Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1881 — Timber Planting. [ARTICLE]

Timber Planting.

To make timber plentiful and to render our climate more genial we must reclothe all rugged, broken land and rocky crests, in fact, every acre that is not cultivated or is cultivated at a loss, with valuable forest trees. First—All ravines and steep hill-sides, all land too rocky to be thoroughly cleared of stone ana plowed, should be devoted to trees. Second—Protecting belts of timber should be planted wherever buildings, orchards, gardens, etc., are exposed to cold, sweeping winds. Third—The banks of streams, ponds, open ditches, etc., should be so planted with trees that they will be protected from abrasion by floods and rapid currents. Fourth—All public roads should be belted by graceful, stately trees. We should preserve, improve and extend our existing forests by keeping up a constant succession of young growing trees of the best varieties. To do this it is necessary: First—To allow no stock to run in wood lots for the purpose of forage. This should be a rule inflexible and relentness. Second Young growth in forests should be thinned moderately and judiciously. Worthless varieties should be cut out and the valuable sorts should be trimmed up so that they will grow tall, forming trunk rather than branches. Third— Timber should be cut with intelligent reference to future growth. Valuable trees that you wish to propagate should be out in the spring. Those that you wish to exterminate should be cut in August.— Professor Lazenby. Cornell University.