New York

State Callege of Agriculture

At Gornell University
Ithaca, N.Y

 

Library
2. University Library

i I iti

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

arboriculture; how fore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mann
 

 

 

 

PRACTICAL
ARBORIGULTURE

How Forests Influence Glimate,

Gontrol the Winds,
Prevent F loods,
Sustain National Prosperity

 

 

 

 

 

A TEXT BOOK

FOR RAILWAY ENGINEERS, MANUFACTURERS,
LUMBERMEN AND FARMERS

How, Where and What to Plant for the Rapid Production
of Lumber, Gross - Ties, Telegraph Poles and Other
Timbers—with Original Photographs by the Author

BY

JOHN P. BROWN, C. E.

(acoso S. A., May, 1906

SS ee

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

DEOL Ar Lay

To General William ¥. Palmer, whose
warm friendship, hearty encouragement
and unbounded liberality gave ime hope
during years of discouraging efforts, and
made possible the accontplishinent of great
jorest plantings in this and other lands,
this volume is respectfully inscribed.

 

 

 
og) shall pass through this world
Pst but once. Any good thing,
therefore, that I can do or
any kindness that I can
show to any human being, let me do
it now; let me not defer it or neglect
it, for] shall not pass this way again.”

 
 
 

 

 

 

SEQUOIA GRIZZLY GIANT, MARIPOSA GROVE.
PREFACE.

What is the occasion for another book? Surely with the multiplicity of
recent publications upon every subject and in every language there must be
some reason for adding another work and upon a new subject to vex the mind
of mortals and fill the shelves of collectors.

Probably no people in the world are more extravagant and wasteful of things
which may for the time be abundant. In no case is this more marked than
in the disposal of American Forests. Once very abundant, now practically gone
in most regions, and soon to be but a memory in the United States.

Books have been written and printed at government expense to prove our
vast possessions in forests, which have lulled Congress to sleep upon the matter
of forest protection, while interested capitalists have obtained possession of all
timber land, and are destroying the nation’s wealth.

Chmatic changes are occurring greatly detrimental to the agriculture and
other interests of the country from the removal of timber from the great moun-
tain ranges.

Manufacturing industries representing many million dollars ceased opera-
tions, while others will soon close down from the exhaustion of timber supplies
as the forests are being exterminated.

Several million laborers, dependent upon the continuance of the wood indus-
tries, are obliged to find other occupations as the wheels of machinery become
silent from the same cause.

The inland commerce of the nation is borne upon a thousand million railway
cross-ties. While two hundred million are required annually to renew those
exhausted from decay. In a quarter of a century five thousand million ties will
be demanded for such renewals.

It is time for America to stop and think what are we going to do when the
forests have become exhausted, and this after the first one-third of the Twentieth
Century has passed.

The era for extending the American forest area by extensive planting of
trees has come, and we are beginning none too soon. If we can aid the Ameri-
can people and those of the old world as well in providing a supply of timber
for the coming generation, and show them how we of the present generation
may also be benefited, indicating what to plant, where to plant, and how to plant,
and incite those who are indifferent and careless as well as those who have a
care for the future, and especially if we can bring this matter to the attention of
our lawmakers in Congress and various State Legislatures, thus we may be justi-
fied in thrusting another book upon the public.
ARBORICULTURE.

“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to
dress it and to keep it."—Genesis, I1: 15.

The oldest occupation of which the human family have record is Arboricul-
ture. It is also the most honorable.

The Almighty, after the creation, planted a garden in Eden in which He
made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, as well as the trees which
are good for food.

Adam was given full control of this forest of pleasurable trees, some of
which also produced him the necessaries of life, and the care and management
of this forest of Eden was his occupation.

A life of idleness «vas never intended by the Creator for any living creature,
any more than it has been for himself from all eternity.

It was not until after the fall and as a consequence of the sinful disobedience
of Adam that drudgery or constant toil in tilling a garden of herbs was appointed
unto him as a second occupation.

The first garden was of trees, permanent in character, while the second gar-
den beyond the limits of paradise was of those plants and herbs which must be
sown, tilled and harvested from year to year.

Arboriculture is a science that teaches how great are the influences which
forests or trees exert upon a community; not only from the economic uses for
which wood is adapted for man’s benefit, but in their far-reaching effect upon
climate and thus on the welfare and permanence of nations and peoples. Arbori-
culture is full of interest and is of vast importance to mankind. Forestry,
as usually understood, pertains to the management of forests. Arboriculture
comprises forestry and also includes every subject relating to the growth of trees
and their influences.

Economically it considers the requirements of agriculture, manufacture,
commerce and mining, and teaches the best means for supplying the needs of
various pursuits. At what age or size timber should be cut and what
should be cut as well as what should be preserved, so as not to destroy the
forest, but perpetuate it; the preservation of an ample number of trees for seed
bearing in order that nature may reproduce the forest after the demands of
commerce and manufacture have caused the removal of marketable trees, are
subjects for investigation.

Entomology so far as it pertains to destructive insects which feed upon
forest and shade trees, and practical methods for combating them, as well as

9
10 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

ornithology, since birds are protectors of the forests. Both these are included
in arboriculture, which also comprises the study of those fungus and other
diseases common to many forest and cultivated trees.

Protection of forests from fires, how to prevent and how to extinguish them
before too great an area shall have been destroyed, construction and maintenance
of fire guards along natural base lines carefully prepared and managed so as to
prevent the spread of fires which may have been started from any cause, are 1m-
portant subjects included in arboriculture.

Irrigation, which is receiving increased attention as it deserves, is subor-
dinate to arboriculture, for without forests to protect the snowfall, preventing
its too rapid melting, as well as to regulate the electric currents which largely
govern the movement of clouds and precipitation of moisture, there will be no
necessity for irrigation works, since there will be little water requiring reservoirs
or ditches.

History is replete with illustrations oft repeated in which nations have
been destroyed and the people dispersed, or greatly reduced in numbers, where
after the destruction of the forests such country became so arid and barren
as to refuse support for the population which inhabited it. Arboriculture
points out a way by which such disastrous results may not be visited upon
our country.

The planting of trees in forests, for economic reasons, on the streets and
roadside for shade and shelter; in parks and private grounds for ornament,
species of trees suited to various soils, altitudes, aspects and localities, are sub-
jects pertaining to arboriculture.

NURSE TREES.

The influence of apparently unimportant shrubs and plants upon the nat-
ural reafforestation of a region with more important coniferous or other trees
upon the mountains and on the plains, is an important study. As, for instance,
the little valued scrub oak which covers many mountain slopes prepares a special
soil by collecting and holding its fallen leaves within its cluster of stems.
Here the seed of fir, spruce and pine finds lodgment, germinates and is pro-
tected from browsing animals until it has outgrown its protectors and be-
comes the mighty tree so prized by man.

WOOD PRESERVATION.

The chemical preservation of timber, to increase its durability, becomes a
highly important subject since our forests are being so rapidly depleted. The
most economic and effectual methods of treating timbers to preserve them
from decay, and a study of the antiseptic substances which may be thus used
will be considered by those who are able to treat this subject intelligently.

It was well known to the earliest nations of history that asphaltum, bitu-
men, salt, and other material would preserve wood, flesh, cloth, and other sub-
stances from decay, while mummies and their wrappings and wooden caskets
have lasted through thirty centuries.

By a proper application of this knowledge our forest products may be
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE II

made more durable and thus avoid the waste of our present methods and per-
mit the young trees to grow into mature timber.

HOW SOIL IS MADE.

The influence of trees and forest upon the soil, how they make soil by
penetrating the clays and rocks with their roots, fertilize it with their annual
deposit of leaves, by adding vegetable mold to sand or clay, make it produc-
tive. Thus are agriculture and arboriculture brought into close relationship.

RIVER NAVIGATION.

The effects of forests in the mountain regions upon precipitation and re-
tention of snow, and consequently the rapidity with which water flows into the
larger streams, and the quantity of water thus borne away, has an important
bearing upon the commerce of the larger rivers, deciding their regularity of
flow, their flood and low water tide, and thus upon the question of eco-
nomic transportation, which affects the citizens of other states far remote
from the mountain forests.

PERMANENCE OF SPRINGS.
A great majority of springs issuing from the ground all over the valleys
have their source of supply high in the mountains, being led by subterranean
streams to their point of issuance, and are regulated by the same laws.

UNDERGROUND RIVERS.

Beneath the surface, at varying distances, from six feet in places to 100
feet in others, along the valleys of many streams of the West, there is an
underflow, a broad river flowing toward the oceans and gulf, from which a
million wells are supplied, and in places the tree roots reach downward to
gather necessary moisture, and by capillary attraction it rises to the surface
moistening numerous agricultural crops.

The snow upon the Rocky Mountains and other ranges melting, pene-
trates the rocky strata, percolating through the porous masses and flowing
between the crevices of rocks, through gravel and sand, may require years to
reach the points from whence the water is taken, in the Dakotas, Nebraska,
Kansas and other distant states, abundant at times, scarce in other years, so
that a short supply of snow in the Rockies may not be felt for a decade at
some distant point.

Arboriculture is thus of vast importance as a national question. To
solve the problems arising in regard to forest perpetuation a high degree of
statesmanship will be required, men who can rise superior to the petty in-
trigues of partisan politics and in a patriotic spirit look far into the future
and recognize the vast requirements of the nation with its increased population
half a century hence, see needs of agriculture, of the manufactories which will
soon be required to import lumber from the tropics; see the demands of the
railwavs for ties and lumber, requirements of the mines in timbers for their
maintenance, and with still greater vision see the disastrous results of the
present policy of forest negligence.

This is arboriculture.
12 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS.

At the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, the greater portion of the
United States east of the Mississippi River was covered with a dense forest.
The Indian still claimed his home on the banks of these streams, subsisting on
the game which was then so abundant, and such productions as nature pro-
vided, unaided by the labor of man.

For a thousand years the surface of the land had been enriched by falling
leaves, decaying trunks and branches of ancient monarchs of the forest region,
while mosses and ferns, decaying logs and thickets of shrubs made it a vast
sponge to hold back the water which fell as rain and snow, to feed the springs
and rivulets when the summer drouths should come.

But the land in this condition could not support the civilized man who was
now to take possession, and so the work of clearing away the timber has taken
place increasing the area of open land from year to year, that it might become
profitable through cultivation and thus support the growing population of the
present day.

Here and there tracts of woodland were left untouched by the pioneers, but
subsequent owners have completed the work of destruction until many of our
formerly wocded States might almost be classed as prairies.

\We can still see the mouldering remains of Oak, Ash, Walnut and Chest-
nut rails from a million miles of fences, which strongly impresses us with the
abundance which once existed.

With this radical change in clearing up so vast an area of timber, there
have come several evil results. Lands which were so rich and mellow with
accumulated vegetable mould, have been washed by beating rains, the
soil transported to the delta of the Mississippi, leaving rocks and stiff, hard
clay for the husbandman to waste his labor upon with scant remuneration.

Springs and rivulets have long since ceased to flow except for a few hours
during a heavy rain fall. Rivers rise with great rapidity and as quickly return
to their ordinary low water stage. The Ohio becomes so low that wagons
cross with farm produce along the usual channel for steamboats: and again it
rises to the height of seventy-one feet, spreading for miles over the cultivated
lands, and submerging cities along its banks. The soil no longer absorbs suffi-
cient moisture during the season of rains to support vegetation in the time
of drouth.

Our prairie States appreciate the value of trees, and plant groves to aid in
controlling the wind storms, guiding the air currents to a higher level, and
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 13

lessening the force of the wind about the dwelling, and as a protection to
orchards and fruits, equalizing the temperature to a large extent.

Not only do the annual farm crops suffer from insufficient water almost
every summer, but many fine Elms, Fir and Pine trees have died in the
parks about our cities and in private grounds throughout the country, the only
apparent cause being the succession of prolonged drouths, which have so low-
ered their vitality as to induce disease.

