1106 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



To the forester the question of the origin and antiquity 

 of the inscription is of much interest. Boone and other 

 hunters are known to have been in Tennessee about the 

 year 17(>0.' Was the inscription about the "Bar" cut by 

 Boone himself at the time indicated, or by his friends at 

 some later date as a record of what they knew had previ- 

 ously happened? 



In the spring of 1709, Colonel Richard Henderson of 

 North Carolina, having under consideration the purchase 



THE BOONE TABLET 



Erected on the famous beech tree on the Boone trail from North Caro- 

 lina into Kentucky. 



of land from the Cherokee Indians, employed D. Boone 

 and other hunters to make a reconnaissance and report 

 on a large tract of land lying in what now comprises the 

 eastern parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. A metal 

 tablet erected by the Tennessee Daughters of the Ameri- 

 can Revolution near the tree marks the location of the 

 "Daniel Boone Trail from North Carolina to Kentucky, 

 17C9." 



If inscribed in 17G0, the inscription remained legible 

 for from 115 to 120 years. That this may have been pos- 

 sible there is very good evidence, in spite of the well- 

 known annual growth of the bark from the inside and 

 the natural shedding on the outside. Mr. G. W. Simp- 

 son, living about four miles west of Jonesboro, and for 

 many years County Surveyor of Washington County, 

 states that he has repeatedly fully identified original 

 exterior boundary trees along the old "North Carolina 

 grant" survey in Tennessee, after a lapse of 125 years. 

 The double inverted V (thus ^) was found plainly 

 recognizable on trees which tallied completely with the 

 survey notes in respect to species and peculiar form, such 

 as a forking of the main stem. During a careful search 

 over the bark of the Boone tree for old dates, one was 

 found which read "1815." The outline of each figure, 

 although very shallow and dim, was clearly traceable and 

 unmistakably reafl by each of four persons in the party, 

 'i'his was on July 31, 1!)1."), one hundred years after the 



date of the inscription. Among many dates, 18(i;? and 

 1868 were very plainly readable, after a lapse of 47 and 

 53 years, respectively. In this connection, it should be 

 recalled, however, that growth of both wood and bark 

 is much more vigorous in the earlier half than during the 

 latter half of the life of trees. Wounds consequently 

 heal over more rapidly during the earlier period. 



It is interesting thus to know that bark incisions are re- 

 tained by the beech for periods of fully 100 years. Based 

 upon growth measurements of the beech in other parts 

 of its natural range, made by the Forest Service, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, the present age of the Boone 

 tree is estimated at between 340 and 360 years. Using 

 the same authority, the tree had reached a diameter of 

 about 16 inches in 1760, when the noted explorer, carry- 

 ing a long Deckhard rifle, hunting knife, and tomahawk, 

 blazed his way westward across the mountains into the 

 attractive hill and valley country of what is now eastern 

 Tennessee. 



TEXAS' FORESTRY OPPORTUNITIES 



MR. J. H. FOSTER, recently appointed State 

 Forester of Texas with headquarters at College 

 Station, has entered upon his work with the con- 

 viction that he has one of the best opportunities of any 

 state forester in the country to render service to the 

 people. Naturally the yellow pine and hardwood region 

 of east Texas offers the primary field of work. 

 Other regions of the state are, however, nearly 

 ii not quite as important. Trees should be made 

 to grow on the great plains for shelter belts 

 and for ornamental purposes. The wood lots of 

 central Texas should be improved and made productive 

 on lands which are of no value for other purposes. 

 Forest areas in the rough limestone sections of the 

 Edwards Plateau should be so managed that they may 

 hold the waters in the tributary streams and so far as 

 possible prevent floods and overflows on our river bot- 

 toms below. There is no section of Texas where an 

 interest in trees is not important, or we may say, where 

 the people are not in seme way interested in tree culture. 

 According to reports, the yellow pine in Texas will 

 have practically ceased to be an important commercial 

 resource within thirty years or less, if the cut-over areas 

 chiefly valuable for the growing of timber are not pro- 

 tected from fire and managed in some way which will 

 insure continuous production. According to the Bureau 

 of Corporation, there are standing in east Texas about 

 sixty-six billion feet of timber, a third of which in round 

 numbers is short-leaf and loblolly pine, a third long-leaf 

 jjine, and a third cypress and hardwood timber of various 

 kinds. It may be said that these figures are considered 

 l)y some of the best estimators to be far too high. At 

 the present rate of cutting, even sixty-six billion feet will 

 last less than thirty years. After that, to satisfy the 

 demands of a rapidly increasing population, the supply 

 of timber must come largely from outside the state and 

 the consumer will have to pay the price of the lumber 

 plus the freight, which together will amount to much 



"A History of Tennessee," page 27. By G. R. McGee, formerly Principal of Peabody Institute, Trenton, Tennessee. 



