326 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



August, 



CULTIVATION OF THE YELLOW LOCUST IN MARYLAND. 



BASED ON THE TREE-PLANTING RECORDS OF PRIESTFORD FARM. 



By Albert Neilson. 



CONSIDERING the rapidly dimin- 

 ishing supply of timber in Mary- 

 land, the consequent increase in price 

 and growing demand for lumber, and 

 the favorable soil and climatic condi- 

 tions for rapid tree growth, it would 

 seem that our farmers would do well to 



thirty to forty-five years. In addition 

 to being extensively used for posts, the 

 Yellow Eocust is also used in ship- 

 building and in making telephone and 

 telegraph poles and pins. For these 

 purposes the Locust has a much greater 

 value than White Oak, and the trees 



raise trees for profit, and especially the mature much quicker. Eocust is some- 

 Yellow (Black) Eocust, 



The cultivation of the Yellow Eocust 

 is comparatively an easy matter. The 

 trees grow rapidly and require very 

 little attention after their third year. 

 Eocust fence posts will outlast those 

 made from any other kind of timber 

 grown in the East, excepting, perhaps, 

 the Red Cedar. A seasoned locust post 

 when put in the ground will last from 



I.OCUST I,ANE PI.ANTED ON PRIESTFORD FARM IN 1876 ; 

 TREES ARE NOW 10 TO 24 INCHES IN DIAMETER. 



times used for cross-ties. It grows at 

 about the same rate as Chestnut, but 

 has a much higher commercial value. 



In view of the great demand for this 

 timber, the ea.se with which it ma}' be 

 grown, and the nearness to markets, 

 the writer feels that it will pay nearly 

 every farmer in Maryland to cultivate 

 the Yellow Eocust for profit. Almost 

 any farmer in the state at nominal ex- 

 pense can have a small lo- 

 cust plantation from which 

 to supply his own fence 

 posts. One acre of young 

 locust trees 15 or 20 years 

 after planting will yield 

 from 3,000 to 4,000 posts, 

 and the second growth will 

 supply another crop before 

 the first posts are worn out. 

 Besides furnishing posts for 

 home use, with proper care 

 these farm plantations will 

 prove a source of income to 

 their owners through the 

 sale of excess materials 

 produced. 



By way of illustrating 

 what may be done in the 

 cultivation of the Yellow 

 Eocust in Maryland, the 

 following facts taken from 

 the tree-planting records of 

 ' ' PriestfordFaym, ' ' in Har- 

 ford county, ma}' prove in- 

 teresting. The first plant- 

 ing of Yellow Eocust on 

 " Priestford Farm " was 

 done in 1S26. The seeds 