In those localities where lands are of increasing value and the wood lots
are required for pasture, all young growths are destroyed by cattle. If not
killed entirely by browsing, the symmetry is destroyed so that they can never
make good trees; while seeds are, by tramping, prevented from growth. One
by one the original trees fall, owing to the unnatural conditions to which they
are subjected, and without young growths to take their places, the forests, like
the Indians who inhabited them, seem destined to extermination.

Along the lines of some of our railways in the mountain regions are high
piles of Oak tan bark, awaiting shipment. Not infrequently are the trees left
to decay, having only been felled for the bark, which has a commercial value,
the trees being too far from saw mills to possess value.

Young growths of hickory, chestnut, and other woods are cut for hoop
poles, which in a very few years would be of immeasurably greater worth.

The great forest regions of our North and Western States have frequent
conflagrations in which vast areas are destroyed. Often on the mountain
sides travel, impossible except on foot, is impeded by the blackened, bayonet-
like trunks and limbs lying prostrate, fixed in every position. Young thickets
still standing, all dead, black, dismal, without a dollar’s value, destroyed by
some careless hunter’s camp-fire, or by sparks from a passing locomotive.

The demands of the commercial world, the railways for ties, the telegraphs
for poles, the manufactories for making furniture and the innumerable uses to
which wood is applied, are rapidly consuming the timber which still remains in
the less accessible territory, while no systematic effort is being made by cor-
porations, nor by States, or the national Government, either for the preserva-
tion of what forests are still growing and the renewal of those which are being
cleared or for the planting of new forests on prairie lands.

It is true, many States have done something towards the encouragement
of forestry—and the national Government has made some efforts in encourag-
ing this work, while many nurserymen and thoughtful farmers have planted
groves and timber plantations which are worthy examples to follow—but no
system has been evolved for the practical foresting of extensive tracts of the
national domain.

It is full time that the American people should consider these matters
seriously and take such action as will aid in preserving to posterity a portion
of the forests which are of so great importance to mankind.

Masses of timber modify the wind, break their force, guide the air currents
higher from the earth’s surface, and so ameliorate the climate. Sudden
changes of temperature through great extremes are far less usual in regions
covered with heavy timber than in treeless lands. Evaporation becomes very
rapid where strong winds pass over the unprotected surface, causing the soil
14 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

to dry and bake, which is very destructive to growing crops. This is greatly
iessened where dense wood growths are left here and there to protect inter-
vening farm lands, while the millions of leaves, twigs and tree tops within the
forest attract the moisture-laden clouds and influence précipitation.

Americans may well receive instruction from Syria regarding the indis-
criminate clearing of extensive forest areas without an effort at reforesting a
portion.

We have authority from Holy Writ that one thousand years B. C., the
eastern shore of the Mediterranean was the seat of several very large cities,
having extended maritime commerce. The mountain region bordering the sea
for fully one hundred miles, and extending some thirty-five miles inland, was
covered with a dense forest comprising the Cedar of Lebanon, fir and sandal
~vood, all of them most valued timbers, covering an area of 3,500 square miles.
(2 Kings, 19: 23.)

The inhabitants of Sidon were largely engaged in cutting, hewing and
shipping to various seaports, timbers of the forests of Mount Lebanon, which
lay in close proximity to their city. Sidon was a great lumber mart, while
the Sidonians had become very skillful axemen. (2 Chron., 2: 8.)

No doubt both the great cities of Sidon and Tyre were largely constructed
of lumber which had been grown upon the ridges and in the vales of their
mountains. Their ships were built of cedar, the masts of fir and the oars of
oak. (Ezekiel, 27: 3, 8.)

King Solomon procured all the timbers entering into the construction of
the temple, as well as the great House of State, together with the residence of
Pharaoh's daughter and other structures, from this great forest, entering into
a compact with Hiram, the King of Tyre, in whose domain it lay, in which he
supplied 80,000 laborers to assist Hiram in cutting and hewing the trees, which
cecupied twenty years. (Ist Kings, 9:10.) The timbers were loaded on ships
and conveyed to Joppa, whence the distance to Jerusalem was about forty-five
miles by direct line.

‘The Sidonians were employed to do the more particular work, as Solomon
said, ‘For thou knowest there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber
like unto the Sidonians.” (1st Kings, 5:6.)

The region about Jerusalem was fertile, inasmuch as Solomon was enabled
to provision the immense levies of laborers, 153,600 men, who were engaged
upon the public works for so long a period (twenty years) ; and in addition, he
supplied Hiram with 142,000 bushels of wheat and as much barley, besides
145,000 gallons of wine and a similar quantity of oil, year by year, which could
not have been done were the country as barren as it is today.

The extensive forests were cut down, never again to be renewed: with
their destruction, the fertile soil disappeared; the moisture-laden clouds were
no longer attracted to the mountains of Syria, which are to this day a barren
waste, affording scant subsistence to a sparse population.

The brooks of Palestine have become mere rivulets, and the country pos-
sesses slight fertility, while throughout Syria stone is the only material for
building, and wood is as precious as gold.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 15

The curse pronounced by the prophet Ezekiel, 26th chapter, and Isaiah,
23d chapter, upon the cities of Tyre and Sidon, could scarcely have been more
effectually executed than by their own self-inflicted punishment in so thor-
oughly destroying the forests of Lebanon, upon which the welfare and pros-
perity of those cities depended, and the removal of which has so completely
desolated their tributary country.
16 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

FROM WHENCE SHALL WORLD’S LUMBER BE OBTAINED?

The collections of woods exhibited by the various nations at the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition of 1904 are of great interest, as they not only show the
proportionate timber supply of each exhibiting nation, but the character of the
forests and of tree species as well.

It has been a favorite pastime with officials of the United States Govern-
ment, and of several States of the Union, to exploit the vastness of American
forests, and the incredible amount of timber which is available for market in
our forest covered territory, and little thought has been given to the perpetua-
tion of these timbered areas, or as to whence shall the next generation obtain
wood for the manufactures and for future export trade.

With the advent of the band saw and the rapid advance in lumbering and
milling machinery, extensive logging, railways, and increased carrying capa-
city of ocean vessels and railway freight trains, to say nothing of the destruc-
tion by great forest conflagrations, the forests of this nation are being rap-
idly depleted.

No adequate encouragement to forest extension or perpetuation is given
by the American Government or by more than one or two States, and scarcely
anything is being done by individuals.

It is then a pertinent question, from whence shall the lumber supply of our
coming generations be obtained?

A Cabinet officer told the writer a year or so ago that the Philippines con-
tained vast forests and would supply the world with timber. Other persons
have thought that Cuba would furnish an inexhaustible quantity of timber.
And all have looked to the tropics as the great producer of all valuable woods.

But with the vastly increased demand for timber and lumber from all por-
tions of the world, the tropics have disappointed the explorers who have been
seeking wood for the larger commercial and manufacturing enterprises and we
are forced to look to temperate regions for the great majority of commercial
tunbers.

As a rule the timbers of tropic regions are of extreme density. The an-
nual growths are so fine as to require a glass to distinguish them. The rate
of growth is remarkably slow, requiring several hundred vears to become of
value for commercial uses. This may be readily understood when the speci-
mens from all tropic countries are examined.

It is true there are some more open woods in the tropics, but these are
usually of but slight value.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 7

With trees in the tropics growing so very slowly, the forests will be hun-
dreds of years in reproduction after the present growth has been removed.

Meantime the rapid growing vines, creepers and valueless shrubs will
quickly cover the earth and give it a forest appearance.

The white pine, in the north temperate zone, may be reproduced in from
seventy to one hundred and fifty years. The black walnut may be grown to
merchantable size in fifty to seventy years; the yellow poplar (Liriodendron)
in forty to sixty years; the catalpa speciosa in twenty to thirty years, Ameri-
can red cedar (Juniperus Virginiana) requiring one hundred years to make
merchantable lumber.

It will require ten times as long to produce a forest of ebony or rosewood
in the tropics as to produce an oak forest in the Middle States of America, And
it will require twenty-five times as many years to produce an average hard
wood tropic forest as to grow a catalpa forest in Louisiana.

The exhibits of wood from Nicaragua are very fine, comprising several
hundred species. Costa Rica makes an excellent showing of timber, while
Guatemala has an extraordinary display.

Brazil brings two thousand species of wood, many of which are of the high-
est class for cabinet work.

Tropical Mexico exhibits a large and handsome collection of cabinet woods,
all of extreme hardness.

The magnificently finished articles and large specimens of wood brought
from the Philippines were taken from an unculled forest, bought at an enor-
mous expense by the United States authorities to exploit the productions of
cur new acquisition.

The same rule holds good here as with the other tropic countries. Valua-
ble tropic woods grow very slowly. There are few trees of importance, while
dense jungles of vines and inferior trees fillin the gaps. After the lumbermen
get the cream of the trees skirting the coast and streams, and the logging roads
are constructed into the interior, the cost of removal will be far greater than
the value of the product. And when the cream has been gathered how long
will the world wait for a second crop?

The forests of more temperate zones grow more rapidly. They produce
commercial woods which are more easily worked, more easily transported, and
are of greater utility for the manufacturing industries and the commercial
world.

The world must look to the United States, Canada and Russia of the north-
ern and to Argentine Republic of the southern hemisphere for the permanent
timber supplies. .

The question which now arises is, will the Governments which control the
great forest regions of the world, and which must supply the ines for the
future generations, be wise enough and patriotic enough to provide for the
inevitable result which must occur before the middle of the Twentieth Cen-
tury, when without a radical change in present methods, the forests of America

will become exhausted?
18 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Are there statesmen who can rise above the level of partisan politics and
consider legislation which shall look to the continuance of national prosperity,
through the perpetuation of American forests?

Or shall, with preventable climatic changes, manufactures die with the
forests, and commerce fail as a natural result of agricultural and manufacturing

decadence?
Prompt, patriotic and statesmanlike legislation can only be effectual.
‘THOA MOL HSNAD ADVS ONIMAHLVO SNVICNI

 

 

 

 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 21

THE SAGE BRUSH OF THE PLAINS.

alrtemisia tridentata.

To eveiyone who has crossed the plains, whether in the olden time by
stage coach or with team and pony, or later in the modern railway train, the
sagebrush is a familiar object, and invariably the same opinion has been
formed, that it is a worthless creation, having no importance in the scheme of
Nature. Possibly this may be an incorrect impression.

The sagebrush covers the deserts of Nevada, extends into Utah and Colo-
rado and abounds in all the plains region.

There is absolutely no vegetation in existence but to which water is essen-
tial for the maintenance of life. The Artemisia is one of the plants which
will exist with a drink once a year, and that in minute quantities, yet with
greater supply of moisture it doubles its size, attaining a height of six or seven
feet. The foliage of sage being deciduous and abundant, the annual deposit
of leaves, if not burned, will in time create a soil of great fertility, in which
plants of a higher order may luxuriate. The roots penetrate deeply in search
of moisture in the substrata, they open the earth for the action of the elements
to make a perfect soil, and when the sands of the plains accumulate enough
vegetable matter by the decay of leaves, roots and twigs, it is the better
enabled to withstand droughts and support a forest growth. Where seeds are
supplied to provide shrubs of a higher character, then step by step the advance
is made until a forest will replace the sage.

All forest and plant growths have an influence upon electric currents,
winds and cloud movements, some much more than others, but all in some
degree, U. S. scientists to the contrary notwithstanding, and by utilizing the
sage, with other semi-arid plants, the plains country may be made productive
in the vears to come.

The almost continuous winds of treeless regions carry the grains of sand
along the surface and by constantly shifting their positions, prevent the growth
of grasses and the germination of seeds. The sage lifts the air currents from
one to six feet above the surface and prevents the sand movement, thus en-
abling the grasses and other plants to take root and furnish pasturage for stock.

