The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1909-11-06
- c1SITG yTLyx0 EOR XEMEER, Cs
NE day recently a man In

buggy stopped at
a 4 farm in eastern Jackson
county, Kansas, hitched
S ~ his horse to the fence and
& climbed over into field
8 where several big stumps protruded
N from the plowed earth. He bent over
# the stumps and examined them close
III IT, Then he crossed another fence
# into another field and examined some
# walnut trees that grew there.
# A few minutes later he went to the
NJ farmhouse and was talking to the
N owner. He told the farmer that he
n was buying walnut timber, and that
Il there were a half dozen trees in the
N walnut grove on his place that he
i would like to buy, they agreed upon
4 a price and then the stranger said:
Now, I'll give you $40 more for
s those three stumps in the plowed
field and will dig them out for you
and carry them away"
The farmer snapped at the prOpo-
siion For 40 years he had been
blowing around those massive stumps
and a thousand times he had 'cussed"
when the point of his plow or a cor
ner Of his harrow had caught them.
He had an idea that the man who Of
tared to dig them out and give him
SO into the bargain must be little
bit insane, but, anyway, he was glad
to get rid of them.
4 few days later three men came to
'Ae farm and cut down the walnut
trees and dug out the three old
stumps and hauled them all away.
One of those old stumps was worth
$500 The others were worth not
much more than the expense OF dig
Ging them up and hauling them to
Kansas City,
The stumps came to the mill Of a
walnut corporation on the bank II the
aVo river near Sheffield There the
s.umps will be trimmed and steamed
for hours and then fastened into a
veneer machine, where they will re
Fo.ye against the cutting edge OF a
Er.a, knife that will slice off a thin
veneer as the stump turns
This veneer will be used for cover
ing pianos, the finest kinds of furni
l-ra and cabinet work, and the inside
lr'ah Of railroad cars.
his one stump was particularly val.
..uIe because Of the wrinkles and
0r.s and warts that ran through il
,ae veneer sliced from it would have
beautiful waving grain with bird
.- and all sorts of curious Convolu.
Toms The more of these a veneer has
"a more valuable it is
There is not one walnut stump in a
"Ired that is worth anything 10 the
'.eaT mills There is not one In a
thousand that is worth $500. And
'a'.e IS not one man in a million who
f-""a the value of a stump by look
l az il in the ground. The men who
hAow this and who spend their
""" ooking for these stumps are
l1.". cruisers" They drive all over
'ht states of Missouri and Kansas
..",lrs for walnut timber and stumpG
wa. are good for veneer.
be men who buy these stumps and
e-' hem say that stumps of young
hass are o' no value. The best ones
~ af trees centuries old The more
hG1a and gnarIed the tree the richer
"' stump viii be in burls and bird IS
tfss Some of the most valuable
'aaps are OF trees that were cut 50
-'sre ago by the pioneers of this
"'ry The best of them are found
s.rs n rivers, where the lands were
io gh TO be cultivated From
g. Tracts The trees were cut tor
-' % fgewood and the stumps
aed e be dug UP a half century
an1 ned to decorate some par
oa1srn house
#.n Is ho cut these stumps into
IS not always get them for a
rIoe Many farmers know
and demand IL In the
h uilI near Sheffield are
aieh the owners paid
and there IS one tor
who dUg It out d.
THIS stump IS nine fee,
a the but Of the tree
-as been saving wa,u4g