The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1909-11-23

To the thrifty rural resident who
owns a rock ribbed stretch OF coun-
try adjacent to the more fertile fields
inherited from his paternal ancestors
the question often arises what dis
position to make OF the barren tract
I'm order to make IL yield at least
enough return to pay the taxes It
costs him. Enough verdancy may
exist between the riffs of rock for
hungry sheep to browse on; the land
may be near enough TO some city to
one day become valuable real estate;
1t may do for a future quarry or even
for railroad property, but the problem
Is what to do with It in the mean
while.
Heretofore such unlovely spots
have too often been placed at the dis
posal OF few hungry goats or sheep,
or else they have been used solely as
a source of building material for
stone walls, until now Uncle Sam Of
fers what appears to be satisfactory
solution of this long pondered prob
lem. Unused lands in any part OF
the country can be made to produce
from Sc to $40 an acre." he says in
recent forestry report, "and this
merely through the intelligent plant
ing OF trees" Thus IL follows that
the man owning a field for agricul-
tural purposes may realize more than
a crop OF stones from that field II he
will bring into service his intelligence
and plant the same with trees.
For long time now Uncle Sam
has been bemoaning the loss OF the
virgin forests of the country, and al
most as long ago as the loss of these
began to be felt the price OF lumber
began to creep up. Every year the
price of woods OF all kinds grew high
er and every year the amount OF lum-
Der grew scarcer, and the price Is
still going higher. 1t is in spite Of
the introduction Of steel, cement and
brick that lumber is more in demand
than ever before, for where only a
few years ago wood was mainly used
In building to-day its uses are legion.
Do Not Cut Until Maturity.
In the report got out by the Gov
eminent the interests of the coun-
try in general are considered, and in
this light tree growers are advised to
keep their trees uncut until they are
of mature size. Plantations Of red
cedar twenty-five years Old" says
one report, shave netted $200.54 an
acre. European larch, used for tele-
phone or fence posts, will net from
$500 to 1925 an acre at the age of
twenty-five years. White pine at the
$500 an acre as uncut timber" while
other woods more than twenty years
OF age bring prices that compare fav-
orably with these.
But to the man who is expecting
that in ten or fifteen years his tree
crop will reach a salable value the
figures of the national forest service
are a bit out of reach, yet to that in
dividual hope is offered in the an
nouncement that there are uses and
even good prices paid for trees which
range from the tender age Of six
years up, and that the demand for
these slender striplings is growing
greater each year.
An example of this lies In the match
industry alone. This line of manu-
facture has nearly all been merged
into a great trust which annually
purchases at a good figure thousands
OF acres of white pine trees any
where from Maine to California. 1t
buys these as uncut timber, in size
from six inches up, and after clearing
the tract moves on to It's next forest.
In the manufacture Of barrel slaves
and hoops trees of almost any tough,
flexible wood are used, from the ages
OF four to fifteen years, while any
straight young trees of ten years will
make salable flag or tent poles. Young
alders, poplars and willows OF from
ten to fifteen years serve mankind I'm
the manufacture of gunpowder, while
the prolific beech and maple. from six
inches in diameter upward, can be
used in the manufacture of wood al
cohol, for which there is an enorm-
ously increasing demand all over the
country. Furniture manufacturers,
always on the lookout for wood with
a fine grain, will take birch, cherry,
walnut, etc, not large enough TO be
used in making parts of house fur
nishings for use as veneer. Never
before I'm the history of the United
States has so much wood been used
I'm the manufacture OF ornaments and
toys as Is now being used for that
purpose, and thousands OF feet of
spruce are employed by manufactur-
ers OF sleighs and wagons
Use Of Small Timber.
Tn some parts of New York and
Pennsylvania large quantities of
small timber are used i'm wood dis
tillatlon plants for the production of
acid. while all over the country small
timber is used for the manufacture
of charcoal Small sizes Of timber,
particularly the spruce of New Eng-
land. Is used In the pulp mills where
paper and other wood products are
manufactured. This is an industry
that is growing rapidly, and one, too
that is a strong factor in increasing
The demand for wood of all sizes. In
New England too. box manufacturer
use second growth white pine dowr
TO a diameter of six inches. Then
again, many small trees are bought
for the manufacture OF tOothpicks
while I'm the mining country Of Penn.
sylvania and other coal PRODUCING
States thousands OF sprays" are pur
rnrrnA e. 1901. aN.f. ....fr.-