Its roots, going deeply and having a firm hold upon the soil, cannot be

m8

blown out, while without this protection grasses would be removed by heavy
winds.

Old plainsmen will recognize our illustration on opposite page—the menial
squaw collects the fuel to keep the tepee warm and prepares the meal for the
noble warrior and hunter.

Birds are supplied with food by the seeds of the sage and grasses which
grow under its protection, while small animals are sheltered by its foliage;
both sheep and cattle huddle together about the sage and shrub growths seek-

ing shelter from the storms.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTUREL

ho
ho

j

PHENOMENAL METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS—DO FORESTS
CONTROL THEM?

In 1903 the Atlantic States, where evaporation is abundant and_ precipi-
tation is usually quite regular, for the time changed climatic relations with the
arid West. \Vhile the plains and prairies, which are far removed from sea-
coast, and the ordinarily cloudless skies of Colorado were replaced with dense
masses of oversaturated air currents, which poured their contents in disastrous
floods along the slopes of the Rocky Mountains and the plains and prairies as
tar as the Mississippi River, meantime a prolonged drought in New York and
New England contributed to support the forest fires, the sky beine obscured by
dense bodies of smoke.

WHAT CACSED. THESE CHANGED CONDITIONS?

The theory accepted by scientific authorities in regard to moisture and
aridity is that water evaporated by heat ascends into the atmosphere, forms
clouds, which wind currents bear inland from the ocean. As temperature is re-
duced, precipitation occurs. Having parted with all surplus moisture during
the early part of their journey, there is none left with which to moisten the
earth throughout the central portion of the continent, and thus it is arid,

But there are influences which control the deposit of moisture of which
authorities are ignorant.

ELECTRIC TINFPLE ENCE.

Cloud movements, ability to retain moisture and precipitation are largely
caused by electrical energy, and this is controlled by obstacles in the pathway
of air currents, such as mountains and forests.

LIGHTNING.

Electricity passes between cloud and earth to maintain an equilibrium,
gently at times, as every twig in a forest bears its part in aiding this convev-
ance, vet with violence when a single tree becomes the object mcitehh receives
and communicates the bolt.

Through the influence of a great forest, clouds are attracted and caused to
precipitate part of their moisture.
PRACTICAL, ARBORI COLT URE 23

High mountains perform the same service, as they become the means of
communicating electric currents. A plain from which fires have removed all
trees and prevented others from growing has not the power of influencing air
currents, and, as a rule, clouds pass over them. At long intervals extraordi-
nary electrical disturbances occur and moisture is precipitated in unusual
quantities during a brief period, causing freshets in valleys which were dry
beds a day before. Such storms have been given the term, cloudbursts.
Upon Pike’s Peak, along the chain of lakes which supply Colorado Springs
with water, are telephone lines, as well as telegraph stations. Upon the sup-
porting poles, above the wires, is a common barb fence wire, maintained as a
lightning arrestor. Here on the mountain electrical disturbances are of com-
mon occurrence, and it 1s necessary to provide safety conductors, rain, snow
and electric storms being frequent.

In riding over the divide recently I saw on a small area one hundred prom-
inent trees which had received a lightning stroke. High mountains and prom-
inent trees are objects which attract the electric current, while the violence
with which the disturbance occurs gauges the quantity of moisture precipi-
tated, or, in other words, reduces the ability of the atmosphere to hold moisture
in solution.

BEE C ERICA ENERGY.

The atmosphere is capable of supporting a given weight of water when
distributed in minute particles as vapor, the quantity which it can absorb and
hold in suspension being variable, depending upon temperature and upon
equanimity of electricity, which always accompanies cloud movements. Elec-
tricity is rapidly absorbed, conducted and diffused by water. It is transferred
through moist air currents to various parts of the earth. Electricity may be
passive, as when its changes occur slowly and with regularity, or violent when,
by contact with a good conductor, it is suddenly conveyed from cloud to earth,
or the reverse.

Violent electric energy decreases the ability of the atmosphere to retain
moisture, and precipitation occurs in great quantities ; as these electric changes
decrease the power of buoyancy of the atmosphere, a portion of its weight is
discharged.

Heavy clouds hang low upon the surface. The weight of moisture which
they bear brings them in contact with objects upon the surface. If these are
forests, the electric changes are constant, the regularity causing gentle show-
ers. Ifthe obstacle is a prominent tree or spire, the bolt descends, the object
is shattered, while a downpour of rain accompanies the violent energy.

In passing over a mountain chain, abrupt peaks become the conducting

medium, and snow is precipitated.

CLOUDBURSTS.

This has become a popular expression where extraordinary rainfall occurs.
All showers are cloudbursts, simply varying in degree. When more violent
PRACTICAL AR BORTOCULLURE

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electric changes occur, as when the atmosphere is holding moisture to point of
saturation, and objects in the pathway of the clouds conduct the electric fluid
instantly, intense precipitation occurs, the earth in that locality is deluged
beyond the ability of the water courses to convey it quickly away, and low-
lying lands become flooded.

The removal of large bodies of forests destroys the regular and systematic
electric connections between earth and sky, and in consequence the electric
energy becomes violent, and cloudbursts occur with frequency. The planting
of forest belts in a systematic manner and the maintenance of a reasonable
area of forest will equalize this electrical diffusion, rain will become more reg-
ular and impetuous storms infrequent.
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PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 27

DISASTROUS RIVER FLOODS EFFECTS OF FOREST DESTRUC-
TION—REMARKABLE RISE AND FALL OF THE OHIO.

The western rivers are again overflowing their banks, and causing desola-
tion, loss of life and great destruction of property.

So long back as we have any history of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys,
there have been floods and they will always occur when melting snows and
downpours of rain unite their volumes and seek an exit to the lowest levels, the
ecean.

The first recorded flood in the Ohio river was in [ebruary, 1832. An ex-
tremely heavy snowfall had occurred in the Cumberland and Allegheny moun-
tains and covered the western part of New York, Pennsylvania, all of Ohio and
throughout the Ohio valley. Suddenly the temperature rose and rains oc-
curred simultaneously over a very large area of country drained by this river.
Asa result, the Ohio rose to the then unprecedented height of 64 fect 3 inches.
The next record of extremely high water was in December, 1847, when a sim-
uiar combination of snowfall and continuous rains with high winter tempera-
ture brought the Ohio up to 63 feet 7 inches.

Official records of high and low waters were not begun until 1860, but the
author has had abundant opportunities during early life as a steamboat official
to gather from the earliest steamboat captains and pilots many unrecorded facts.

The depth of the Ohio at Cincinnati, was, in—

Feet. Inches.
eb riiahven TOSS. wea alec Gia en Woe aie chewed Seek ae ae a Sth ota 55 5
BANAT, LOO oss an Goce Ganev etre teks sume epee ck on any 57 4
MARCI LB O 5a, cates ses es mientegeo cca passtet ny eae 50 3
MARC ASO79 a5 ue dated, equals Raia ah Ue ne tera a any she ee SS 55 8
Pama EOZO: «vee eee Gee Se Sale Gus wee A eae 55 3
ANISUISE: BS ZG> mig d.c cox acer s Saeco PR en eee 55 6
MeDRUainy: TOSSk 4 S26 cok Sa cuts a mirasnap ieee Beate: eee 58 7

Hebi latys: 1OSR er Suacrueen Dae ee Bw 5 pe etree eee 66 -

SMebrilary: TA, TSA. caw kes tee Lae aa ee ee ES fl 24
April, T8860". cet d tk eh eR eRe MRR Renae ee 55 9
Hebriiar ys. TS87* cu oat gucks triple ss Gare EERE a 50 3
Maths 1800) 25 sas dent eem esi Roos a Eee ae 59 2
Mébriary. TSO1> 2. oka seen tp eee ts Bee Ot 57 4
MEDTUAT YS TRO Sean sad eka ee ee ORS IES ee eee 54 II
‘ 61 2

Rennie, 1607 deny ssccl cea n tact Stee eae ee
*The highest water ever known,
28 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

These being only the stages of 55 feet and over. August, 1875, the usually
dry season, and February, 1884, being the highest water ever known at Cincin-
nati.

\Vhen it is considered that the width of the waterway or riverbed of the
Ohio river has been increasing with every overflow of the water, by the caving
in of farms all along its course, and that today the width between the banks
1s one-fourth greater than it was in 1832 and 1847, and therefore capable of
carrying a much greater volume of water than in the earlier times, it will be
readily recognized that with the rapid denudation of the forest areas and
erosion of the fertile soil capable of absorbing large quantities of water, the
volume of water flowing away in one brief period is far greater than in times
when the forest areas were so much larger.

The writer, as a boy, well recalls the river roads where all the travel be-
tween towns and farms along the Ohio passed. These roads were washed into
the river and conveyed down the stream year after year with each recurrence
of high water, the fences carried away, adjoining farms were swept into the
whirling water, acres at a time were thus lost by the land owners along the
banks. One house with which the writer was familiar was moved back from
the river bank four successive times, each time being taken several hundred
fcet to a supposedly safe location. It was finally removed half a mile back
and the roadway changed to a similar distance.

Meantime there was not, as is sometimes the case, any deposit upon the
opposite side of the river, but the breadth of the waterway was increased each
vear and is now 1,200 feet broader than it was seventy-one years ago, at time of
the highest water of early days.

But it is by no means the highest water only which is to be regretted on
account of removal of the forest. During the long period of drought which
follows, the springs having been dried up, the streams run low and the period
of extreme low water in which navigation is suspended or made very difficult
is greatly prolonged.

Prior to 1862 there was no time within the knowledge of steamboatmen of
the ‘gos and ’50s when the rivers of the West did not have a good boating
stage, usually 12 or 15 feet depth, while in more recent years the water has
been so low that teams were crossing the Ohio by fording, the water being but
two feet depth, the steamboats and crafts of every kind being idle for months
at a time.

Many cities are dependent for water supply on the various streams and
during the low water stages the contamination is far more serious, the impuri-
ties being concentrated to such extent as to cause much sickness. Of course.
with all sewerage of cities polluting the streams, this becomes a serious mat-
ter when the water for a long time remains so low. During the floods of 1883
and 1884 there was great suffering throughout the flooded districts, thousands
being destitute who were relieved by charity.

The temperature in February was what it usually is in May. Very un-
usual rains extended over all the States drained by the Ohio. The waters fall-
ing upon portions of fourteen States ran rapidly away and found an exit in the
swelling floods of the Ohio.
 

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PRACTICAL ARBORICOLTURE 31

he Allegheny was full to overflowing, bringing the water from far away
Meadville, Oil City and western Pennsylvania, and from western New York
almost to the borders of Lake Erie.

The Youghiogheny brought its tribute from near the Maryland line.
Cheat river swelled the Monongahela and that river submerged a portion of
Pittsburg. Water falling in Maryland found its way through the Youghio-
gheny and helped to swell the rising rivers of the West.

The Buckhannon of \West Virginia, the Greenbriar and Kanawha emptied
their contents into the now overflowing Ohio.

From Kentucky the Big Sandy, Licking and Kentucky rivers aided in the
general outpour of waters. ‘The cities along the Muskingum, Hocking, Scioto
and the Little and Great Miami were submerged as those streams rose higher
and higher over the low lying districts,

At Cincinnati the water kept creeping upward, passed the danger line, and
all the lower districts were under water, but it did not stop at the highest mark
previously recorded. The railways were covered with many feet of water,
trains ceased to enter the various depots, but discharged their passengers in
the higher outskirts of the city. The water ascended into the principal streets,
filling the first and second stories of hundreds of business houses. Dwellers
of the submerged districts who could not remove were fed from skiffs and
Loats approaching the higher windows. The manufactories ceased to operate,
their plants were under water. Varms for hundreds of miles along the river
were flooded, houses swept away, stock drowned, and vast quantities of feed
and produce were ruined. Bridges were torn from their foundations and
borne away on the tide. Streams which are but rivulets had their banks over-
flowed by the back-waters a score of miles from the big river. Steamboats were
barred from navigation, for they could not go under any of the bridges, nor
reach shore at many landing places. Business was paralyzed, and yet the
water continued to rise.

