Tree farm

"The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is today." --Chinese proverb

It's not well-known how valuable high-quality wood sells for; in particular, wood that is used for veneer. For example, a mature, veneer quality black walnut tree can be sold for $10-20,000 each. That's right, you read that correctly, as much as $20,000 each. (However, please note, on average black walnut trees will sell for a little over $1,000 per tree in 15-17 years when using the method discussed in the following.) Why do people not get into the business? Simple, it takes 40-50 years to grow a walnut tree of that quality and size. But what if you could accelerate the process to less than half? There is a process that claims to do just that. It's called Sonic Bloom.

Black walnut trees. Here are my ongoing notes on growing black walnut trees. Here is the basic idea on growing black walnut trees in less than half the time. They claim that in 15-17 years one can achieve what normally takes 40-50 years or more. Combine this technology with genetically superior, fast growing trees (from advancedtree.com or greenwoodnursery which sells the highly sought after PURDUE 1; also read its history) and other agricultural advancements (soil preparation, etc.) and the 15-17 years timeframe seems doable. Here is an excellent series of articles in the proceedings of the 6th Walnut Council Research Symposium in 2004: "Black Walnut in a New Century" (you can download it faster from my site). Suitable companion crops for black walnuts.

How many trees can you grow in a tree farm per acre? For timber production purposes, quite a few (see here). Generally, you want them close enough that they compete for sunlight and grow straight--a 10 ft. by 18 ft. spacing is what the Sonic Bloom website suggests, or about 240 trees per acre. By harvest time (15-17 years later) the 240 trees in that one acre should yield over $250,000 or a little over $1,000 per tree, assuming you get both stumpage and veneer quality yield. To verify, here are timber prices as of last year (for Illinois). Note the prices for "face veneer."

Tennessee is an ideal place to establish a "tree farm." In fact, large parts of Tennessee are forest, and tree harvesting of trees is common. Tennessee is home to some of the most diverse forests in the temperate region of the world. Its forests contain more species of trees than all of Europe. (Read more about Tennessee's forests here.) The beauty of a tree farm is that it's low maintenance. The first 3-4 years involves some work--planting, pruning, etc.--but after that you just watch the trees grow.

Planting the EGW way. While we were in Australia, we adopted the . . . plan . . . of digging deep trenches and filling them in with dressing that would create good soil. This we did in the cultivation of tomatoes, oranges, lemons, peaches, and grapes. {3SM 328.1} The man of whom we purchased our peach trees told me that he would be pleased to have me observe the way they were planted. I then asked him to let me show him how it had been represented in the night season that they should be planted. I ordered my hired man to dig a deep cavity in the ground, then put in rich dirt, then stones, then rich dirt. After this he put in layers of earth and dressing until the hole was filled. I told the nurseryman that I had planted in this way in the rocky soil in America. I invited him to visit me when these fruits should be ripe. He said to me, "You need no lesson from me to teach you how to plant the trees." {3SM 328.2} Our crops were very successful. The peaches were the most beautiful in coloring, and the most delicious in flavor of any that I had tasted. We grew the large yellow Crawford and other varieties, grapes, apricots, nectarines, and plums.--Letter 350, 1907.

A modified EGW version. Dig a hole 3 feet deep and 3 feet diameter wide. Place air pockets using piping or upside down gallon bucket at the bottom. The bottom 1/3 is then filled with rich soil (balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 including micronutrients using kelp meal from a feed store). Then a layer of gravel ("stones"). The middle 1/3 is also filled with rich soil. The final (top) 1/3 is filled with regular top soil. Add earthworms at the top using both night crawler (deep digging) and red wiggler or compost (surface digging) varieties. Plant the tree and put a grow tube around it. Water regularly the first 3-6 months. Add mulch on top to help retain moisture.

The purpose of the stones may be to increase heat energy to the roots, especially through the evening and night. Also, to promote low-frequency electromagnetic (EM) fields through the tree? There are various EM studies on plants and trees. EM fields stimulated diameter growth on some trees. Microwaves have a negative effect.

Electro-culture. In 1964, the USDA performed tests in which a negative electrode was placed high in a tree, and the positive electrode was connected to a nail driven into the base of the tree. Stimulation with 60 volts DC substantially increased leaf density on electrified branches after a month. Within a year, foliage increased 300% on those branches! DC electricity has generally a positive effect on plants and trees. However, AC electricity has generally a negative effect, except in a few cases where it has a positive effect.