316 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



for poles or fuel as Is found necessary. Such a grove will in a few 

 years yield au immense amount of fuel, and later valuaijle timber. 



Several years ago it was tliouglit tliat the European larch would 

 be a valuable timber tree to plant on the prairies of the Central West. 

 The successful transplanting of this tree from its native home on 

 the Alps of Switzerland to the cold bleak highlands of Scotland, where 

 it flourished amazingly, gave great hopes that it would be equally 

 successful in America. 1 made three trips to Europe, largely to inves- 

 tigate this subject, and after traveling through France, Germany, Eng- 

 land and Scotland, in each of which nationality the larch is planted 

 largely for timber, I was greatly encouraged in the Idea that the tree 

 would do equally well here. Experience, however, proves that while 

 the European, Scotch or Tyrolese larch, as this tree is variously called, 

 does succeed in the high, dry land of the most elevated localities, it 

 does not do well on the lower levels, as it is there attacked by an 

 aphis that soon destroys the life of the tree. I have sold hundreds 

 of thousands of larch seedlings in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska 

 in years past, but do not know of a successful plantation except on 

 very high ground. In the highlands of Scotland about Dunkeld, the 

 Duke of Athol planted many thousands of larch trees obtained from 

 seed grown in Switzerland, that had been planted twenty to thirty 

 years when I saw them, on hillsides so steep I could scarcely climb 

 them. These trees were 20 to 24 inches in diameter, tall and straight 

 as an arrow. Oaks planted at same time as "nurse" trees were only 

 4 to 6 inches in diameter, of little prospective value. 



Mr. Little: I am not prepared to talk on this subject, as I did 

 not prepare myself, thinking that 1 would not get to attend this meeting. 

 I do not like the coffee nut for posts. 1 planted a fence about forty rods 

 long about two vears ago. Tbey are rigid and very strong but they 

 do not have durable qualities. It is a very poor timber from a point of 

 durabilitj'. I will tell you that I think it is all wrong for a man to 

 come here and try to mislead his friends; we ought to give facts or 

 nothing at all. If there is anything I want to be honest in I want 

 to tell a man the truth when he is trying to learn. I do not like the 

 coffee nut. 



. Mr. Kingsbury: It seems to me you are wasting your breath, for the 

 coffee nut was not recommended in the paper. 



Mr. Little: When I talk I try to give facts, for there are people here 

 who live near enough to me to see what I say is true. There was a sale 

 in our part of the county and among other things offered were some 

 osage posts and after half of them were selected out for home use, the 

 remainder were sold to John Hammond, and even though that was a 

 pretty large sale there was nothing that attracted so much attention as 