Lawrenceburg, which had a strong, high levee about the city, and was
supposed to be safe, was flooded by the tremendous overflow coming in from
the Miami and White Water, as their waters flowed in, overtopping the Ohio.

The several levels of the land along the rivers rise in terraces, fields quarter
ofa mile wide occupying each terrace. One after the other of these fields were
submerged, until cellars upon the third terrace were filled with water. Crops
were washed away, and homes had to be vacated.

Rails from fences, lumber from the yards, logs, bridges, barges torn from
their moorings and frame houses were constantly floating by, attracting the
attention of the wreckers, who reap a rich harvest at every rise in the river.
From some farmhouse the bank had caved away, carrying with it a brick ce-
mented cistern, and this also floated for miles down the stream until filling
with water, it sank.

A few towns along the Ohio are built upon high bluffs, Rising Sun being
one of these; the highest floods cannot reach any but a small area in the
lower district, but most of the towns and cities are less favorably situated and

these suffered severely.
The Cumberland and Tennessee from far separated sources brought their
32 PRACTICHL ARBORICULTURE

waters, the former from the Cumberland mountains in Tennessee, the latter
bringing the drainage even from Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia
aad Mississippi, twice crossing the state of Tennessee, and both rivers pouring
their floods into the Ohio within a few miles of each other.

The Wabash and \White rivers covered the land between them, forming a
vast sheet of water underneath which lay hundreds of fine farms.

With all the unwelcome pouring of many rivers emptying into the already
swollen Mississippi, that river widened its banks and flooded out over Ar-
kausas, forming a river forty miles wide. Through the forests and over the
fields the steamboats plied on errands of mercy, as a general outpouring of
money and provisions from thousands of generous-hearted citizens sent con-
tributions in vast quantities to those in distress, for thousands were homeless,
having lost everything by the breaking of the levees and continued rise of the
waters.

The lower Mississippi Valley, from the junction with the Ohio to the delta,
is a low, alluvial plain of varving width, the hills approaching the river in but
few places. At Columbus, Ky., Memphis, Tenn., Vicksburg and Natchez.
Miss., and Baton Rouge, La., are high lands for a very short distance. Except
these the broad low lands have been formed from the sediment eroded from
mountain, valley and plain many hundreds of miles away.

Upon each recurring season of high water the river has spread over the
low lands, depositing a layer of mud near the banks, thus raising the river and
its embankment higher and higher each year, until now, during full tide, the sur-
face is many feet above that of the land.

In order to prevent this cnnual overflow and enable the planters to occupy
the rich lands bordering the river, embankments or levees have been con-
structed at great expense along both sides of the Mississippi and also along
all streams throughout these low lands. There are few rivers flowing into
the Mississippi in its lower course, but there are numerous bavous, tortuous in
their passage, which convey the water through swamps, finally reaching the Gulf
of Mexico.

When the river rises in its highest stage the levees become soit and yield-
ing and frequently a crevasse occurs under the enormous weight of water,
submerging thousands of acres.

This relieves the strain from the levees elsewhere and usually lowers
the water enough to prevent similar losses farther down the river.

In 1897 there were 15,800 square miles of this alluvial plain beneath the sea
of waters: 380,000 people were residents of the flooded area: 30,500 farms were
submerged, with 3,800,000 acres of farm land.

By a systematic re-afforestation of the mountain regions and the planting
of trees on the plains at headwaters of these western rivers, and the construc-
tion of extensive storage reservoirs to supply water for irrigation, a recurrence of
such disastrous floods in the South would be impossible.
PRACT IGE. URBORTCULT URE 53

IMPROVEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND FORESTS.

Address of John P. Brown, at Worcester, Mass., Nov. 19, 1902.

Forest conditions in much of New England differ from those of any other
portion of the country and require a different treatment from what would be
prescribed for other locations.

An older settled community than that to westward; the original forests
long since removed; fields cultivated for more than a century and abandoned
as being no longer profitable, they have grown up with trees having the re-
semblance of woodlands, yet not fulfilling the requirements of a forest; how
can they be improved?

Does any citizen of Massachusetts presume that upon the landing of the
pilgrims the groves which met their gaze were such as we see all over the
state today?

Far from it. A dense forest of stately trees existed and demanded all tl:e
energies and strength of those sturdy pioneers to subdue in order that these
lands might be prepared for cultivation.

The original forests having been destroyed, subsequent and recent growths
were confined to such species as chanced to have seed deposited through the sim-
plest possible agencies.

The Almighty planted the forests, but various agencies are employed to
insure their continuance, and these, to a large extent, have much the appear-
ance of chance.

Man looks upon the forest with an eve to his personal profit, the lumber-
man to the density of the stand and size of the logs they will make. The dairy-
nian, on the contrary, prefers an open wood where the grass may grow for pas-
turing his herds. The farmer desires trees upon such lands as he cannot till,
to supply his winter’s fuel.

And so, while man would have the forest to suit the peculiar wants of
each individual, nature has her own plans and endeavors to cover up every
bare spot on the earth with some kind of verdure, strewing the seeds in great
variety, every forest differing from every other forest.

Upon the coast of the Pacific, in the northern part of California, on a
narrow strip, ten to twenty miles wide and 200 miles long, nature planted the
redwood, yet not another tree of its kind existed elsewhere upon the globe.

A little lower down the coast on a promontory covering forty acres, she
planted a group of Monterey cypress, and if others were planted they are not

now in existence.
34 PRACTICAL ARBPORICULTURE

Far up in the Sierras, eighty centuries ago, she planted the giant Sequoias.
There may have been other Sequoias growing elsewhere, and probably were,
but they do not exist today.

Near the summit of Pike’s Peak, and other high points in the Rockies,
are groups of spruce above the line of other timber.

In the Black Hills of South Dakota are forests of Pinus Ponderosa, the
yellow or bull pine, which tree is not seen to the eastward.

Along every stream from the Mississippi to the summit of the Rocky
Mountains are found box elder and cottonwood.

Throughout Indiana were dense woods of yellow poplar, black walnut,
beech, catalpa and sugar trees.

In Maine the white pine was placed in vast quantities, while in Massa-
chusetts, although the pine and oak exist, yet a preponderance of the wood
is of gray birch, scarlet maple, some of the inferior oaks, alder and in places
chestnut.

Notwithstanding the distribution of species of trees by nature, both in
the old world and the new, man has asserted the dominion given by God over
all herbs, and has transplanted the Sequoias into all portions of the world,
and in many instances has succeeded in growing magnificent specimens.

The Monterey cypress has been carried to every portion of California and it
grows like weeds.

The white pine is grown by millions in the world’s great nurseries.

The chestnut has been transplanted and is now growing in thousands of
localities where it was unknown under the unaided guidance of nature.
Scientists have dwelt upon the peculiar soils and localities in which certain
trees would thrive, drawing their inferences from the special locations in
which nature placed them. But every nurseryman and tree grower has dem-
onstrated the falsity of such theory by practically growing almost all kinds of
trees in every conceivable location or character of soil. True, there are some
instances where a combination of friendly environments are essential, but
these are exceptions, not the rule of guidance.

And now, while nature has neglected to direct the aborigines to bring to
your state the oily nut which they planted from New York southward and
westward to the edge of the plains, it is left for ‘The White Man's Burden” to
perform this servce, and the duty should be cheerfully performed, and the
walnut planted where it has not grown before.

If the white pine must struggle for existence with a preponderance of
worthless scrub oaks and birch, then destroy enough of the inferior wood to
enable the superior to reach sunlight and gather strength for greater expansion.

Thousands of acres of forest trees have heen planted upon the western
prairies and plains, where no tree whatever had grown for centuries, vet the
dwarf growths on these abandoned farm lands, serving as nurse trees for
the protection of the pine and chestnut, and preparing a fertile soil in which
worthier trees may flourish, give to New England an advantage which is en-
tirely unknown on the prairies of the \WVest.

I fear the farmers of Massachusetts do not fully appreciate that wonder-

ful collection of the world’s trees at Arnold's Arboretum. TI would advise a
PRACTICAL ARBORICULLURE 5

Oo

general pilgrimage to that beautiful spot by the farmers and their families,
and also that every school should visit it in a body—to learn how many
thousands of trees and shrubs that never before were known to New England
have been made to thrive on Massachusetts soil.

When you give these same trees forest conditions, instead of park ar-
rangement, where grass must be maintained for appearance sake, and you will
succeed still better than you now dream in growing forests for profit on your
abandoned farms.

During the summer of 1901 I was requested to examine the lands adjacent
to the railway on Cape Cod, with a view to determine what might be done to
check the shifting sands which threaten to bury portions of the roadbed.

There is a very large area of this peninsula, which is now absolutely
worthless, yet all can be made to become productive of valuable timber
trees, and under the protection of these timber belts may be successfully
cultivated with cranberries and crops suitable for sandy locations.

The mere planting of beach grass and sowing seeds of pine and oak will
not accomplish the reclamation of these sandy wastes, but this process must
be supplemented with extensive plantings of quick-growing, hardy trees, set
quite thickly. One-year-old rooted trees should be used, and planted 8 by
8 feet.

A moderate quantity of beach grass set at the same time will effect an
entire change in this region of shifting sands. Sumac, bay, yucca and similar
strong rooted plants of shrubby or herbaceous character will resist the action
of the wind, breaking its force at point of contact with the sand, and gradually
produce a soil in which important forest trees will thrive.

Abele is growing well about the cape, and I found catalpa as perfectly at
home as in Indiana. Red oak will quickly mature in this locality if given an
opportunity. Ailantus is hardy and a strong grower in the vicinity. The
small cost of these plants and the fact that they may be obtained in unlimited
quantities make it advisabie to do extensive planting, as it will insure to the
state a large income in future from an expanse which is now practically
valueless.

SOIL FORMED BY FOREST.

But trees form a soil, either shallow or deep, depending upon the root
system.

By penetrating the subsoil with their tap roots, allowing air moisture
and frost to enter and silently break up the hard crust, one class of trees forms
a deep soil. As leaves die and fall away, so roots decay, new ones being
formed, and thus the subsoil becomes filled with vegetable mold, creating a soil.

Such trees as have only surface roots form a shallow soil. This latter
class comprises the alder, gray birch, scarlet maple and dwarf oaks, while
hickory, walnut, catalpa and the large oaks are deep-rooted forms.

Cultivation in farm crops for a long period of years exhausts the humus
or vegetable mold, which is decomposed and absorbed by the growing
crops, and such soils hecome less and less productive. Besides, erosion 1s
30 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

constantly removing the best surface soil, especially on rolling lands when loosened
by the plow.

Such lands will be improved by a term of years in forest, being renewed
in fertility, after which they may again be converted into farm lands. On a
recent visit to your state I observed closely the condition of the Berkshire Hills.
The trees are scattering and I saw no timber such as we would term a forest.
There are no forest conditions, so far as I could ascertain.

Profitable timber growth requires that the land be given up to the trees and
that there be enough trees on the ground to properly shade it. Yet the other ex-
treme should be avoided; they should not be so close together as to rob each other
and prevent a steady, vigorous development.

New England leads in the manufactures, the dense population requiring such
industries as shall give remunerative employment to the greatest number.

These manufactories demand vast quantities of lumber, the box trade alone
being one of immense proportions. But the lumbermen are robbing their succes-
sors and the community when they manufacture box boards of poles and baby
trees which should grow a score of years yet.

