366 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



R XIV. 



TIMBER GROWING ROR PROFIT. 



THE wanton waste and destruction of timber in the United 

 States is unparalleled. Dr. Townshend, in a lecture on 

 forestry at the State University at Columbus, Ohio, stated 

 that in twenty-five years the area of timber in the United States 

 had been reduced more than one-half. In many localities I 

 have seen the farmer deadening and burning the timber on his 

 land, or giving it to any one who would take it away, and in less 

 than twenty years in the same locality the scarcity was so great 

 that timber lands were worth double the price of those that were 

 cleared, and often a single tree would bring the price of an acre 

 of land. In the absence of any laws regulating the amount of 

 forests in this country, the only way to secure a proper quantity 

 of timber seems to be to appeal to the farmer's pocket and show 

 him that the growing of timber can be made profitable, thus en- 

 listing the same motive in the work of replacing our forests 

 which has led to their destruction. 



Scarcely one farmer in a thousand has any experience in 

 growing timber, and to most of them it seems so great an un- 

 dertaking, and one requiring so great length of time and beset 

 by so many difficulties, that they are inclined to leave it to the 

 next generation. I have been fortunately situated for observing 

 the growth of forest trees, particularly the black locust, and am 

 able to show conclusively that on cheap lands, to which it is 

 adapted, there is no farm product which can be grown at so 

 large a profit, and that instead of planting for the next genera- 

 tion, a man may sell two or three crops from the same plot 

 during an ordinary life-time, or may have a steady income for 

 many years from a locust plantation. 



