58 ANNUAL EEPORT 



I have very little faith in raising trees now unless this govern- 

 ment will back us up. It occurs to me that we had better put our- 

 selves on record immediately, before we go home, by a series of 

 resolutions covering the ground that has already been defined, 

 making a demand on Congress so and so. There is a tendency on 

 the part of our Congressmen — and they don't know much; they 

 don't know as much as we do, for what we know, Ave know by hard 

 knocks. Now, these Congressmen have proposed to repeal the tim- 

 ber culture act simply because certain men have betrayed their 

 trust, and others have had ill-luck and have changed the tree-claim 

 to preemption. This timber claim law, with all its defects, has 

 resulted in some good to quite an extent over the west, and with- 

 out it we would not have gained the position we now occupy. 



I make a motion that the chairman appoint a committee, if the 

 committee is not already chosen, and instruct said committee to 

 present our views upon the question that we are analyzing, and put 

 it upon record and also have it published in our daily papers and 

 sent to our Congressmen. 



The people of Minnesota and the people of the Northwest are 

 looking to the action of this body. We are quite conservative; we 

 base our calculations upon our experience, and what we say has an 

 effect upon the people at large, and if we put ourselves upon record 

 upon that point it will have a salutary effect upon our Congress- 

 men. I make that motion. 



Mr. Harris. I second the motion. 



President Elliot. I would like to state one or two points in re- 

 gard to this discussion, that it may go on record before the motion 

 itself. The great success of that man spoken of, was just as Mr. 

 Folsom said, it was his deep cultivation through four years. This 

 is where they have all failed. The Northern Pacific, when it first 

 started, began to grow trees along its line. They only just turned 

 up a furrow and put the cuttings in, and thought they were going 

 to make a success of growing trees that way. The consequence 

 was they lost every tree, not one tree in five thousand grew; where- 

 as, if they had gone to work and prepared their ground, they would 

 have met with better success. 



There was a point, too, brought out in regard to little trees being 

 overrun with weeds. Now, that deep cultivation gave a chance for 

 root growth. The soil was in condition to take up the moisture and 

 retain it just the same as a sponge would, and while those large 

 weeds were overtopping, they were going down to get root growth, 

 and each successive year, as time went on, they kept gaining on the 

 weeds. That is the reason that man met with success. 