There will always be a demand for lumber to keep these thousands of me-
chanics employed. Your inferior dwarf growths will not supply this demand,
but you may grow trees in two decades which will furnish all the lumber
needed.

In order to change the old natural inferior growths into new, more vigorous
and profitable forest, I would suggest cutting openings, probably four feet wide,
at intervals of twenty feet, more or less, destroying every tree in these openings,
unless it is a desirable tree to leave.

On these lines may be planted nuts of walnut, hickory, chestnut or red oak,
the latter being the most rapidly maturing of the oaks.

Or one-year trees may be set, of white ash, chestnut, catalpa and similar trees
of rapid growth.

Or white pine, nursery grown, of three of four vears from the seed.

Two hundred trees, perhaps, per acre. The natural forest conditions already
provided with well-established nurse trees for protection of the young timber, gives
you great advantage over the western prairies, favorable to forest growth. As
these trees become established and require greater room for their roots, more of
the nurse trees may be removed as found necessary.

Growing pine from seed is a slow and wasteful process. Probably not
more than one seed in ten thousand, in nature, makes a tree, and not much better
result can be expected when seed is strewn through the woods. While seedlings,
well rooted, may be purchased at western nurseries at $8 per 1,000, thus costing
but $1.50 per acre.

Catalpa trees are worth from one cent to three cents each, ash and manv
other good trees costing half as much. i‘

There is no adage more true than that “The gods help those who help
themselves.”

It is very certain that nature will not improve New England forests without
the aid cf you who occupy the land.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 37

New and better trees, and such as mature quickly, will never be planted
here by natural methods.

Manufacturers will cry in vain for lumber unless some special and
speedy methods are adopted to provide an ample supply.

Railways, ere long, will transport from long distances millions of cross
ties unless the trees are planted here to produce these ties at home.

Farmers will never get rich in selling cordwood cut from the inferior
growths which now occupy their waste lands.

Your shoe manufacturers, while primarily using leather may yet have to
adopt cowhide packages in which to transport the enormous output of New
England shoes, unless the pine can be induced to grow more rapidly or some
other tree take its place.

There is a practical way for your society to bring about actual results,
which is to procure seeds and plants for distribution, and to use the influence
of the press and of individuals to induce the law-making powers to render such
material assistance as will make this work possible.

One farmer cannot change New England forest conditions. It must be ac-
complished by a combined and systematic effort upon the part of all citizens,
supported by the authority of the state.

Whatever may be expended wisely in this direction will return to the
commonwealth in added wealth for taxation, raw materials for manufactur-
ers and continuous employment for labor.

Fifty thousand dollars expended in collecting and distributing nuts, seeds
and small forest trees would go far toward the reforestation of thousands of
acres Which are now almost a valueless waste, laying the substantial founda-
tion for a greatly increased income in taxation as these lands become quad-
rupled in value.

One great nursery in the West offers white pine trees Io to 12 inches
high at eight dollars per thousand.

Other nurseries will supply Catalpa speciosa at about the same price.

Walnuts may be bought, if spoken for early in the season, at a dollar per
barrel.

All these trees are known to succeed in your state.

Where 4,200 square miles of your state, 52 per cent of its area, is in wood-
land, it is of grave importance what the character of this woodland growth may
be and whether it is worth—for taxation—two dollars per acre or one hun-
dred. It lies with you, gentlemen, to determine which it shall be, for the law-
making powers are looking to you for advice and your recommendation will
decide the future character and value of Massachusetts forests.

Within a mile of the Worcester Horticultural Hall, where the meeting
was held, are many fine black walnut trees, one of sufficient importance to
be noticed in “Transactions of Worcester County Horticultural Society, 1892,”

I measured one at Mr. Hadwen’s place, 20 years from seed, 15 inches
diameter four feet from ground.

There are also many catalpa trees in Elm Park and elsewhere, 20 years’
growth ranging 17 to 23 inches diameter. One at the home of A. J. Marble,
36 Birch street, 20 vears’ growth, is 23 inches diameter three feet from ground.
28 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

THE DWARF OAK OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

Quercus reticulata and Q. undulata, with Q. Arizonica Farther South.

The oak family is represented in Colorado and Rocky Mountain region
by two varieties, which are ordinarily but low growing shrubs. They are
found in the lower altitudes, 5,000 to 7,000 feet, covering many slopes. Sel-
dom do either variety attain a diameter to exceed four inches and a height of
five to fifteen feet, but, occasionally, when isolated, and in favorable locality,
they attain a diameter of twenty-four inches and a height of forty feet.

These oaks are propagated from acorns and also from underground root
stems—a clump covering four hundred square feet and comprising fifty stems
are all connected by the same root system. This is at variance with the oak
family regulations, as known elsewhere. We present two views of these
trees, one which we photographed on the Divide near Palmer Lake, being 18
inches in diameter; the other view is a representative group, taken near Colo-
rado Springs.

The acorns are small and form the principal food, in autumn, of the
numerous small animals and birds, and, as provided by nature, these animals
and fowls become the great tree planters and protectors, dropping an acorn
here and there, accidentaliy, however, which produce new clumps of oak to
supply future birds with necessary food, and by destroying noxious insects.
the birds also preserve the oaks from their depredations.

It would be a tedious process to cut cordwood from these small oaks;
they are not suited for milling purposes; and thus to the fuel gatherer and
lumberman these bushes are of no appreciable value for money making.

Nature, however, has many and varied methods of planting forests and
covering the bare spots of the earth with verdure.

These insignificant dwarf oaks are of vast importance in this great
scheme of nature. Where the lumberman is tearing down and destroying
the trees, nature is creating new forests and takes advantage of the oak—the
birds and the squirrels to aid her.

These deciduous plants accumulate leaf mold about the base of their
stems, soil is formed and held in place, snow is retained to moisten the soil,
the seeds of pine, spruce and fir, dropping in the clump of bushes, take root,
are protected from stock and from the scorching sun, and in a few years be-
come great trees. Other seeds in great numbers fall to the ground, “some on
stony ground,” many on exposed spots where the sun quickly destroys them
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40 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

and where stock trample and browse them—few succeed without the protec-
tion of some friendly shrub or herb growth.

Upon a dry rocky mountain in New Mexico I found many spruce trees
growing among the dwarf oak clumps, but not one elsewhere; goats and
donkeys have browsed the oaks and destroyed all coniferous growths, but
such as were within the dense clumps where animals could not reach
them. Thinned to one stem, all suckers removed, these oaks grow more
thriftily, and, in good soil, well protected, make handsome trees thirty feet in
height.

On the mountains, late frosts frequently destroy the early growths, and
new shoots and leaves must be provided from the older wood; hence the
bushes are dwarfed and by a succession of annual frosts the trees have had
their nature changed to the habit of bushes.

On the mesas browsing animals keep them to a height of but two or three,
feet, yet so strong is the vigor of the root system that they survive such treat-
ment where other plants would quickly succumb.

The attention of forest planters and the government is called to these
facts, and to this plant, together with the yucca, and similar hardy, arid region
growths, as a means of afforesting large tracts in the western plain country,
with the aid of such shrubs as nurses, to shade the young trees, and prepare
for them a fertile soil, pines—ponderosa or yellow pine, cedar (juniper), pinon
and many other trees can be secured.

A farmer who can only expect to live a few years, and the capitalist who
wants to see the profit resulting from his investment, cannot or will not, enter-
tain any proposition requiring many years for its accomplishment.

This nation, each state, and many corporations, will continue in existence
indefinitely. The ones who will control the nation’s affairs and who will carry
on the business of the future Republic, should have some of the benefits which
we have enjoyed and not be given the orange with its juices all squeezed out.
The men of to-day are removing all the forests and leaving as an endowment for
their children a treeless country, which the money they are now laying up for their
children will never replace.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULY OE 41

TO WHAT EXTENT MAY THE METALS SUPERSEDE WOODS?

 

WRITTEN IN 1882—TWENTY-FOUR YEARS AGO.

Two factors enter largely into the solution of this question: the exhaus-
tion of particular forest products; its increased cost by reason of scarcity;
and the adaptability of ine metals for such purpose.

The present generation has witnessed the rapid change from wood to steel
in ship building.

The difficulty of obtaining sufficient oak of suitable quality, the rapid dis-
appearance of fir and pine on the eastern seaboard, checked the great industry
of Maine. The Civil War and piratical cruisers soon cleared the ocean of
vessels bearing the American flag and completed the overthrow of ship
building in the United States. Great Britain, possessing no extensive forests,
but having inexhaustible supplies of coal and iron, was well situated to take
advantage of these circumstances and press the construction of steel ships.
Since that time, with the recovery of business and increase of manufactures,
many of the finest steel ships have been built in American yards, while wood
has been relegated to the use of smaller craft.

Some furniture which was formerly made entirely of wood, is now being
replaced by metals, important among which may be mentioned bedsteads,
which for sanitary and other reasons, are far better than of wood.

While such instances may be noted in the change from timber to metals,
yet the employment of iron, steel, brass or other metals for many articles for
which the greater quantity of wood is now used, is practically prohibitive,
largely on account of the greater expense of the metals.

In some of the larger cities a portion of the telegraph poles are of iron,
but the cost of these far outweighs the cost of wooden poles, even considering
their great durability. No doubt these will be employed in the cities to a
greater or less extent for experiment or possibly from compulsion, but this is a
small proportion of the millions used throughout the country which must be
of wood.

Numbers of experiments have been made of iron and steel for railway
ties, and whole books have been written to urge its use and prove its efficiency,
but many impediments lie in the way of the adoption of a rigid metal to sus-
tain steel rails, which must be frequently removed for replacement or repair.

Yet the vital objection to iron or steel is the greater cost.

In a railway tie there must be a broad surface to rest upon the bed, or sub-
structure to support the rails and prevent their depression when the immense
42 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

weight of heavy trains pass over them. There must also be such thickness,
or body to the tie as will sustain this weight under all circumstances, and not
only is there great strain upon the ties when a train rolls over the rails smooth-
ly, but in freight trains there is a continual jarring and bumping of heavy
loaded cars against each other, together with frequent lunges from one side of
the road to the other as heavy cars change direction with the curves.

All this strain must come upon the ties and the fastenings which con-
nect them to the rails. If these be rigid bolts securing inflexible rails to un-
yielding ties, not only must they gradually loosen and give way, but such at-
tachments are far more difficult to replace and repair, and more expensive
than the spikes which are at present employed.

\Wooden ties have sufficient flexibility, and are more capable of main-
taining a firm hold upon the spikes which secure the rails, and as it is neces-
sary to replace ties, level the track and make other repairs quite often, than
would be the case with metal ties. This work can be done with ordinary
labor at less expense than with metal, and without loss of time.

Distances are so great in America that ordinary railway lines are com-
pelled to economize in every branch of construction. Nearly every road is
bonded to European capitalists, and a large percentage of earnings are re-
quired to pay interest and expenses, so that it will be many years hence before
even the wealthier companies will seriously consider the subject of metal ties.

So long as the smaller oaks may be obtained at a reasonable price, rail-
way companies will continue to employ oak ties; and when necessity compels
the use of pine, as now throughout the Southern States that wood will be used,
or redwood in California, although it wears rapidly, and only when timber is
totally exhausted in America will metal be substituted.

It is well, therefore, to look the matter squarely in the face, and con-
sider how they shall be supplied. It is an important subject for reflection for
the officials who manage long lines of railway, and stockholders who must
provide the means for this purchase.

One acre of land containing timber suitable for railway ties, say twelve
to fourteen inches in diameter, may, if standing thickly, as in a forest planta-
tion, contain three hundred trees capable of being made into three ties each.
cr nine hundred ties per acre. A tract of 100 acres supplving 90,000 ties,
sufficient for thirty miles of track, and worth at present rates $36,000, and
such trees can be grown in twenty years.

