PRACTICAL PAPERS—TIMBER GROWING. 
851 
amount of taxes accruing during the time, with interest upon 
this at the same rates, we have one hundred dollars per acre 
as the net profit ot the timber crop, while, of course, the land 
itself has partaken of the generally enhanced value of sur¬ 
rounding real estate, and would now probably sell for fifty dol¬ 
lars per acre, were the timber removed. 
A German friend, for whose integrity I can safely vouch, 
tells me that when he was a lad, and in his native country, his 
father had a tract of eighty acres of poor land, upon which 
he had tried in vain to raise remunerating crops. It was finally 
prepared in the best manner and planted with seeds of Nor¬ 
way spruce, which grow readily there in the open ground. 
These trees flourished, and, after a few years’ cultivation, were 
left to themselves, thinning them out as they became crowded. 
At ten to fifteen years’ growth, immense numbers were sold, 
in thinning out, for hop poles and grape stakes. This tract is 
now a well timbered' forest, from which fair sized saw-logs are 
cut, and every part of a house can be built with its timber. 
These seeds were sown only thirty-six years ago! What 
would such a lot be worth upon the prairies of Illinois? Who 
would estimate its value at less than one thousand dollars per 
acre ? What farmer upon the prairies of Illinois would wish 
to leave a better legacy to his sons ? What has been done up¬ 
on the poor hills of Germany, except starting the plants in 
open ground, may be repeated, and with equal or greater re¬ 
sults, here, where all the hardy varieties of evergreens as well 
as deciduous, trees grow luxuriantly. 
The rates of growth in the more common varieties of trees 
may be observed by any one, and the time required to bring 
them to a size suitable for building purposes, and use in the 
various mechanic arts, easily calculated; thus the actual cost of 
raising timber may be very nearly ascertained. 
Let us estimate the expense of raising a grove of ten acres, 
planted with white ash and black walnut—five acres with each. 
These varieties grow at about the same rate, and are about 
equally valuable for lumber. 
The seeds of the ash, like all seeds of this class, which ripen 
