Year: 1878




Our Washington correspondent furnish.
es the readers of the Ptoneeg. Press with
the full teXt of the tree culture act which
passed the House few days ago as sub
stltute tor the Senate bill. 1t is neither
Dunnell's bill, nor Straits bill. nor Stew
arts bill. but bill framed by the commit
tee which adopted what seemed to them
the best features Of all the bills referred tO
them. The committee adopted that feature
or Stowart's bill reducing the number OF
acres in l60 acre lot. required to be plant
ed IN elght years, to ten acres. and the dis
tance OF the trees apart to four feet but
this provision was amended ia the House
by requiring q 200 trees to be planted on
the ten acres. leaving to the occupant to
plant them in such Il way altd at such dis
fances apart as he may choose When he
makes the proof at the land office required
TO get patent. he is required to show that
there is then growing and in a thrifty con-
dltion 800 trees on each acre. An effort is
to be made to amend this provision in the
Senate by reducing the number of trees re-
! quired on each acre at the time of making
| proof to 300, Which is said to be the aver
age number Of trees per acre in natural
forests: Of course if anybc'' wishes to
make Il tree claim of only 50 or 10 acres.
the nunlbe" of trees he is required to plant
and keep i'll thrifty condition is correspond
lngly reduced. All the provisions of the
bill are well adapted to the encouragement
ahl promotion of timber growing on our
wide prairies, the economical importance
of which, to say nothing of its aesthetic
aspects, the Pioneer Press has so often
dWelt upon.


lfa man wants to make claim fer the
purpose of cultivating trees, all he has to
do is to 90 to the land office. make the af-
fidavit. the form Of which is given in the
bill, pay his little ten dollars to the Receiv-
cr. and enter the desired quarter section-
or subdivision thereof. He must break or
plow five acres the first year and five acres
the second. He must cultivate to crop or
otherwise the second year the five acres
broken the first year, and in the third year
must cultivate to crop or otherwise the five
acres br5kci the second year and must
plant i'll timber. seeds or cuttings the five
acres first broken, and the fourth year must
plant in timber. seeds or cuttings the sec
Ond five acres. On each acre he must plant
100 trees, cuttings or seeds, and have 900
living and thrifty trees to each acre at the
end of eight years, and perhaps the Senate
will reduce this to 300 trees. In case trees
are destroyed by extreme or unusual
drought or by grasshoppers for any year
or term of years the time of planting will
be extended one year for every such year
that they are destroyed = provided he
makes an affidavit to these facts before the
Register in the manner prescribed by the
bill. All parties who have made entries
under previous timber-culture acts are per-
mittcd to complete them by compliance
with this act. This bill, which will no
doubt pass the Senate in the regular course
of business, will without doubt do much
to stimulate the cultivation Of groves of
trees all over the broad plains in the west
ern part Of Minnesota and throughout Da-
kota:


The donation by the Government of one
hundred and sixty acres of land on these
naked plains as a bounty to all who will
plant ten acres of it in trees, ought to set
thousands of new settlers to work to raise
young forests, which will at once clothe
with beauty these now too naked and
monotonous landscapes, and furnish the
farmers in few years with abundance of
fuel and fencing, besides performing those
salutary offices of wind-breaks, and shades
for cattle in the hot summer, which are
among those minor but useful advantages
of a contiguous growth ct timber. which
are only valued Where they are wanting.
AS to the general climatic effects of the
wide-spiead cultivation df trees on our
western prairies, it is not necessary to dis
cuss the prevailing theories on that sub
ject, since the economical value and ad-
vantages of general diffusion of tree cul-
ture are 50 great and so definite that they
abundantly Justify the bountiful encourage
ment which Congress is about to give it.
and all the efforts OF private individuals
and Of the public press to stimulate gen.
eral concert of action for its promotion.