As there seems to be no probability of timber products being of less value
a score of years hence than at present, unless the government radically
changes its policy with regard to forest lands, it does seem a profitable invest-
ment for capital to plant forests so as to provide an ample supply of woods
for railway uses and for manufacturers,
 

 

 

 

 

STEANGBARK TTCKORY,
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 45

AMERICAN HICKORY, THE WORLD’S VEHICLE TIMBER.

Without going into a scientific dissertation of the botanical characteristics
of the large number of varieties of the hickory family, we may state a few
facts regarding this valuable wood. The pecan is well known as one of our
superb edible nuts, each year becoming in greater demand, the finer, improved
sorts as the paper shells of Texas and others being far superior to the small
common nuts, yet the pecan is a hickory.

The great sweet hickory nuts, while seldom found in commerce, are
sought for by those who know them in the region where they are grown.
The small shellbark is another favorite nut, usually found on sale in country
stores, but seldom at the fruit stands where pecans and other thin shelled nuts
are preferred on account of the ease with which they may be opened.

The mockernut—bitternut—pignut and a host of hickory fruit of various
shades of quality are well known. Some varieties of the hickories are com-
mon to the Northern and Eastern States, although the pecan and a larger
number of varieties are peculiar to the South. The size, shape and flavor of
the nuts, the number of leaflets and their shape, as well as the peculiarities of
the bark and the size which the trees attain to, are variously used to deter-
mine, botanically, where the variety stands, but when the trees have been cut
into lumber and placed upon the market it all goes for hickory, no discrimi-
nation being made in commerce. The manufacturer buys hickory and only
asks if it is second growth or old timber.

Hickory wood is quite dense and grows very slowly. While young it 1s
remarkably strong, flexible, elastic, and when kept from continuous moisture
is very durable, although it decays quickly when exposed to moisture or in con-
nection with the earth.

There is no wood known which is quite so well adapted to the manufac-
ture of light vehicles as second growth hickory. The spokes of most carriage
wheels, the bent rims, axles, and bolsters, as well as the running gears, poles
and shafts, and the foundation frame work of carriage bodies, as also the
single trees and double trees are, or should be of hickory.

Ax handles and many large and small tool handles are of second growth
hickory where that is obtainable.

Ash and even maple have been substituted for certain lower grade work,
and when covered with several coats of paint and varnish can not be distin-
guished from hickory, yet a little hard usage will soon determine which tim-
ber has the toughness, strength and elasticity requisite for good vehicle ma-

terial.
46 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Second growth timber is that young, quick growth, which springs up in
rich soils after clearing away the old timber. Second growth woods, or quick
growing woods, are far superior to old or slow growths, because more elastic,
stronger and harder.

The changed conditions which now exist, since the removal of so great a
proportion of American forests, has reduced the number of birds, there being
fewer resting places, and a less quantity of wild fruits for food, which has
resulted in a vastly increased number of noxious insects. The balance main-
tained in nature has also been destroyed by the same forest destruction. Many
parasitic insects and those which prey upon other noxious insects, have been
reduced, and the destructive worms, caterpillars, borers, etc., have greatly in-
creased.

Now the hickory, chestnut and many other nut trees are threatened with
extermination from the damage done by these various destructive insects.

So serious has this injury become the carriage manufacturers have asked
the government for some relief, that the depredations may possibly be checked,
as will be seen by the following press dispatch:

HICKORY FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES ARE BEING DE-
STROYED “BY NSE CICS:

Chicago, Dec. 21, 1905.—"Increasing scarcity of hickory wood in the
United States has alarmed the manufacturers of wooden vehicles to such an
extent that at a meeting here to-day of over 200 representatives of these manu-
facturers the advisability of taking the matter before Congress was discussed.
Hickory trees recently have been attacked by an insect which, it is said, is fast
destroying that class of timber. At to-day’s meeting it was declared that un-
‘less the Government took action in devising means whereby these insects can
be kept from breeding, in ten years practically all the hickory trees in the
United States will have been destroyed.

“There are now but three States from which we can draw our supplies,”
said P. F. Van Behren, of Evansville, Ind., “and hickory trees are becoming
extinct in these States. The shortage in this article, which is the most essen-
tial component of a wooden vehicle, probably will necessitate a general raise in
prices of all wooden vehicles.”

Just what the Government may be able to accomplish is not very ap-
parent, although presumably the Entomological Bureau is expected to per-
form this heroic task.

It is strange the Forestry Bureau cannot make some efforts toward
planting more hickory and other economic forest trees. Certainly Congress
would provide funds for such work if it were asked for by the forestry off-
cials.

There is some effort being made in Texas and other Southern States to-
ward pecan culture, but this is only for the nuts. There is absolutely no
planting being done by either State or National Government, and but little by
private individuals, except that New York has planted some spruce and pine,

but carriage woods have been neglected.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTLTURE 47

The serious condition of the hickory supply has largely been brought
about by immense quantity of young hickory poles of from ten to twenty
years’ growth, which have been cut for cooperage stock, as it takes five trees to
make the hoops for one barrel, while a lard or pork barrel requires ten or more
trees. By this practice there is no young stock of hickory left to grow into
lumber trees, while the price obtained for cooperage stock is infinitesimal.

Hickory will grow on almost any soil and upon mountain and rough
lands, while such locations have a very low value, being unprofitable for culti-
vation in farm crops.

So long as carriage manufacturers absolutely refuse to consider the fu-
ture prospective of lumber, and will not encourage the work of forest plant-
ing, they must not complain when the supply finally ceases and their business
must end.

ARBORICULTURE has brought this question to the attention of manufacturers
during many years past, and urged the restricting of the hoop pole cutting
and the planting of timber trees. One prominent carriage builder met the
proposition with the argument that “In future, vehicles will be built of com-
pressed paper,” but he forgot that the paper must be made of wood and the
wood must be first grown.

Automobile wheels are made of steel wire and rubber—but these are
very expensive, while farm vehicles and road wagons, carriages, etc., would
become very costly if made of these materials, and by no means as strong or
satisfactory as when made of good hickory wood.

In California and in Florida the Eucalyptus of Australia succeeds, and the
principal variety known in America, the blue gum, is of extremely rapid
erowth, moreover, it has more nearly the attributes of hickory wood than any
tree known to the United States, being dense, hard, strong, elastic, and while
creen, is easily wrought—becoming very hard in seasoning. Besides this there
is no tree grown in America which is of more rapid maturity.

Unfortunately the Eucalyptus is not hardy in the north, as frost injures
it. Yet there is enough spare land in Florida to produce the stock which will
keep the great manufacturers of vehicles busy indefinitely.

The trees require considerably more moisture than do many other forest
growths, and rich land as well, although they will grow on rather poor soil
and make some headway in localities having but little water.

The everglades will be the place to grow Eucalyptus and it will supply
vehicle woods by the time the hickory shall have disappeared.
48 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

WOOD PRESERVATION.

From the earliest antiquity there have been methods of chemically treat-
ing wood, cloth, and even flesh, to preserve their substances from decay. The
Egyptians were better acquainted with this subject than is the world to-day.
Their mummies of sacred animals, as well as human beings, are in perfect
preservation after three thousand years have passed. The cloths, linen wrap-
pings of the dead, and wooden cases enclosing the mummies are all preserved.

The Natron Lakes supplied the antiseptic materials, asphaltum and bitu-
men; salt and precious spices were also used for this purpose. How well they
succeeded is seen by the objects now found in every museum.

Other nations among the ancients practiced this art, and were familiar
with the properties of many antiseptics.

In modern times various methods have been practiced for the economical
treatment of wood, for ocean piling where the teredo is destructive, and for
cross-ties, bridge timbers and other purposes.

In Europe the base of these preservatives is creosote—a product of wood
distillation. Owing to the greater cost and value of wood there than in Amer-
ica, this expensive process is considered economical.

In America cheaper materials are sought for, and coal tar products take
the place of creosote, but are used under the name of creosoting. They are
not so enduring as the real wood creosote, yet are suited for the more expen-
sive works of bridges and piles.

Railway ties are not as yet of such cost as to justify either of the above
methods, and resort is had to the chloride of zinc solution.

The wood to be treated is placed in air tight chambers into which live
steam is forced—heating and separating the fermenting sap from the wood.
Afterward a vacuum is formed and this sap and moisture are drawn out of
the cells. The hot solution of zinc chloride is next forced into the vessel and
enters the pores of the wood. Glue and other substances are used to fix these
antiseptic materials in the wood.

Artificial treatment of wood, however, is not to be compared with natural
preservatives. Substances in solution with water after being dried, may again
be dissolved and in time lose their antiseptic power, after which the wood is
subject to fungus attack.

The catalpa gathers antiseptic substances from every soil in which it
grows, builds it into the fiber of the wood and these can only be dissolved
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE ag

with alcohol, hence the everlasting character of catalpa wood under condi-
tions which cause other timbers to decay quickly.

The duration of telegraph poles may be greatly extended by dipping
the lower end in a hot solution of asphaltum, allowing the wood to absorb a
considerable quantity of the mineral. It is absolutely essential that the wood
be well seasoned before applying the solution, otherwise the fermenting sap
will cause a more rapid decay since moisture cannot escape. The poles should
be coated two feet higher than the surface when the poles are set.

 

 

 

DIARY OAR. NEAR DALAIER. DARE, COLORADO.
59 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

THE YOSEMITE VALLEY.

In August, 1900, while making examinations of the forests in California,
there was a meeting of a club of merchants, who were to discuss the subject,
“Qur Vanishing Forests.” Mr. J. S. Bunnell, auditor of Wells, Fargo & Co.
express company, had an exhaustive paper, most ably prepared, and, I hav-
ing been invited to be present at the meeting, was called upon for some re-

 

 

THE THREE BROTHERS, YOSEMITE VALLEY.

marks. I emphasized the rights of the constituted authorities representing
the people to prohibit the destruction of the forests where such act would
make barren forever a tract of land, as was being done throughout that

State.
 

 

 

 

SVs

YOSEMITE VALLI

ELA AVIT ASS
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 53

At the close of the meeting I] was handed a letter and card which proved
to be a ticket and seat reservation in the stage line to Yosemite Valley, and
the big tree grove of Mariposa County. Leaving San Francisco in the evening
by a Southern Pacific train, I found even the sleeping car reservation had been
made.

Arriving at Raymond during the night we were not disturbed until morn-
ing, when, after an excellent breakfast, the stage drove up and seven pas-
sengers began the trip up the mountains.

As it was midsummer, the season extremely dry, and hot as well, there
was an abundance of dust, but notwithstanding this drawback, the trip was
a most enjoyable one.

It was of special interest to me, as I was to see the sequoias of the Mari-
posa grove for the first time. In 1866 I had visited the Calaveras grove, having
ridden horseback alone across the Sierras from Nevada to see those monsters
of the mountains. The sugar pines and many other trees of the Sierra Nevada

Mountains were of great interest.

A long day’s journey in a stage, or open spring wagon, as it really was,
with only a brief stop for dinner, the entire way being an upward climb, would
be considered very fatiguing, to say the least, but the changes of scenery at
every turn of the road attracted our attention so completely that not a thought
was given to any inconveniences.

Arriving at night at Wawona Hotel, we were well cared for and spent a
few hours most agreeably.

At this elevation, almost at the summit of the mountains, with fresh, pure
air, delicious water to drink, glorious scenery, we would delight to remain a
week or more at Wawona but with me time was an important factor. In less
than a week I was engaged to address the Farmers’ National Congress at Colo-
rado Springs, and I could not tarry.

A few hours’ ride brought us to the head of the valley and we looked
with awe at the wonderful works of nature.

