8 Conservative.
persons or four hundred mid fifty-four
persons to every one hundred miles of
rond. And all this property and till this
patronage whet the populistic appetite
for power , place and plunder. For it
they would quintuple the interest-bear
ing debt of the government.
THE BIACK LO In the Blue
CUST FOll NK- Ridge mountains ,
ISIIASKA. in Virginia , I have
seen large groves of this American tim
ber tree growing in a wild state. Being
planted in many places for a shade or
street tree , it is not looked upon as a
forest growth. I made numerous in
quiries throughout Nebraska and learn
that it succeeds admirably , especially in
the western portion.
The locust increases in value rapidly ,
coming into its prime in ten to fifteen
years , after which it as rapidly deterio
rates. Old trees in the Middle States have
stood for thircy to forty years , but are
of no greater value than when ten years
old. Single trees , or lines for shade ,
branch low , and except for fence posts
have no value. In groves , however , six
to eight feet apart , it makes a tall single
stem forty to fifty feet high , twelve to
sixteen inches through. Such trees may
be profitably grown and sawed into
commercial lumber. Its growth is very
rapid. For coppice that is frequently
thinning by cutting out a portion of the
trees there is nothing superior. Once
planted it is always on hand , springing
up rapidly from the stump into good
timber.
Plants one year old are inexpensive ,
and may be obtained at any homo nur
sery. Yet it may bo grown from seed ,
although from csjoideration of time , it
is preferable to buy plants.
I firmly believe that the locust will
prove more satisfactory in the extreme
western plain region than most other
woods , and if it lives the first three
months after planting there will be no
question of its success thereafter.
The wood is very durable , its employ
ment quite varied. Firewood , fencepost -
post , wagon hubs , ships' tackle , paving
blocks , poles and posts for many pur
poses , are among the principal uses.
Telegraph poles of locust would far out
last the cedar now employed , while
transportation a thousand miles would
be saved. It would also bo of value for
railway ties if a supply could bo obtained.
Seed should bo secured now if re
quired. JOHN P. BROWN.
FOUESTKY. The American For
estry Association will hold an important
meeting in Omaha on Friday and Sat
urday , September 9 and 10. This meet
ing is held in accordance with a vote of
the association at its meeting held in
Nashville a year ago and it was contem
plated at that time that this meeting
should be largely devoted to topics relat
ing to the "West ; it has , also , been ar
ranged that n number of Western men
of many years' experience in the West
shall be placed upon the program so that
; he "Great Treeless District" may have
a thorough representation.
Sonic of the topics that will bo treated
are as follows :
Where Does Our Timber Come From ?
Wind Break Its Value and Form.
Conifers on the Plain.
The Oatalpa in Plantations.
The Extension of Native Forest
rowth in the Plains.
How Does Forest Growth Affect Cli
mate ?
The Forest Botany of Nebraska , Eco
nomically Considered.
Arbor Day and its Economic Signifi
cance.
Some of the well-known persons who
will take part in the meeting by present
ing papers are : Dr. George L. Miller ,
Hon. R. W. Furuas , E. F. Stephens , C.
A. Keffer , C. L. Watrous , F.S. Phoenix ,
Henry Michelseii , S. M. Emery , George
Van Houton , C. S. Harrison , Prof.
liarles E. Bessey , B. E. Feruow , Prof.
Lawrence Bruner and George E.Kesser.
The exact topic assigned to each
speaker will be announced a little later
but , in the meantime , it may be under
stood that it is proposed to have a thor
oughly profitable program , made up
from topics which will have the most
interest to those who are likely to be in
attendance. The low rates on the rail
roads at tin's time will make it possible
for many to attend this meeting who
could , perhaps , not otherwise come.
The exact place of meeting in Omaha
will be announced in due season.
Persons interested , or desirous of any
further information , are cordially in
vited to correspond with F. W. Taylor ,
Superintendent of Agriculture and Horticulture
ticulture , Trans-Mississippi Exposition ,
Omaha.
The officers of the association are :
Hon. Francis H. Appleton , president ,
Boston , and George P. Whittlesey ,
recording secretary and treasurer ,
Washington.
THE AltaiY MEDIt is hard to
ICAL SERVICE. think of any other
thing that could have so seriously of
fended and so deeply touched the heart
of the American people as the thought
that the sick and wounded of our army
in Cuba have been left without decent
care. The simple pathos of the depar
ture of that youthful host is still fresh
upon us ; many a man , though he had
no friend nor brother among them ,
found imexpected tremors and twitch-
ings at his throat as the boys wont
cheering away , and w s perhaps puz
zled to explain his emotion. Is it not
the correct solution , that wo felt thai
they were relying on us to take gooci
care of them ? War was not hell to
those boys ; war , their part of it , wa ?
fun , as it was to their forefathers
whom Julius Cmsar mot in the Germar
forests two thousand years ago ; but "if
[ 'm hurt , you'll look out for me , won't
you ? " What response would the
crowds that they loft at our stations ,
under the gray April sky , have
made to that request ? And how have
our servants in charge fulfilled our in
tention in this matter ?
roi'ULJSTic The conglomer-
DENUNCIATION. atiouof
placo-huii-
ters , assembled under the technical
name of populists , in state convention ,
at Lincoln , on August 2 , 1898 , found
relief and consolation in denouncing
American institutions generally. But
the most intense and exuberant happi
ness was developed in that convocation
of critics when it in a very strident
voice declared :
"We condemn the attempt of the
present administration to retire the
greenback currency and to issue gold
interest-bearing bonds in place thereof ,
and we denounce such course as a
change in the settled policy of the nation
and a betrayal of the interest of the
people. "
When was the attempt made ? What
settled policy of the nation is referred
to ? What interests of what people are
betrayed ?
Again , with gleeful dogmatism , and a
priggishness which no other political
party can so becomingly wear this pop
ulistic sanhedrim rises in its pooled ego
tism and oracularly yells to all the
world :
"We denounce the usurpation of the
federal courts in the issuance of writs
of injunction by which the constitu
tional rights of freedom , of assem
blage and speech is denied American
citizens. "
The freedom of assemblage and
speech being denied , how did those
populists manage to get together and
listen to Senator Allen on the wicked
intolerance which abridges speech in
this country ?
And how do the aforesaid patriots
propose to punish "the usurpation of
the federal courts in the issuance of
writs of injunction" ?
Will populist conventions tell the
courts when the writ is and when it
is not "a usurpation" ?
The last numbers of Harper's Weekly
and of The Literary Digest contain each
a portrait of M. Cambon , the French
ambassador , on whom has devolved the
task of preserving Spain's honor. The
absence of any resemblance , however
remote , between the two pictures , sug
gests that this may bo too big a job for
one man.
At the time of the last international
yacht races it occurred to some marine
reporter to speak of the craft involved
by their bare names as Defender
and Valkyrie , without the conven
ient the which had been custom
ary since Noah navigated the Ark ; and
the idea was quite widely taken up ,
though many opposed it. It is curious
to note that not the most fantastic
writer has thought this summer to call
our battleships anything bxat the Oregon
gen and the Texas.