u 



ing that tHe fences, bridges,- stations, care, &o., liiust be teiuilt^iii tea yestS,- 

 and these items amount to f 307 40 per annum , to which add the cost of^ 

 sleepers, and $750 for 150 cords of fuel, at |6 per cord, and the amount is 

 $1,067 40 per mile, for the single item of expenditure in w'ood by the rail- 

 roads, every year. One thousand dollars a male, makes $l,2f00,000 spent by 

 all the roads for this item. 



People complain of the high priess of freights. Stich shool'd remember^ 

 that this one item of expenditure has not only increased in quantity since 

 the roads first began to be constructed, but also, that it has doublet! in value,- 

 not only to the road itself, but to all its employees, and thus has increased 

 their wages. This increased cost of running and maintenance is not at the 

 cost of the roads, but falls upon the' people who make use of th6 road for 

 transportioo. If by any means this ilfem- of expenditure' could be I'educed, 

 say one-ba:lf, then the roads could aSovS to reduce the prices charged for' 

 freights, and people and their productions would be moved eheapei' from 

 place to place ; the roads,- at the same tiBae, making as much or more money 

 than now. 



Railroad companies are not the only ones interested^ in cheap motive' 

 power. The manufacturers, and through them, the people are everywhere 

 equally interested. If fuel couM be cheaply furnished, places now drooping,- 

 almost dying out for want of manufacturing motive power, would spring into 

 life. Towns would grow up where now aft-e only pastures-. Raising trees^ 

 will accomplish all this and more. 



CORN CANNOT BE SUBSTITUTES. 



It has beeo stated that com may be profitably raised for fuel, on various 

 places on the prairfes. & thing is profitably produced^ only as it is compared 

 with another of the same kind, and is equally good or better, and more 

 Iheaply produced. Apply this rule to the' production of fuel by raising eOrn 

 and hickory trees, and then an- eBtimate of value may be made of their re- 

 spective profitableness. An acre- of land will produce 60 bushels of com^ 

 weighing with the cobs- 70 pounds fit for fuel; or 4,200' poundsOo the acre. 

 The same acre would produce in 25 years,- 105,000 pounds of corn. But if 

 it were planted to hickory trees, it would yield in 25 yea-rs forty cords of the 

 very best quality of wood, which at 4,468 pounds per cord, would give 178 -■ 

 720 pounds, 7,105 pounds each year; or 2,905 pounds a.year. more than the 

 corn, nearly %, more solid fuel than the corn product would give, and if the 

 brush were out up, and which would be every wa^ equal to corn, it makes 

 twice as much, or equal to a- yield of more than 1^0 bushels-of corn to the 

 acre — an amount not to be expected at all. 



If the expense of producing fuel from the two articles be taken into ac-- 

 count, it will show still more strongly in favor of the hickory wood. To 

 raise corn the land must be plowed and planted twenty-five times and hoed- 

 twice 01 more each year, a,nd manured, unless all the stalks and leaves are 



