HefarH
V
5GARDEH
•1
VOL.LXII
INDIANAPOLIS, AUGUST ,3 1907
NO. 31
Tree  Planting   on   Waste    Land.
Edltora Indiana Farmer:
"Plant Trees on Waste Places" is the
slogan which the American Forestry Association has adopted with a view tei
mending the awful waste which has characterised the treatment of our forested
areas.
"If timber cutting and timber waste
goes on at the present rate," said Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson, who
among other things is the presidest of the
American Forestry Association, "and
there is no forest planting in the meantime, we will, in twenty-five or thirty
yeaTS,    be a treeless nation."
Of course, the United States will make
np sometime on the subject of trees and
forests. There appears tei lie considerable ethical interest throughout the country now, but when wood becomes as
scarce anil as high-priced as it is now in
Germany, for instance, we can depend upon it that there will be a rush to plant
forests, because trees will be of inure
crop value than wheat, even on the liest
wheat land. But it is the waste, unused
places, land that is not considered tillable,
that should receive the tirst tree planting
attention. There are vast areas of such
lands in the aggregate, varying, m extent
from plots of a few acre* to huge tracts,
it would seem to be most unprofitable and
certainly unpardonable fur their owners to
allow them to remain longer unproductive,
when they can be successfully planted to
trees.
The time is not so fnr distant as the
average man imagines when the increased
price of lumber will make necessary the
planting of trees even in good agricultural
land. The price of timber lands is
doubling every few years. Col. Wm. S.
Harvey, president of the Philadelphia
Commercial Museums, an old-time lumberman', who has been working for the
passage by Congress of the Appalachian
Forest Reserve bill, tells mc that within the past six years lands in the southern
Appalachian timber regions have increased from $5 or $6 an acre to $15 and $20.
Even at $20, and in spite of the faet that
transportation- is poor, this land is considered  a   "good  buy."
But the man who gets it now and plants
to trees any waste land is the man who
will have a bank account all right when
his forests begins to yield. It takes 40
or 50 years to grow big logs; but it takes
only 12, 13 or If! years to grow fence
posts, railroad ties and telephone poles,
and the prices for these nre increasing by
leaps and bounds.
The Forest Service at Washington is issuing a lot of little leaflets, each descriptive of a tree species. If you have a
waste" acre, or ten of them, drop a
line to Gifford Pint-hot. chief forester, and
you will get some advice that may be
helpful. Part of your taxes—the indirect ones—go to support the government
finest  service. It  is  a   most  desirable
institution which ought to be twice as big
as it is; but if you have a patch of land
which should be in trees and which isn't
Jem ought to decide to plant it and then
go after the government and get at least
your shnre of return from your forestry
taxes. And the Forest Service can tell
you that tree planting does pay, not only
on waste land but even on good land
where other crops could be grown. How
does the following statement of the growing of catalpa posts and poles on the
Vaggy plantation near Hutchinson. Kans.,
strike you? Catalpa may not be the most
suitable tree for planting in your section,
Twelve-year-old Catalpas, Yagg]  Plantation, Hutchinson, Kan.
though it lias a very wide range, but it
N part of (he business nl' the Forest Service tn assist every farmer to know just
which is the most profitable tree fm- his
climate and land. In IS'.Ki Mr. Yaggy
planted 80 acres of catalpas in rich soil.
During, the next 12 years the total cost
of the project, including rent of land,
planting, cultivation and even marketing,
was $50.54 an acre. The value of the
crop, however, in 1002, was (815.81 an
acre, a net return of $250.27 an acre, or
an average annual return of $21.01 per
acre, and with very little work or worry.
Catalpa pnsts and poles are the longest
lasting, according to government foresters,
of any wood in the country and they are
worth more today than they were in 1002,
and they will be worth more 12 vents trom
today than they are now.
The fact thai it is going In take 10 or
15 years to get trees into marketable condition shouldn't deter anyone from beginning to plant. If he sells his farm, witli
a pnrt of it in trees, half grown to ties
or poles, thai plantation as a part of the
farm will be worth and will bring its real
cash value, just as when a man sells his
farm with a crop'of wheat or corn half
made. G. E. M.
