both of which it is the direct opposite of our yellow pine. this species will hardly last long enough if exposed to earth or weather. to pay for the trouble of shaping and using it. In fact, it is one of the least dur able woods to be found; hence. for posts. fence rails or outside building of any kind it has been considered al- most worthless. If creosoting or other treatment will remove this objection and render the wood durable there will be no doubt about its coming into use. As The Times says the lons-leaf or yellow pine is fast disappearing and even now good quality of 1t is dim cult to obtain. and consequently com mands high price, and any substi- tute will be doubly welcome. It may be that artificial treatment of the tim Der will make it durable so that 1t can take the place of the long-leaf species and thus help to relieve the fast ap- preaching timber famine.
 Tn New England, The Times says, the white pine is doing just what the lob Jolly is doing down here. and is refor- estins the waste lands rapidly, there being. it is estimated. 500 900 acres of abandoned farm lands in Southern New Hampshire. which are fast grow ing up in white pine forests fIIere." continues The Times. "are concrete though costly illustrations of reforest- ation for commercial purposes They are illustrations also of the change that has come over the lumber mar ket, making the present consumers grateful, for woods that generation since were worse than disregarded. In the two things thus elucidated there ought to be a warning even for thoughtless America. What will be our situation when all the old field and white pine of this growth have been cut? Will we put our portable mills to work on four-inch saplings and build with osage and boxwood? We will. if we keep up the bars against the forest products of other countries and go on wasting. ruthlessly cutting and exporting from our own"
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