Willmar tribune., 1909-11-10
HRE34RzNc J7V2Ne roe W1xxER @f
NE day recently a man In
a buggy stopped at a
farm in eastern Jackson
county. Kansas, hitched
his horse to the fence and
o1ivohod nvor iuf0 a fold

farm in eastern Jackson
county, Kansas, hitched
~ his horse to the fence and
climbed over into a field
where several big stumps protruded
from the plowed earth. He bent over
the stumps and examined them close.
~. Then he crossed another fence
into another field and examined some
walnut trees that grew there.
A few minutes later he went to the
farmhouse and was talking to the
owner. He told the farmer that he
was buying walnut timber, and that
there were a half dozen trees in the
walnut grove on his place that he
would like to buy. They agreed upon
price and then the stranger said:
Nov. I'll give you SO more for
those three stumps in the plowed
field and will dig them out for you
and carry them away"
The farmer snapped at the propo.
sition. For 40 years he had been
plowing around those massive stumps
and thousand times he had "cussed"
when the point Of his plow or cor
ner of his harrow had caught them.
He had an idea that the man whc of-
fered to dig them out and give him
$40 into the bargain must be little
bit insane, but, anyway, he was glad
to get rid of them.
A few days later three men came to
the 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 of the
Blue river near Sheffield. There the
stumps will be trimmed and steamed
for hours and then fastened into a
veneer machine, where they will re-
volve against the cutting edge of a
great knife that will slice of thin
veneer as the stump turns.
This veneer will be used for cover.
ing pianos, the finest kinds of furni.
ture and cabinet work, and the inside
finish of railroad cars.
This one stump was particularly val.
liable because of the wrinkles and
burls and warts that ran through it.
The veneer sliced from it would have
beautiful waving grain with birds.
eyes and all sorts of curious convolu.
tions. The more of these veneer has
the more valuable 1t is.
There is not one walnut stump In q
hundred that is worth anything to the
veneer mills. There is not one in q
thousand that is worth $500. And
there is not one man In a million who
knows the value of a stump by look
ing at It in the ground. The men who
do know this and who spend their
time looking for these stumps are
called cruisers" They drive all owe,
the states of Missouri and Kansas
looking for walnut timber and stumps
that are good for veneer.
The men who buy these stumps and
cut them say that stumps Of young
trees are OF no value. The best ones
arc Of trees centuries old. The more
aged and gnarled the tree the richel
the stump will be in burls and birds
eyes. Some Of the most valuable
stu,npa are OF trees that were cut 81
years ago by the pioneers of thi:
country. Tho best of them are fount
along tho rivers. where the lands were
too rough to be cultivated. From
these tracts the trees were cut fol
lumber or firewood and the stump.
remained to be dug up half century
later and uaed to decorate some par
lor in y modern house.
The men who cut these stumps int
vensor do not always get them for {
small price. Many farmers know
their value and demand it. In tn,
yard OF the mill near Sheffield ar
stumps for which the owners pait
from $50 to 500 and there is one fo
which the man who dug 1t out de
mands $500. This stump is nine fee
In diameter at the butt Of the tree.
This mill has been saving walnu