The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-05-05
PROFIT is YIELDED
BY TREE GROWING.
Denusins Of Massachusetts Land
Calls Attention to the V''s OF
Timber Cultivation.

Timber Cultivation.
Thirty-fye years ago the town or
Andove:, Mass, contained as fine
groves Of pines and other woods as
there were in the State. From the
ton of Institution Hill, look which,
ever way you might, beautiful groves
! were to be seen.
To-day from the same point it Is
! like looking across an almost barren
| plain, says a writer in Horticulture.
The woods have nearly disappeared,
and few trees have been planted In
their places.
The brooks where once a string of
trout could be caught contain water
only a few weeks in the spring or
during heavy fall rains; the rest of
the year they are dry, or nearly so.
What is going on in this town is
going on in almost every town in the
State, and if the subject Of tree plant
ing is not taken in hand either by
the Government or private parties
Massachusetts will soon be a treeless
State.
There are thousands Of acres of
|; land that are unfit for cultivation, yet
this same land has been covered with
good growths of timber and wood and
could be again so covered.
There is no better. investment an
owner could leave his children than
to plant his barren lands with trees.
besides benefiting the State and the
country in which he lives. A great
many will say that it does not pay, a
tree grows so slowly. Let is look at
!. in a business way and see.
J. D. G. Williams, of Raynham, set
a piece of land to pine in 1850. The
land vas $40 an acre; cost Of setting
out, SIS. After twenty-five years Of
growth the standing wood was sold
to Mr.. Thayer, of Taunton, for $3.50
an acre, leaving the land in better
bought it. The case may be stated
thus:
Land, an acre.. ....... ............ SIC
1iees 800. ..'.... ''...'''.'' '''''' q
Total ...... go. ....... ...........S 500
Sold wood for Sl5O an acre and had land
left.
A Mr.. Williams, of Bristol County.
set a piece of land to pine in 1911.
the land costing Sc an acre. The
t,1Ne ryara oo4 In rnu,c ror1yinn fr0po
six to nine feet and four to six feet
apart. The lot was examined by an
experienced lumberman in 1870 with
a view to purchasing, and the esti.
mate of the wood was se~venty-fve
cords to the acre. More than two.
thirds of this is suitable for box
boards and is worth at the mill, three
miles distant, Sc a cord.
Land, en acre.. .......... !........... So
Setting trees 80. 49,. ............... ?
-
Total cost an acre 49,. ,........... s24
Fifty cords OF wood at Sc. ....... .$3OG
Twenty-Five cords of wood at $2...... so
Yield an acre.. ............ $3.50
The late Richard Simpson set a
piece of pine %thirty-one years ago on
land too poor to cultivate. The wood
now is estimated to be worth $3.50
an acre at least.
These groves had no treatment tc
hasten their growth or improve the
quality of the lumber, and with the
exception Of the removing of n or
two dead trees, it might be said that
they took care of themselves. Had
these plantations been pruned so that
the whole growth Of the branches
had been thrown into the trunks they
would have been worth at least fifteen
per cent. more