152 



TEE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



{May, 



The destruction of young timber is a great 

 loss directly to the owner, and remotely to the 

 farmer in that region and to the general wealth 

 of the country. There is a rapid process of en- 

 riching the land going on while these leaves are 

 saved from the devouring fire, that in time will 

 show wonderfully in its productive capacity 

 when under the plow, far ahead of that which 

 for long years was clothed in old trees with no 

 undergrowth, and the leaves always blown away. 



To this end legislation is more needed. If we 

 can have laws, and an effective mode of quench- 

 ing all such fires quickly, we save a thousand 

 trees to one that ever man by his hand will 

 plant under any law that may be enacted, and 

 cost far less. These fires can always be arrested 

 at the start, before they acquire great extent, 

 and certainly the first night when the moist air 

 and lulling of the wind gives full power to man. 

 But it must be attended to in time. Men who 

 volunteer to go to extinguish it are now paid out 

 of the fund arising from the dog tax ; but I am of 

 the impression even that is now repealed, leav- 

 ing no combined aid. The man who, by his 

 carelessness may start it, if the wind favors him, 

 lets it go upon his neighbor's land. Proper re- 

 gulations by law should be made making such 

 persons amenable for all damages, and some ob- 

 ligation resting upon every one contiguous to 

 rush at once to the task of extinguishing it, and 

 pay out of the county treasury one dollar to 

 each man for his night's aid in its final extin- 

 iXuishment. 



I believe this is a practical question, and my 

 object is to treat it in a practical way, however 

 I may run counter to some of the rain theories. 

 I hope the committee at Harrisburg may see 

 this article, if you see fit to print it in your 

 valuable journal. My opinion is that the plant- 

 ing of some shade trees along the roads is ex- 

 cellent for ornamentation and general comfort, 

 but for the end in view is wholly inadequate ; 

 and that we have thousands of trees set out by 

 nature and all we have to do is to protect them 

 from fire. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Common Kames of Pacific Evergreens.— 

 Mr. Lemmon says, in the Facific Rural Press, 

 that "Monterey Cypress" is Cupressus ma- 

 crocarpa ; " Yellow Cedar," a valuable timber 

 tree in the North, growing 80 to 100 feet high, 

 Cupressus Nutksensis ; "Ginger Pine or Port 



Oxford Cedar," a noble tree 100 to 150 feet high, 

 yielding valuable aromatic timber for cabinet 

 work, Cupressus fragrans; " Giant Arbor Vitse," 

 200 feet, with a diameter of 10-15 feet, Thuja 

 gigantea; "Post Cedar," timber splits easily, 

 endures exposure to weather, as fence posts, or 

 takes a fine polish in cabinet work, Libocedrus 

 decurrens ; "Red Wood," timber the well- 

 known light and durable Red-wood, Sequoia 

 sempervirens. 



The Profits of Tree Planting.— While 

 those who believe that it takes a whole lifetime 

 to get a wood lot into profit, and who are spend- 

 ing no end of time and effort in getting " legis- 

 lation," the more practical are taking the ad- 

 vice of the Gardener's Monthly, and are 

 planting in those places whei'e timber will cer- 

 tainly be wanted; and with that sense and judg- 

 ment which selects those kinds just suited to local 

 soils and local wants, are making handsome pro- 

 fits long before their last wills and testaments 

 are read. This is what the San Francisco BulU- 

 tin says : 



" With the next good soaking rain the tree- 

 planting season Avill fairly begin. Those who 

 planted forest trees five years ago, either in the 

 fields or by the way side, are beginning to reap 

 %e benefit, both in the augmented value of 

 lands, and in the fuel which these trees furnish 

 by cutting in and trimming up." 



There are thousands of places in the Union 

 where timber is a drug, and will be for years, 

 and which it is wise to bui-n ofi' and plant with 

 more profitable crops ; on the other hand, there 

 are numberless places where forests could be 

 profitably planted, and which would pay for the 

 planting in five years; make a handsome profit 

 in ten ; and yield a nice little fortune in fifteen ; 

 but we would not answer for these results where 

 good sense and judgment are lacking. 



Imitation Walnut Wood. — The following 

 very old plan of staining wood a walnut color is 

 revived as new "from a Belgian journal," but 

 is as useful as if only discovered to-day : 



" The wood, first thorougly dried and warmed, 

 is coated once or twice with a liquid composed 

 of one part by weight of extract of walnut peel, 

 dissolved in six parts of soft water, by heating 

 it to boiling, and stirring. The wood thus 

 treated is, when half dry, brushed with a solu- 

 tion of one part by weight of bichromate of pot- 

 ash in five parts of boiling water, and, after 

 drying thoroughly, is rubbed and polished. The 

 color is thus said to be fixed in the wood to a 



