592 JOHNSON COUNTY, NEBRASKA. 



pole in center about eight feet high, then rafters, made of poles, 

 from sides to center, and long brush laid across the rafters ; 

 stack my grain near by, and when threshing, run the straw on 

 the shed, and make the roof in the shape of a straw rick. I 

 make my hog sheds the same way, but not quite so high. The 

 above make cheap and comfortable sheds, lasting from six to 

 eight years. 



TIMBER. 



In the Spring of 1870, I plante'd eight acres with timber, 

 of several varieties — black walnut, soft maple, cottonwood, 

 and box elder. For black walnut I plowed my land and made 

 furrows with the plow eight feet apart. I planted the nuts, as 

 soon as the same were matured, from four to six feet apart. 

 They sprouted and came up the following Spring, and I culti- 

 vated the same for about four years, keeping them as clean 

 from weeds as I would my cornfield, and the lower limbs 

 trimmed off. My trees are now from six to eight inches in 

 diameter, and have produced nuts for two seasons. I planted 

 the seed of my soft maples as soon as the same was matured, 

 sometime in May, about the same distance apart as the black 

 walnut, and cultivated the same. I raised my cottonwood from 

 cuttings, planted about the same distance apart, and cultivated 

 the same as the former. I got some young box elder trees in 

 the timber, and transplanted early in Spring. I have also some 

 honey locust, from the seed, which were planted in nursery 

 rows, transplanted at two years old, and cultivated for several 

 years. According to my experience, the black walnut and 

 honey locust are the best varieties of forest trees that we 

 can plant for groves, either for beauty, protection, or timber. 

 The cottonwood grows much the fastest, but nothing else will 

 grow within four rods of it. Cottonwood trees should not be 

 planted for a belt around a farm or orchard, because they 

 send their roots out in every direction, at least the distance 

 of the tree's hight, absorbing all the moisture in the soil, con- 

 sequently you can not successfully grow an Osage orange 

 hedge, or fruit trees, within reach of their roots. 