'gxptvUncz gtp&vtmtnt
Near Princeton, recently, a valuable
mule, belonging to the Princeton Coal
Mining Company, died of fright while it
wns Iieing lowered into the mine.
FARM EXPERIMENTS.
No Stopping Place.
1st Premium.—The   question,    "does it
pay tiie individual fanner tn experiment in
a limited way'.'" is one which it seems to
us could have but one answer. To cease
tn experiment means tn cease ft) learn.
nnd this would result in stagnation. It is
next to impossible not to experiment, in
■cme degree, as every time we plant a new
variety of grain, raise a crop not raised
before, or pursue any course the result of
which we are imt exactly certain of, it
may lie said thai we are trying an experiment Our experiment statimis are constantly seeking better methods and giving
us the result of their experience, and yet
the questions are imt wholly solved by
their reports. We must  take these and
learn hnw to adapt tlieni tn our individual
conditions. It is no more possible to
learn Canning by hard and fast rules than
for a cook to become proficient merely by
studying a cook hook, and surely no one
has yet reached the point where there is
no more to be learned. Great progress
has been made in agriculture since our
fiirefathers plowed with a forked stick, or
planted grain in holes dug in the sod, but
there is nn stopping place. In farming,
as ih    everything else,    progress    is    the
watchwotd. We must be constantly on
the alert fm- better methods and better va-
r'eties. This  dues   not  imply   that  we
should spend a large part nf OUT time in
Irving new-fangled ways eir hunting for
new varieties of grains, but that we
should be interested in and desire the very
best, and not Ih- slnw to recognize and
grasp tin- opportunity of securing these
when it  is pre'seiited.
To  mention   a   little   experience   nf  our
own. \\'e an experimenting with a vn-
ii.-t\  nf i-iii-n    which, we   believe,    is unknown in this lneality.        The seed originally ciinic from Oklahoma, and was    by
some condemned on sight as being unsuit-
ed to this  latitude.        It was thought to
lie t)in large tn mature.        However,    we
felt   reluctant   to   condemn   it   without   a
trial,    especially when it was such a fine
looking  eorn,    and  planted a  little of it
last   rear  on   the   last  day   of  May.       It
matured  In  good shape before frost, and
was pronounced by some to be the finest
grained corn they tiad ever seen.        This
year we have more,    using for seed that
which was raised last year.      We planted
it   mi  Decoration  day,  ami  when  planted
this late if it matures two seasons in succession we believe we will have something
tl.it will prove a benefit to the community.      No matter how satisfactory our va-
m^mm^mmstmmmssr ,-    .
neties may be there is a possibility nf
some one else having something better, or
of its being improved.
Through the efforts of the wizard Burbank. we are just beginning to learn the
possibilities of plant development, and
have as yet caught but a faint glimpse of
the wonders to be accomplished. Without entering into the realm of prophecy,
we believe we are safe in saying that we
are ou the eve of an age of great invention and discovery. It is only within the
lust 100 years that the world has shaken
nff its grave clothes and has taken on new
life, and this transforming process has
mt just begun. Frequently we hear the
question asked, "How will the world be
fed when America Incomes as densely
populated as parts of the ohl world? But
wr have noticed that supply follows closely npon the heels of demand, and before
tbat day comes no doubt ways and meth-
nils will have been discovered tbat are not
dreamed of today. We may not all be
able to make these discoveries, but we
should be vigilant to acknowledge and
adopt them when others have shown us
the wny. If, as has been said, "blessed
is he who makes two blades of grass to
grow where only one grew before," then
more blessed is he who adds to the resources of the world, for he blesses not
only himself but mankind.
Subscriber.
Make Farm Life Ideal.
2d Premium.--The true convictions of a
man, properly executed or put in force,
may prove most beneficial to him; while
the snme convictions, executed in a modified way, may be wholly barren of results. A man's idea may be of such a
nature that he only can properly see
after its execution to the best advantage.
It is, and ever will be, so of these ideas
ai ours. I may read something from a
master pen, through your valued columns,
and at once try to put that into practice,
but fail. I am then prone to condemn
the idea, rather than the misapplication of
it. Every man sees more in Ins own
thought thnn his neighbor is able to see.
Our own children are best in our sight,
our horses nre worth more, etc.. just sim-
Concluded on page 5.