The Washington herald., 1913-11-23
Planted Large Areas Where Members Of Forest
Population Are Reared Carefully

vented IN part, or at least STAYED on
and insects. smelling an odor they don't
like. tackle the fence posts along the
right Of way. It costs 30 cents to
treat a tie with creosote. The plant
costs 100000. Zinc chloride, corrosive
sublimate, and crude oil are also used
as preservatiyes. The consumption OF
ereosote at the eighty-four plants
amounts to s3.000.oO0 gallons a year.
Three-fourths Of 1t comes from Eng
land and Germany" -
Money to BE Made I'm Wood.
"Are trees for wood being grown
anywhere with suecessY' 1 asked.
"Oh, yes. There are a number Of
commercial plantations in the Middle
West. The trees, hardy catalpas f6r
the most part, were planted thirty
years ago, and have done we'll The
habitat of the hardy catalpa was along
the Wabash and Ohio Rivers. 1t was
known as a rapid grower. and that its
wood was OF a lasting quality. The
George NJ. Munger plantation. near
Eureka. Kans.. contains 135 acres, and
was started In 1887. The trees were
put out in rows four feet apart, and
were cultivated the first year of two.
AT the end of fifteen years Mr.. Mum
ger estimated that his profit-were the
trees cut and put on the market
amounted to s167 an acre over and
above per cent interest. compounded.
on HIS investment. Trees as crop do
not require close attention. After
they are started they keep on growing.
barring accidents, and, like an account
IN a good savings bank. work day and
night. including Christmas and the
Fourth of July.
Two of the largest plantations I
know of are in Crawford County.
Kans. They cover two sections -
land. Both were planted by H. H
Hunnewell. who was then, between
1877 and 1884, president of the Kan
sas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Rail
road One was planted for the rail-
road, and the other for himself. The
former is now the property of the 81.
Louis and San Francisco Railroad Com
pany. 1t is known as darlington For
est. and has 400 acres of hardy catalpa,
100 acres of ailanthus. and forty acres
of Usage orange. white ash. black wal
nut, and black cherry. Only the hardy
catalpa and Usage orange trees were
successful, however, as q business
proposition. Two thousand seedlings
were planted to the acre. one-fourth
of the trees were removed in 1894 and
sold for fence posts This plantation.
estimating the 400 acres OF hardy
catalpas alone, was valued at S156.OO0
at the end of twenty years. Subtract
ing the cost, including interest, the
profit was s55,O00-
"The other plantation. owned by Mr..
HunnewelI himself, covered 500 acres.
400 acres OF which were in catalpAs.
The trees were ten feet high at the
end of three years, sixteen and one
half feet high in six years, twenty-five
feet high in nine years and slightly
less than thirty feet high in eighteen
years, at which time the plantation was
worth $376.30 an acre. or $150.520. as
against a cost of $1,000 an acre Tbs-I
yearly profit. therefore. was STATS an
acre, which is larger than the return
from wheat. cotton, corn. or hay.
Trees can't be set out in the spring
and harvested in the fall They are
a slow crop, but a reasonably safe one
If they are watched and a strip twenty,
feet wide is plowed around each block
of trees as a fire guard Wood -
going to be very dear in this country.
and a plantation of trees. set out in
a mans youth as an investment, is
likely to be sure and highly profit
able speculation"
Copyright. 1913. By James B. MorrOHl