To our left stood El Capitan, its base resting two thousand feet below us,
while its top was lifted a thousand feet still higher than we were. The halftone
pictures which we present give a better impression of the various views
throughout this wonderful valley than any pen can do.

Probably tens of thousands of people have seen the Yosemite Falls as the
water pours over the precipice, falling two thousand feet, where one has seen
it as I did, during the season of excessive drought. Not a drop of water moist-
ened the rocks, although the beautiful Merced River winding at the bottom of
the valley was well filled.

A few hours spent in this marvellous valley were entirely too short, no one
should think of coming here for a stay of less than a week—and this I hope at
some future time to do.

Seven hundred feet above the base of the rock El Capitan, in Yosemite
Valley, yet half a mile below its summit is a shelf where a piece of the granite,
long ago, was thrown down. Upon this shelf a bird carried the seed of a
pine, depositing it among the accumulation of dust. The rains moistened it,
causing its germination. Its tiny roots crept into the little crevice and se-
4 PRACTICAL wARBORICULT ORE

mn

cured a footing. Little by little, it spread its branches upward and pushed its
rootlets deeper into the granite mass. Into this crevice water lodged. frost
kelped the tree to open wider the fissures and push deeper its roots, until now
it has become a tree three feet in diameter and one hundred and twenty-five
feet high.

From the stage road it seems a tiny shrub, as it stands alone against this
massive granite wall, and it is pointed out to the tourist as the tree which
grows without soil.

As I looked upon this sentinel tree I was persuaded that it possessed some
power bevond the ken of man. We have not vet learned all the laws ot

 

 

nature. As we cannot explain how lightning is drawn. unseen, unheard, along

the wire, carrying with it the human voice, although our friend who speaks is
a thousand miles away, neither can we tell how the tree attracts the rains,
eathering the moisture necessary for its existence, and makes its growth seven
hundred feet away from the nearest soil, high up on the face of this massive
granite rock.

On the return trip, again spending a night at Wawona, T visited the Mari-
posa grove of sequotas— one of which, the Grizzly Giant, forms our frontis-
 

 

 

YOSEMITE. FATS:
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 57

/

piece, while another is seen on another page. The Creator planted some of
these trees when Moses was on Mount Horeb, and has cared for them during
eighty centuries. They have withstood the action of the glacial age, of a

 

 

VIEW IN VOSEMITE VALLEY,

thousand forest fires and of storms of greatest severity, yet America’s boasted
civilization permits a scoundrel in man’s guise to destroy them in a day, in
order that he may gain a few paltry dollars and thereby lose his own soul.
Shame upon such spoliation.
PRACTICAL ARBORICOLTURE

mn
wD

TELEGRAPH POLES.

Between Chicago and Denver, a distance of 1,050 miles, along one line o
railway, there are 31,500 telegraph poles. They are set 170 feet apart, o
thirty to the mile. «As there are considerably more than two hundred thousanc
mules of steam railway in the United States, increasing in mileage each year
and many roads have double lines of poles to accommodate the great number
of wires required to transact the telegraphic business of the country, there are
eight million poles in use on railway lines.

\When to this is added the poles used by trolley lines and by telegraph anc
telephone companies we find an aggregate of fifteen millions poles in use
if these should be replaced at once it would require 250,000 flat cars to trans:
port them; eight thousand locomotives would be necessary to haul the trains
which if continuous would reach 1,750 miles.

If the poles were placed end to end they would reach more than three
times around the earth at the equator.

A large majority of the poles in use are of white cedar, Thuya occidentalis
which grows in the swamps of northern Michigan, Wisconsin and in Can
ada. Some are of Oregon Pine, a smaller number are of red cedar, Juniperu:
Virginiana, while a limited number are sawed from Washington cedar
Thuya gigantea.

Tf the trees to replace the poles now in use were growing and forty coulc
he obtained from each acre, it would require 370,000 acres to supply the pole:
for one renewal.

Were the seed already sown and started into growth, it would be A. D
2050 when the trees would be of sufficient size to use for first-class telegrapl
poles.

There are few American forest trees which combine the qualities neces
sary to make good poles: durability in the ground; great length of trunk
freedom from large side branches which form knots: straight trunk with ;
regular taper, holding the size to great height.

The northern swamp White Cedar has long been considered the idea
tree for telegraph poles, but so scarce are these hecoming that during the pas
year or two many car loads of pine from Tdaho and Washington have hee
shipped Fast to rebuild telegraph lines in both Michigan and \Wiseonsi
where the cedar was formerly so abundant.

The lone time required for cedar to grow into a size suitable for this put
PRACTICAL ARBORILCOL GRE 59

pose, 100 to 150 years, is discouraging
to investors who might wish to plant
trees or hold forest property for the
world’s markets.

The Tennessee and southern red
cedar is more durable, but is now very
searce, besides it is too valuable for
ead peneil timber, and is of very slow
growth.

The juniper found in’ the Dismal
swamp also possesses the qualities of
a good pole tree, but is quite scarce.

The specifications for telegraph
poles demand timbers) of unusual
length, varying from 24 to 50 feet, hav-
ing a diameter of 8 to 10 inches at top.
They are set in the ground 414 to 6
feet.

Transportation is a great item of ex-
pense on poles. One car at Salt Lake
City, from Michigan to Oregon Short

 

Line Railway, contained 66 poles
weighing 33,000 pounds, the freight
being $4 per pole.

The chestnut which grew so abun-
dantly on the mountains of Tennessee
is used almost exclusively for telegraph
poles in East Tennessee and North
Carolina, but this timber is not being
cared for and suitable trees for poles
will not be found in abundance a few
years hence: even now they are scarce.
There should be no trouble in produc-
ing chestnut poles and trees for other
lumber, in the mountain regions where
chestnut is a natural growth, if land
owners could be made to realize the
great importance of caring for their
timber trees, but suitable information
upon these points is not available, and
until a thorough and systematic effort
is made to educate the farmers in re-
gard to arboriculture, no improvement
may be expected.

Telegraph and telephone companies

 

A STURDY CATALPA SPECIOSA.
AN IDEAL TELEGRAPH POLF.

could well afford to give liberal en-
60 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

couragement to the work of the International Society of Arboriculture, as by
this means a timber supply may be secured for all time.

Upon any good farm land in the middle states, the Catalpa speciosa may
be grown in sixteen years to a size suitable for telegraph poles, and for the
largest size in twenty years.

Four or five times as many can be grown on an acre, systematically plant-
ed, as are secured in the northern swamps. 5

They may be grown near the points where they are to be used, and thus
avoid excessive transportation, and when once placed in position on the line
require to be renewed but twice in a century.

It will cost to produce such poles of catalpa less than $1 each, an invest-
ment which should attract the attention of business men as safe and profitable.

In this connection I investigated the juniper poles of Alabama, recently, and
found this southern juniper to be of quite rapid growth. It is produced, like the
cypress, in swamp regions, yet grows well on dry lands, although confined to
semi-tropic regions.

Poles which I found on track of L. & N. Railway Company ranged from 40
to 60 feet long, 10 to 16 inches diameter at bottom, 8 to 9 inches at top, had grown
in thirty to forty vears.

It seems as though this swamp juniper might be very advantageously cul-
tivated. In appearance the tree greatly resembles red cedar.
)

PRACTICAL ARBORICULT URE 61

HISTORY WRITTEN IN A TREE TRUNK—A WHITE ASH STORY.

On New Year's Day, A. D. 1906, there was standing on a side track of
the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway, a flat car which was laden
with ten white ash logs, a small remnant of the great forests for which Indiana
was once noted.

The logs were knotty and badly decayed at the heart, except the one
which attracted my attention.

A dozen years ago these logs would not have been looked at by any saw-
mill operator, but now “anything goes’—mill men are glad to buy even such
culls as these.

The larger log was thirty inches in diameter and had grown to this size
in 118 years, the seed having started into growth in the spring of 1787. Its
average annual diameter increase was slightly less than one-fourth inch.

Had conditions been as favorable during its entire life as they were during
the middle period, this tree would have been five feet diameter, instead of
thirty inches. But we anticipate.

The annual growth, as shown by the concentric rings at the end of the log,
during the first thirty-two years of this tree’s life was almost imperceptible,
the lines being but one-thirty-second part of an inch apart. Each year it had
added one-sixteenth inch to its diameter.

Evidently its struggle for existence during this third of a century must
have been very severe, crowded among 2,722 other infantile ash and other
trees, each striving to secure its share of the quart of water which fell as rain
or snow on a square foot surface during an entire week of the growing season,
as that water contained in solution those elements of fertility necessary for
existence, of even a slow-going tree, it having gathered up this matter while
percolating through the few inches depth of soil which the roots of this ash had
appropriated. For it is known that even the most voracious members of the
vegetable kingdom may partake of that food only which has been dissolved
by water.

Resins, gums, varnish, rubber and even camphor may be the product of
the sap of various trees which supply these particular substances, and while
we are unable to redissolve these articles except with alcohol or other power-
ful solvents, yet the trees cannot exist if not supplied with water.

It took this struggling ash a third of a century to reach a height of twen-
ty-five feet and a diameter of two inches.

But at this period of its existence, in the year of 1819, a large majority of
62 PRACTICAL ARBORICULT URE

its fellows gave up the hopeless task of living without water when the tree
before us took entire possession by its natural strength. “The survival of the
fittest.”

The battle having been won, a marvelous change came over this denison
of the forest. History written in its trunk shows the remarkable growth for
nearly half a century of half an inch diameter yearly, since it added twenty-
three inches in the forty-five years succeeding.

In 1864 another change occurred. The farmer cut away most of the trees
in his wood lot, thus destroying all forest conditions, when the fertile virgin
soil was soon eroded so that the rains no longer soaked into the earth, but ran
quickly away to the streams.

From this time on the increase in growth was reduced to one-eighth inch
per annum, and during the last forty years it added but five inches to its trunk,
and in 1905 the tree was cut for lumber.

Thus upon the rolling hills of Indiana we find history plainly recorded in
the trunk of an ash tree, the life of which connected three centuries. Its
greatest value was attained during the American Civil War, at which period
the wood was strong, tough, elastic, full of life and vigor, since which time
it has been in the process of decadence. From the present scarcity of lumber
it may command more money than it would have done forty years ago, when
timber was more abundant, yet the quality of the wood has steadily decreased.

MORAL.

We are entering upon an era of artificial forest planting, and it is im-
portant that we began aright. A regular maximum growth may be main-
tained by giving ample room for root development, as upon this devolves the
proper nourishment of each and every tree.

As the trees expand and extend their roots, requiring greater space, the
surplus trees should be removed.

If natural forest conditions do not exist, and cannot be produced, substi-
tute thorough but shallow cultivation until the trees naturally supply such
conditions by strewing leaves and casting a shade.

\When timber is ripe harvest it while vet in its prime, and plant other
trees to continue the supply, before the soil shall be eroded and lost forever
to the owner.

Note.—All the water which is precipitated during an ordinary rainfall

does not enter the soil, much depending upon the forest floor or mulching
f

oO

leaves, etc.: usually much of the water flows away to the streams. If this

mh

orest floor has been destroyed, the proportion of rainfall which enters the soil
is much smaller, and if the surface be hard, with considerable slope, the quan-
tity which soaks into the earth to benefit growing crops is infinitesimal.

A rainfall of twenty inches per annum amounts to 55.39 cubic inches
weekly average, a quart being 57.75 cubic inches.

The planting of forest trees 4x4 feet as demanded by authorities requires
2,722 trees per acre. Nature is lavish with her seed, and at times sows even
more than this number, depending upon time to destroy a vast majority in
order that the remaining few shall have sufficient space in which to grow.
PheGt $C. SPP ORICOL TY RE 63
THE ASH TREE.

