ARBORICULTURE. 



255 



TELEPHOXE POLES AN AGRI- 

 CULTURAL PRODUCT. 



The growing of poles for the use of the 

 telephone companies is now becoming of some 

 importance to those farmers that have pieces 

 of forest so situated that the poles can be pro- 

 duced at a profit. The value of a telephone 

 pole at place of setting is about $5. There are 

 now in the United States over thirty million 

 telephone poles, and the average life of these 

 poles is about eight years. It requires for the 

 maintenance of the present lines alone about 

 2,650,000 poles, and this does not lake into con- 

 sideration the enormous increase in the use of 

 poles that is sure to materialize from year to 

 year. 



The certainty that there is to be a great 

 dearth of telephone poles has led to extensive 

 experiments in treating poles to increase their 

 time of usefulness. If the butt of the pole 

 from two to eight feet from the end is treated 

 with preservatives, the length of life is in- 

 creased four years. If the butts are soaked in 

 tanks to a distance of eight feet from the end, 

 the length of life is increased eight years. 



In growing trees for telephone poles the 

 farmer must grow a very large number on an 

 acre, as otherwise side limbs will develop to 

 too great a degree. When the trees are grown 

 close together, they send all their substance 

 into their tops, which stretch up rapidly. The 

 side limbs are small and do not interfere much 

 with the bole of the trees. This means, also, 

 that a great many can be grown on an acre, 

 and at current prices the annua! return is quite 

 satisfactory, though one must wait many years 

 for the returns. — FoDucrs' Reviezv. 



What kind of trees The Fanners' Re- 

 z'iew would recommend for this purpose 

 is not stated, nor can it be guessed. 



The Michigan cedar, so largelv used, 

 a product of swampy locatinns, will 

 grow in the course of 200 }'cars to make 

 poles. 



The Idaho pine, now taking the place 

 of the almost exhausted cedar, will grow 

 in from 150 to 200 years. 



The Tennessee rerl cedar, largel}' 

 used in the South, r.'[uires 250 vears t ) 



produce trees large enough for first- 

 class poles. 



Chestnut, if already growing, that is, 

 the sprouts in the natural forest, will 

 grow in forty years, probably, but if 

 from planted seed, not less than fifty to 

 seventy-five years. 



We will have to fall back upon con- 

 crete poles or plant Catalpa speciosa, un- 

 less we build underground conduits. 



DISTRIBUTIXG FOREST TREE 

 SEEDS. 



The International Society of Arboricul- 

 ture each year distributes large quantities 

 of forest tree seeds and many thousands 

 of trees, sending them gratuitously to 

 governments and individual planters in 

 portions of the world. 



This year it has provided one thousand 

 dollars' L^'orth of seeds and trees, which 

 are being sent to foreign botanical gar- 

 dens, societies of silviculture and the ex- 

 periment stations of this country, for the 

 ])urpose of encouraging the planting of 

 economic forests. 



Forty years ago the secretary of this 

 societv was a pioneer farmer on the fron- 

 tier prairies of Kansas, and in common 

 with other pioneers wished to surround 

 the homes with forest trees, but was un- 

 able to procure anything but Cottonwood 

 and box elders. 



The United States Government has 

 iieier appreciated the necessity of pro- 

 viding^ seeds witii which forests may be 

 planted, ?nd this pioneer experience of 

 the editor of AKi^.ORicui/ruRK has stimu- 

 lated him to orgmiize a society which will 

 perform this service. 



