The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-26
PLEADS FOR TREE CULTURE Forests Exhausted in Fifteen Years. STARTLING PREDICTION MADE John P. Brown of International Society of Arbdriculture. Authority on Tree. Tell. of weaderfai Pes.ibiiity of Aisbsma soii < ia Growing Cs- /
 talpas.
 
STARTLING PREDICTION MADE

aThe present forests of thea United States will be. exhausted Tn hIseen years" was the startling staIemeht made yesterday by John F. broWh, Secretary of the InternationAi Socisty of Arboriculture, in an interview Tor The Advertiser. He calls par rticniary upon Alabama, Florida and Louisiana where tree growth Is most luxuriant and profitable. to build up new forests In order to preserve the lumber supp3y of the country.
 aThere- lis no place where timber grows better than it does in Alabama, he explains. Two inches in diameter per annum is not unusual for the ca talpa tree, here One can readily ap- preciate the superiority of this soil and climate when you compare these fig ures with Minnesota where the yearly growth Nis only three-quarters of an inch and with Indiana, where the in- crease in diamater Is one Inch. In Alabama there are 100o0,000 of acres not adapted to agricultural purposes. all of which are suitable for the growth of the catalpa timber. In ten years the yellow pine of thls State. will be gone. and then what will Alabama do for lumber? It is absolutely necessary that timber planting be carried on to an enormous extent, if the wood in Austry in this country Is to be con- tinued. If this fact can be impressed on the people of Alabama, they will take up the work and pursue it profit ably. %
 The cataipa speeiosa Is the best tree to set out for commercial purposes. An acre of them will bring $1.000 in twen- ty years. The expense of planting and care is only SEQ, Certainly there Is no other branch of agriculture that is more rcmunerative in this State. / n.a- lAl AweNf fNA for this type of tree and the climate here is such that 1t will grow every month of the year and not only during six CT seven months as in the North.
 Nation sheuid Heed.
 ssThe nation and particularly the Southern States, sh euld throw it's ef- forts toward setting out new forests, rather than trying to preserve the old ones. I may say with emphasis that there is no posibility of saying the present forests. s
 sIt isn't even worth while to try.
 "PracticalIy all the timber Is in the hands of the syndicates who aRe bent on wiping out every vestige of gfowth You cannot persuade them not to. What they want Is money and money as quick as they can get it, Even the smaller trees are being destfoyed for turpentine. Here, however, Is a field where the State should interfere. There is no excuse for the killing of young trees by turpentining. The State. through prohibitive methods, could protect our young growth of pines. / There Is no lumber among our common trees that will snrpass the catalpa. In fact. no other in the world outside the tropics will produce lumber rapidly as this variety. The white oak. which has been the re1i- ance of consumers of fine lumber in the past, can for example, be repro duced itssno less than 300 years. The long leaf yellow pine will require 150 years to make profitable lumber. The cypress of the South will take some 600 years to make a large tree. Com pare this with the catalpa, which will, in twenty years, become suitable for all purposes for which lumber can be used.
 Another evidence of the superior tty of catalpa is in its antiseptic quail eties. It. does not need to go through the. process of creosoting for presers walton against weather. Other woods For the most part require some sort of chemical treatment But I know of catalpa ties and poles that have been in use for a third of a. cen htry. that are still solid. f
 May Use FertIlixer.i
 Fertilizer is a great aid to- the
 
 ence. the tree that is given fertilizer as q stimuiant in its youth grows enormously, and far more quickly than that which had none. What I use Is twenty five on 200 acres at the beginning. I find that the best trees are those that are raised from seeds gathered In the Wabash Val ley in South Indiana. Before setting out forest l go with a force of men and pick these seeds up, then place them in the hands Of nurs- cry man until the tree is a year old.
 The State should be much more strict in its forest legislation. All the Southern States are lax If, for in- stance, this State could put tax on forests, sufficient only for the main tenance of department to aid in the protection against fire, the saving would be enormouS Alabama Is rav- aged by fires that are large prevent able. Then, too. when the State can get land with young timber on 1t, I see no reason why the Legislature
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