210 



ri/i: GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[JiUy, 



iORESTRY. 



COMMUNICA TIONiS. 



EXPERIMENTS IN TIMBER RAISING IN KANSAS. 



BY RKV. L. .1. TKiMI'LIX, HUTCHINSON, KAN. 



The rpgion of country lyinp^ between the Mis- 

 souri River and the Rocky Mountains is gene- 

 rally a vast, treeless plain. It was formerly 

 known as " The Great American Desert," but is 

 now more properly called "The Plains." So far 

 from being a " desert," it is one of the most fer- 

 tile portions of the continent, and it is rapidly 

 filling up with an intelligent and industrious 

 population, who are literally making it " rejoice 

 and blossom as the rose." One of the great 

 drawbacks to the settlement of this country is 

 the great scarcity of timber. While, so far as 

 subduing the country and bringing it into culti- 

 vation is concerned, it is far preferable to have no 

 timber, than to have the land encumbered with 

 it, as much of the e;istern portion of the United 

 States was. Still every man who comes here to 

 live, feels the need of more timber. The ques- 

 tions th.at face the immigrant at the outset are, 

 can timber be raised, and if so, have the people 

 the enterprise and patience to plant and culti- 

 vate? These questions are being rapidly an- 

 swered in the affirmative. Most kinds of timber 

 adapted tn this climate grow with a rapidity that 

 is astonishing to an Eastern man. But in the 

 beginning all was in doubt as to what would suc- 

 ceed and what fail. All planting was, tiiereforc, 

 largely an experiment. But such experiment.s 

 are often costly and tedious, and if every man 

 has to make them for himself, the tendency is to 

 discourage and hinder the work to a consider- 

 able degree. In order to aid in this matter, some 

 of the railroad companies that had large land 

 grants to dispose of, have undertaken the woik 

 of testing the various kinds of timber as to its 

 adaptation to the soil and climate of this region. 

 For this purpose, experimental nurseries have 

 been planted at various points along the routes 

 and in the different kinds of soil. The A. T. & 

 S. F. R. R. Co. established four of these experi- 

 mental stations, as follows : at Hutchinson, 180 



miles west of the State line and 1,.')00 feet above 

 the level of the sea; second, at Ellenwood, 215 

 miles west of the State line and 1,700 feet alti- 

 tude; third, at Larned, 24G mile^ west and 2,035 

 feet elevation; and fourth atSi)earvilIe,on " Drj 

 Ridge," 283 miles west and 2,478 feet altitude. 

 This enterprise was begun four years ago, thia 

 Spring, on freshly broken sod. I am not able to 

 give any report of results at any of the statioiiB, 

 except the one at thi.s place — Hutchinson. 



The experiments at this place have produced 

 important results. There have been failures and 

 partial failures, as well as successes; but the 

 failures are as important in the information 

 elicited, as the successes. The past year haa 

 been the most trying on arboreous vegetation 

 that has ever been experienced since settlements 

 began. The locusts came down on us about the 

 first of September, destroying a large portion of 

 the foliage of young trees. This was followed 

 by a very warm, pleasant Fall ; a new growth of 

 leaves was the result. These were caught by a 

 freeze of unusual severity for the season, about 

 the first of November, and as might be expected 

 a great many trees were killed and othei"s in- 

 jured. The amount of injury or exemption from 

 it was not in every case an indication of the 

 hardiness or otherwise of the tree, but rather of 

 the amount of damage they had sustained from 

 the insect depredators. Looking through the 

 experimental grounds, a few days ago, I made 

 the following estimates of losses: — Cottonwood, 

 Black Walnut, Negundo and Soft Maple, unin- 

 jured; Osage Orange, one-quarter killed to the 

 ground; Honey Locust, one-half killed to the 

 ground ; Catalpa, Ailanthus and Peach, three- 

 quarters killed back ; Elm and Ash uninjured. 

 These are the principal kinds under cultivation. 

 The Chestnut and China tree have been dis- 

 carded, as also the Black Locust, as unworthy 

 of further trial. ISIany fruit trees and small frui's 

 were killed or seriously injured by the unfavor- 

 able circumstances. 



Thanks to whom thanks arc due, for the privi- 

 lege of reading the Monthly— I feel like saying 

 the '"Prince of Montiilies" — this year. Will 

 tiy to make return in 8 »mc "notes" during 



