Conservative * 11
along its right of way a number of
years ago , and while most of the sap
lings wore destroyed by the telegraph
linemen , enough have been left to dom-
1 onstrate the value of the plant.
In addition to this data and some
more detailed particulars about the
forests that have been planted in Kan
f sas , Mr. Brown states that he has
closed a deal with a party of northern
capitalists to select , buy and plant
nearly 5,000 acres of laud in the trees
\
. for a commercial investment.
Planting and Culture.
< )
The tree is raised from the seed and
the first year's growth is given in the
nursery. It is then planted and the
ground cultivated for three years
much the same as for corn. During
' this time the space between the rows
- < of trees can bo used for growing any
\ agricultural plant , except the grains
that are drilled or sown broadcast.
It matures in from fifteen to twenty
years , and from experiments it has
been learned that the average growth
r. is one inch increase in diameter for
each year. The mature tree , how
ever , according to his statements ,
attains a diameter of from six to
eight feet and a Height as great as 150
feet.
It will grow in any part of the
United States south of Minnesota , and
to an altitude of 6,000 feet.
Catalpa Enthusiast.
Mr. Brown is very enthusiastic
about the future of the catalpa and
claims that it will be more jind more
extensively planted each year until its
growing becomes a recognized indus
try. He says that on cleared ground
an acre can bo planted for a sum not
often exceeding $10 and that the profit
is not only large , but sure. He claims
that it is the most valuable wood in
the world for crossties and telegraph
poles , having a life of from thirty to
thirty-five years , while the oak will
V
last for only seven or eight years.
Its rapid growth makes its cultivation
for these purposes possible and its
texture and hardiness will allow it to
take the place of quarter sawed- oak in
any purpose that it is employed.
There are two varieties , classified
commonly as the Northern and South
ern. The former is the most valuable ,
grows more japidly and attains a
larger size.
Illustration of Durability.
I
In illustration of the durability of
* 'i * -
the wood ho cited two cases. The
first is a tie that has been in use on
the Illinois Central in Southern Illi
nois for fifteen years and is still in a
practically perfect condition. The tie
is now in the office of the engineer at
Chicago and was largely the cause of
that system entering upon the experi
mental raising of the trees. The
second case is of a tie that supported
the rails of the Big Four on its Cairo
division for more than twenty years ,
and is still in good condition. This
; ie has also been taken up and is kept
in the engineer's office.
If the experiments prove satisfac
tory and the wood gives results in
proportion with what is claimed for
it , the overshadowing and perplexing
crosstie problem , that is haunting the
dreams of general managers , is solved
and the catalpa will become as impor
tant a factor in the building of rail
roads as the steel rail. The saving
over the oak tie will bo something
enormous as the largest expense with
reference to a crosstie is the putting
down and taking up. Not only would
the catalpa tie save three-fourths on
original cost , but it would save the
same proportion on this latter expense
as it is claimed that it has a life of as
many years as four oaken ties.
Mr. Brown goes to New Orleaus
over the main line of the Illinois Cen
tral by way of Grenada. He will re
turn by way of the Yazoo & Missis
sippi Valley and thinks that the lands
on the latter system will be those
that he will select for the experiment.
RESOURCES OF AMERICA.
BY EDWARD ATKINSON.
In no other equal area of the surface
of the globe are found such abundant re
sources in the soilthe mine.or the forest
as within the area of the United States.
In no other equal area has domestic com
merce been made free from interstate
taxation ; in no other country have the
railway and river systems of transporta
tions been so fully developed by private
enterprise , or subject to so slight legal
interference or government ownership
or control. In no other manufacturing
or machine-using nation is imperial or
national taxation so low in ratio to the
population ; yet more , so low in
ratio to the value of the annual product
from which all taxes must be derived.
The great competing manufacturing
or machine-using States of the
world are the United States , the
United Kingdom , Germany , France ,
Belgium , and the Netherlands. Their
population in round numbers figures
about 280,000,000 , of which the people
of the United States count one-third.
Outside these conj > tries there are more
than 1,200,000,000 people waiting for a
supply of the manufactured goods of
these machine-using countries. Other
European countries Austria , Italy ,
Spain barely supply their own wants
while the competition in manufactures
in the commerce of the world may be
disregarded , excepting as to a few spec
ial products , such as the silks of the
East. Glance a moment at the relative
resources of these machine-using na
tions. The United States produce an
excess of all the metals except tin ; an
excess of the products of the field with
scarcely an exception ; an excess of the
> roducts of the forests , soon to be sup
plemented by the vast resources of
Canada lest we should denude our forest
ands too rapidly ; an excess of coal and
of oil ; an excess of all fibres excepting
silk and wool , reeled silk being too
much a product of hand work to become
profitable in a machine-using State ( as
Daniel Webster said , we can't afford to
do ourselves what foreign paupers can
do so well for us ) ; wool capable of be-
ng produced in excess of our own
wants , especially upon the uplands and
n the mountain valleys of the South
whenever the cur dog is suppressed and
a reasonable share of intelligence applied
; o the rotation of sheep , corn , and cot-
ion on the same field. On the other
hand , we find our competitors in Europe
deficient in and mainly dependent upon
us for a supply of food and of the most
important materials entering into their
processes of manufacture. Great Bri-
: ain is deficient in food , in fibres , in
ores fit for making steel , and is subject
bo increasing cost of coal with the possi
bility of the exhaustion of her coking
coal. France and Belgium are amply
supplied with food , deficient in fibers , in
metals , and in fuel. Germany , with a
poor soil , is barely capable of subsis
tence , and is deficient in timber , in fi
bres , and in fuel. The Netherlands are
too small to have any considerable iuflu-
enoe'.in the larger undertakings of com
merce except as carriers and impor'es hi
transit. Yet more , in no other country
has so small a number of men been
diverted from the constructive work of
peace to the destructive pursuit of war ,
since slavery destroyed itself in our civil
war , as in the United States. In one
respect even the civil war was construc
tive , since it made way for the new in
dustries of the regenerated South. The
result of these conditions is found in the
fact that in no other country is the cost
of labor per unit of product so low , and
iu no other country are the rates of
wages earned in factories or furnaces ,
the workshop , the mine , forest , or field ,
so high. The only exception to this
rule being in those few arts which can
not be ' conducted successfully without
an untaxed supply of materials of for
eign origin which are necessary in the
process of our domestic industry. In a
very few branches of industry these ma
terials are now so heavily taxed by
duties upon imports that they are at
this time in an adverse and unprofitable
condition. So far as the principle of
liberty has been permitted to take its
free course , our domestic industry has
been promoted , our workmen have been
protected , and our home and foreign
markets have been established and as
sured. So far as liberty has been re-
stricted-by the provision of public taxa
tion to the promotion of 'a very -few
