276 



ARBORICULTURE. 



American beech, seventy-five to one hundred 

 and fifty years. 



American ehn, one hundred to one hundred 

 and fifty years. 



American hickories, one hundred to one hun- 

 dred and fifty years. 



Tupelo, sour gum, one hundred to two hun- 

 dred years. 



Southern yellow pine, seventy-five to one 

 hundred and fifty years. 



Sugar maple (Acer saccharinmn ) , one hun- 

 dred to one hundred and fifty years. 



Can these Forestry Professors, edu- 

 cated under Mr. Fernow's tutorage, bring 

 back these sequoias and century-old trees 

 within the limited time for the final ex- 

 tinction of American forests? They are 

 to be commended for the wonderful dis- 

 play of patience in "waiting" for these 

 long-lived trees to grow, and we extend 

 an earnest invitation to all officers and 

 stockholders of American railways to be 

 present upon the occasion and recom- 

 mend that all railway operations be post- 

 poned for the benefit of these "experts." 



(From the Forestry Quarterly, March, 1907.) 



WANTS JOBS FOR THE TBCHS. 



"For a number of years there has been con- 

 siderable discussion on the part of railroads 

 about the decreasing supply of cross-tie and 

 construction material. In most cases they have 

 taken no active steps to provide for a future 

 supply, and when measures were taken, these 

 were usually misdirected, costly, and unsatis- 

 factory. 



About thirty years ago, as a result of a pro- 

 paganda work conducted by ardent enthusiasts 

 of forestry, some interest was aroused among 

 railroads. The conservative management of 

 woodlands was unknozvn, and advocates of for- 

 estry urged the people to plant trees to replace 

 the forests which were being recklessly ex- 

 ploited by lumbermen. 



It is only during the past year that a promi- 

 nent railroad, for the first time in the history of 

 forestry in the United States, has determined 

 to acquire and manage forest lands for the pro- 

 duction of cross-ties. 



The interest of the individual railroads has. 

 with a few exceptions, been enlisted through 

 the personal efforts of enthusiastic but non- 

 technical men, who have placed before railroad 

 men, busy with the conduct of a road, a scheme 

 which was neither adapted to their needs nor 

 practical. In other business matters men who 

 conduct the afi^airs of railroads have shown 

 business ability, but in matters pertaining to 

 forestry they usually have shown poor business 

 judgment, and have engaged in forest work 

 under impossible conditions, because they have 

 allowed themselves to be influenced by men 

 who do not come to them as properly accredited 

 foresters. Quick results are desired, and the 

 man who comes before them with a proposition 

 to plant trees which in fifteen years will pro- 

 duce several cross-ties and fence posts per tree 

 can secure their attention and enlist their inter- 

 est far more easily and quickly than a named 

 forester who tells them that such results can be 

 secured only after a longer period has elapsed. 

 Time and dearly-bought experience have proved 

 to some of the railroads that satisfactory re- 

 sults can not be secured from the plantations in 

 a few years. 



In general, it may be said that satisfactory 

 cross-ties can not be produced in the United 

 States in less than thirty or forty years." 



The natural forests of the United 

 States will become extinct by 1925. 

 What are the railways tO' do from that 

 time to 1945, when the properly accred- 

 ited technical youths sit upon the stumps 

 watching saplings grow into cross-ties? 



"Many tree species in the various parts of the 

 United States are adapted, to a certain degree 

 at least, for the production of cross-ties. Not- 

 withstanding this, in making the majority of 

 railroad plantations, only two species have been 

 used, and for various reasons they are among 

 the least desirable of the species eligible for 

 this purpose. 



These two species are catalpa and black 

 locust, and the reasons for their selection are 

 not difficult to discover. The selection of the 

 first species may be attributed largely to the 

 wide advertising the tree has received at the 

 hands of ardent admirers who had, and appar- 

 ently still have, unbounded faith in the possi- 

 bilities of the tree. Unfortunately, they were 

 able to convince certain railroad officials that 



