'Cbc Conservative.
On Wednesday ,
A MERE RIDING the 8fch day of
WHIP. May , 1901 , it was
the pleasure of
THE CONSEUVATIVE to accept a joint
invitation with Governor Furnasto ride
with Professor Hartley from Lincoln to
his beautiful well-
, well-systematized , -
cultivated orchards of 200 acres of
cherry , pluni and apple trees , three and
one-half miles northwest from that city.
We arrived on the ground at 5 o'clock
in the afternoon and drove hurriedly
through the avenues and winding roads
that adorn the estate. There never have
been any cherry , or plum , or apple
orchards better conceived or more
intelligently planted , pruned and culti
vated , in this commonwealth. But
Governor Furnas has promised to write
up the orchards , and therefore THE
CONSEUVATIVE will give only the
biography of an early "switch" which
has played a prominent part in the
utility department of the Hartley estate.
Twenty-seven years ago this spring ,
the respected and worthy father of the
present Mr. Hart-
Hartley , Senior , ley was riding a
lazy horse. Twenty
miles below Lincolnhe alighted and cut
off a willow switch with which to stimu
late the aforesaid equine to greater
celerity of movement. This switch was
vigorously applied as a power and speed
generator , until at last Mr. Hartley
arrived at the farm where the orchards
are now growing. Alighting , he
jocularly said that he thought he would
plant tha't switch near the well and so
pushed it into the ground , not believing
that it would really take root and
flourish after the numerous flagellations
it had inflicted upon the indolent horse.
Nevertheless , in a few days it was dis
covered to bo putting out new buds nud ,
in a little while , twigs and limbs made
their appearance.
Years passed by and the senior Hart
ley had passed on to another life , when
a tenant informed
That Tree. the present owner
that the willow
tree roots were destroying the well , that
they had already broken into the well
and were filling up the water receptacle
so as to soon make it useless , unless the
tree was cut down and destroyed. Re
luctantly , the present Mr. Hartley con
sented to the destruction of the tree.
But , with a reverent and affectionate
memory of his father , he made the tree
into stakes and cuttings and replanted
the same by driving them along the
banks of a little stream on the property.
The years have demonstrated , that oven
willow sticks driven into the soil of
Nebraska , where it has been properly
moistened , may grow into great forest
trees ; and thus in this ride , Governor
Furuos and party were in the shade of
ns beautiful and graceful willows as
have ever adorned any homestead in the
state.
During the last ten years , wo wore
credibly informed , this willow forest
has contributed a
Fuel. large proportion of
the fuel for the
xmant's house , and there is more tim-
jor in the willow arboretum today , than
ihere ever was before.
THE CONSEUVATIVE has seldom seen
trees so suggestive of thoughts , as the
willows which have
Influence of grown from the
Little Acts. riding switch of
Mr. Hartley's
father. His aot of planting the same ,
twenty-seven years ago , has reached
down into another generation of men.
[ t has given them shade in summer , and
shelter and fuel in winter , and yet this
great beneficence came from the simple
act of planting a willow riding whip.
Nothing has come under our observa
tion in a long time , so usefully and
pertinently practical , and resulting from
so trivial an act as that switch-planting.
The possibilities , looking into the future
which is without end , so far as human
ken goeth the influences and bestowals
of happiness and usefulness , of that
riding whip , are beyond computation.
The human mind is not capable of sum
ming up , indexing , cataloging , or in
any way forecasting the innumerable
benefits which may come to mankind
from the riding whip thus planted a
generation ago.
THE CONSEUVA-
DECLINE AND TIVE calls the attou-
ADVANCE. tion of the fault
finders , populists
and vagarists generally , in the United
States to the fact that the railroads of
this republic are constantly receiving
less per ton per mile for transportation ,
while their employees ore as constantly
receiving advances in wages. The people
ple of the United States should bear in
mind the fact that they are getting the
cheapest passenger and freight trans
portation in the whole world , while the
men who make up the labor , providing
that transportation , the railroad em
ployees of this country , are paid higher
wages for the work they perform than
any other railroad men on the face of
the globe.
TheNewRepub-
PROHIBITIONISTS. lie and Patriot is a
much more effi
cient organ of the prohibitionists of
Nebraska than they have ever before
established in this state. THE CON
SEUVATIVE wonders why those extreme
temperance advocates do not enforce the
Slocum law in this commonwealth ?
The Slooum law , enforced rigidly and
to the very letter , would make prohibi
tion laws and constitutional amend
ments unnecessary. The enforcornenl
of the laws we have is a matter much
more vital than the making of uev >
aws , with which to experiment. Pub
ic sentiment must be for. a law by a
arge majority , or the law cannot be put
into vigor. No statute can bo enforced
which a great majority disbelieves in
and antagonizes in practical life.
COST OF TREE PLANTING.
NEBUASKA CITY , May 10 , 1901.
EDITOU CONSEUVATIVE :
As per your request , I take pleasure
in submitting the cost of planting trees
by the Standard Cattle Co. , of Ames ,
Dodge county , Nebraska. They planted
fifteen thousand , two hundred and
iwenty trees this season. The cost in
labor per tree was sixty-six one-
lundredths of a cent per tree. The value
of the tree can be very closely estimated
from trees converted into fence posts
by the company this season. They cut
one thousand eight hundred and nine
teen fence posts from trees planted ten
years ago , averaging three posts per tree
of seven feet. The company , being
heavy buyers of that commodity , it thus
behooves them to raise their own fence
posts. One acre containing six hundred
and eighty trees will , in ten years ,
produce two thousand- and forty posts ,
at seven cents per post. Market value
one hundjed and forty-two dollars and
eighty cents ; tops and limbs will make
five cords of wood worth $2.00 per cord.
Estimating land at $50.00 per acre ; rent
at $6.00 per acre for ten years ; cost of
trees and planting $109.00 for the ten
years , leaving a profit , above the rental ,
of thirty-four dollars , besides the
incalculable benefits derived from
climatic changes , caused by the trees ,
during growth and maturity. I remain ,
Yours very truly ,
H. N. SHUMAN.
WILL SHUT DOWN FOR ENLARGE
MENT.
First announcements of a recent ac
tion of the starch trust made it look a
little compromising for J. Sterling
Morton , and by that token it doubtless
gave a temporary exhilaration to Editor
Bryan and ex-Attorney General Smyth.
The announcement set forth that all
factories , including the one at Nebraska
City , would be closed for a few months.
This looked bad for the laborers em
ployed , but now comes another state
ment that that particular institution
will keep all hands and employ more ,
for the purpose of making improve
ments. Whether the trust will increase
prices during the shut down , so as to
make expenses and a profit notwith
standing , remains to be seen. If it does ,
the eminent gentleman who inveighed
last year so bitterly against Mr. Morton's
starch works , will have occasion to do a
little more cackling. Fremont Tribune.
