42 HAND-BOOK OF TREE-PLANTING. 



deductions any may be disposed to make from 

 one estimate or another, it admits of no question 

 but that a fair and satisfactory remuneration 

 awaits the tree-planter who engages in planting 

 with reasonable skill and proper attention to the 

 business. 



In answering the question " Where to plant? " 

 the railroads ought not to be passed by. They 

 are great consumers of forests, both for fuel and 

 for their very construction, and although the 

 increased price of wood, arising from the dimi- 

 nution of the forests, has led to the increased 

 use of coal for fuel in place of wood, the de- 

 mand upon the forests for railway-ties is enor- 

 mous and all the while increasing. We have 

 now at the lowest calculation, including second 

 tracks and sidings, 150,000 miles of railroad 

 track. Every mile has required from 2,200 to 

 3,000 ties. It will not be in excess of the truth 

 if we make the average demand 2,640. We have 

 then 396,000,000 used in the construction of our 

 railroads. But railroad-builders choose for their 

 use young and vigorous trees, trees that have not 

 half reached their maturity, and are only large 