The ash family is noted for the economic value of their wood. With the
exception of the European Mountain Ash, the beautiful clusters of red berries
of which are attractive, the ash is not a specially desirable tree for ornament.
Its flowers are small and without beauty. In botanical language the flowers
are imconspicuous.

The foliage is of good color, and makes a good shade.

But as timber trees this family Frazrinus hold a high value.

The white ash, Frarinus Americana, is noted for the whiteness of its wood,
making excellent lumber for furniture and numerous uses.

Having great strength combined with lightness, it is prized for making
agricultural implements, handles of various tools, ete.

This tree prefers rich land, well drained, yet not too r ugh or steep. It
grows rapidly when in good soil, having sufficient water and not too closely
crowded.

The wood of blue ash has a bluish cast. The young branches are
square, hence the name F. guadrangulata.

The quality of the wood is also excellent, and is used for the same pur-
poses as the white ash.

BLACK ASH.

F. sambucifolia is of greater value for making hoops and basket splits, as
the wood is phable, tough, and may be split into layers. It grows on flat
land, in swampy locations, requiring much water.

There are several other varieties of ash, but above are the principal kinds
used for lumber.

Much of the cheaper grades of furniture are made from ash, but it is be-
coming quite scarce in the market.

In the West some varieties of the ash are planted for shade and for tim-
ber, and with considerable success. Although at times before the newly
planted trees gain hold upon the ground and begin a vigorous growth, the sun
scalds the bark, and borers enter. Newly transplanted trees should be pro-
tected from the sun by hay bands, or tree boxes, or even a board secured to the
trunk which will prevent the hot sun from reaching it.

In the City of Mexico are many large ash trees as also in other Mexican
towns, but I found none in native forests of the republic.

HOW TO GROW THE ASH.

The ash can only be produced from seed, which, however, is produced in
ereatest abundance. It begins to fall soon after ripening in the autumn as
they are loosened by frost, yet many seeds cling to the branches until early
winter. ae

Seed should be gathered before it begins to shatter, as it is quite tedious

to pick up from the ground; besides, much is scattered and lost if the wind is

blowing.
64 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

The seed of all ashes in America have a general similarity, yet each va-
riety is distinguished by the peculiar form of the winged appendages.

To be sure of having fresh seed and of the variety desired it is necessary
to gather it or engage some collector to secure it, and to place an order some
time in advance.

The seed may be kept dry until spring, when they should be planted in
nursery rows and given good culture during the season.

By the following autumn they should have attained the height of 18 to 24
inches, and may be transplanted.

In regions of frost no seedling trees should be planted in autumn, as they
are liable to be heaved out by frost and destroyed. Heel in the seedlings
until spring, covering the roots carefully with fine earth.

The soil should be thoroughly prepared as for a corn or other crop, plow-
ing and harrowing well. It is preferable that trees should be set 7x7 feet.
While this is too close for a permanent forest it is best the trees should be thus
close for a few years, when three-fourths should be removed, leaving the trees
14x14 feet.

We prefer to mark off the ground one way by light furrows seven feet
apart, and then cross-furrowing as deeply as possible.

Two men operate together in planting, one carrying a bunch of trees, the
other a shovel. A tree is placed upright at the intersection of the furrows, and
held there while two or three shovelfuls of earth are thrown about the roots.
Ii not too wet, the man firms the earth about the roots and passes on to the
next intersection. Two men will then plant two acres in a day, often more
than this.

For three or four years the ground mav be utilized by planting corn or
other crops between the rows of trees. No vines, however, should be so
placed.

The same cultivation should be given the trees in a newly planted forest as
would be given a field crop. The greater the care and better the cultivation
given, the stronger growth will the trees make, and quicker returns to the
owner.

We prefer the distance of 7x7 feet for a majority of forest trees at the
beginning, thinning promptly whenever they indicate that greater space is
required for the roots,
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 65

TREES FOR COLORADO SPRINGS.

Address before the El Paso Horticultural Society, July 29, 1902.

The pioneers of the plains country, all that vast region west of the Mis-
souri river, would have had a far more difficult time had it not been for the
abundance of the cottonwood and box elder which bordered every stream.
‘hese were the primitive trees of all this region and are entitled to credit as
such.

The downy seed, floating in the air, was wafted by the breezes to every
nook and corner of all this western world. Had every seed of the cottonwood
produced a tree, these mountains and plains would now be a dense forest wil-
derness, instead of a treeless desert. But all this prodigality of nature in seed
production has been wasted, except where the running streams of water
moistened the earth and gave vitality to the seed. Both these trees demand
large quantities of water and will not succeed without it. In the cities the
cottonwood sinks its roots into the sewers, clogging them at times, in search
of water.

I recently saw a large, fine cistern, in Kansas, which had been ruined by
the roots of a giant cottonwood which had penetrated the walls and opened
crevices in the cement so that it would no longer hold water.

It was natural that the pioneer settlers of the West, finding the cotton-
wood abundant, should take it for granted that nature did not intend other
trees for this semi-arid region, and thus confine their tree planting to these
two trees; and so we find in Colorado Springs a vast majority of trees on
your streets are of these species of trees, and but few of the finer fibered and
better trees have been planted.

But there are many serious objections to the cottonwood.

1. The flying seeds have at times caused death to the persons who in-
haled them and the cottony seed is a general nuisance during the period of its
falling.

2. There is no tree known to arboriculture which possesses so many
enemies, insect and fungoid, as the few members of the Populus family
included in Balm of Gilead, large leaf cottonwood, narrow leaf cottonwood,
aspen and the so-called Carolina poplar, which is only a cottonwood although
sold at high prices under a false name.

Americans are always in a hurry. People want trees already grown and
are not content to wait. They want trees which grow with greatest rapidity.
Well, this all right if not carried to the exclusion of these slower growing
but finer foliage and more durable sorts.
66 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

THE MAPLES.

Almost the only maple used in your street planting and home grounds
is the silver maple (deer dasycarpum). This, too, is a pioneer tree, probably
the most rapid growing of the maple family. Properly pruned when young,
and kept trimmed in at all times, it may be formed into a round head, but it
requires constant pruning. The branches are brittle, very long, easily broken
in wind, or with an accumulation of snow. It is a good tree to plant alter-
nately with other somewhat slower growing trees, but is very unsatisfactory
where exclusively used.

Scarlet maple (cer rubrum) is better; has a round head, is a quick
grower, and is very handsome, as it colors its foliage in autumn.

Sugar or rock maple (.dcer saccharinum) is one of the very best street
trees in America and succeeds in Colorado. It is very free from insects. Its
growth is slightly slower than the two first mentioned varieties, but its foliage
is superb. It requires little or no pruning, and less water than the two swamp
maples. Its home is on rolling and mountainous lands; has a tap root which goes
deep after moisture and food.

Norway maple (Acer platanoides) is an excellent, hardy tree, not a slow
grower if well cared for.

GINKGO

This tree was imported from Japan some forty or fifty years ago and is
among the finest avenue trees of Washington City.

It is growing finely in Colorado and every other state in the Union. The
leaves are unique, bright green foliage, fan-shaped, narrow at the stem end.
Its fruit, a delicious nut, with paper shell, enclosed in a disagreeable fruit
pulp, the size of a plum. /

Under good culture its growth is by no means slow. It is suited to the
lawn better than as a street tree.

RUSSIAN OLIVE

is a fine arid region tree; very satisfactory and numerous at Denver and some
at Colorado Springs. Its silvery foliage gives variety to surrounding trees.

TULIP TREE

(Liriodendron tulipifera) is the grand forest tree of Indiana and elsewhere,
called yellow poplar. It is a clean, rapid growing, handsome street tree, or for
the lawn. A few are growing in Denver, and I have no doubt it will be
perfectly satisfactory here. Rather difficult to transplant, like the Magnolia
family; and should be removed only in spring. Small trees are more success-
ful than larger ones.

LINDEN OR BASSWOOD

grows well in Colorado and makes a good dense shade, having a round head
and being a handsome tree.
When trees of this smooth-like bark are trimmed up with long trunks,
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 67

the sun scalds the bark, when borers get a hold and destroy the trees. If trees
must be pruned high, as for street planting, the trunk should be wrapped or
a box provided which will shade the trunk from the sun. The European
linden is superior to our American variety.

THE SYCAMORE OR PLANE TREE.

The Oriental plane is far superior to our common sycamore. It is hardy
at Denver, and doubtless will be so found at Colorado Springs. An avenue
of Oriental plane is a very beautiful object.

By the way, if some agreement could be had by property owners by
which each street should be planted with one special tree placed at distance
of, say, thirty feet between the temporary cottonwood, soft maple, etc., the
final result would be most satisfactory in-enhancing the attractiveness of this
tourist city.

MULBERRY.

There are several varieties of mulberry which thrive here; they have
handsome foliage, the fruit is acceptable to your birds and occasionally to
the children; but they should never be set as street trees, since the falling
fruit becomes disagreeable to passers by. Plant them on the lawn, rather in
the rear, if only for poultry and birds.

Russian mulberry makes a nice hedge if kept pruned and is a forest tree
of small growth.

BIRCH.

All the birches seem to thrive here, but as a lawn tree the cut-leaved
weeping birch is the finest. Common white or paper birch is very fine.

Do not forget that the Catalpa speciosa is one of the most successful
trees in Denver and your own city. And while planting trees, if you neglect
the oaks, you will regret it.

The red oak (Quercus rubrum) is a rapid growing tree.

The pin oak (Quercus palustris) is probably the finest shade and _ street
tree of the oak family. There should be avenues of oak which seem to be
satisfactory in Colorado if not at too high an altitude.

Plant trees. Plant a variety of trees. Plant very many trees and make
your city one of the handsomest places on God’s footstool.
68 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

WOOD PULP AND PAPER.

During the month of January we made an extended visit into Maine,
visited some of the largest wood pulp mills and paper manufactories of that
state and made some investigations of the forest conditions with special refer-
ence to the future supply of materials for paper stock.

The forests of Maine, once so noted for ship building materials, and from
which so vast amount of white pine has been marketed, while still producing
niuch valuable timber, have lost their prestige in this particular. A few
schooners of large size are being built at Bath, but not to the extent which
was done in years past.

Once the pine trees of that state supplied the masts as well as the plank.
ing and frames of vessels, but enough may be judged of the timber situation
when it is learned that Oregon and Washington now supply the masts ana
spars for the Maine built ships.

Where the pine has been cleared away an assortment of soft wood, as
well as hard wood trees have come in to supply the vacancies made in clearing.
Birch, of various kinds, poplars, of all sorts, and similar trees having fine,
winged seeds, which are blown by the wind for long distances, and spruce,
where there are seed trees near, are first to make their appearance. For, in
this moist region, nature will always have good soil and ample moisture to
reproduce some kind of a forest, 1f man will but keep the fires out.

It is from these second growth trees that wood pulp is made.

Where it abounds, spruce is the wood mostly in demand for paper. Yet a
majority of the mills are using poplar, which possesses a very good fibre for
pulp.

The populus family comprises quite a large group, among which are the
Aspen, Populus tremuloides, Abele, P. alba (from Europe), Large toothed
Aspen, P. grandidentata, Carolina Poplar, or Cottonwood, P. monilifera,
Balsam Poplar, P. balsamifera, Balm of Gilead, a sub variety, Lombardy
Poplar, P. dilatata, (from Italy) and several others, all of which are suitable
for paper pulp.

With trees so quickly grown, so readily propagated from cuttings, or
self sown by natural seeding, the problem of future wood supply may be easily
solved, requiring only the ordinary forethought and business management of
corporations owning large tracts of land, together with a generous forest policy
by the states which are greatly interested in this industry.

It is now recognized that good paper pulp can be manufactured from
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 69

almost every species of wood in the Northern states, the quantity of cellulose
and economy of preparing it from the wood, governing the manufacturers in
the selection of the timbers.

In places it is the custom to clear everything in cutting wood for pulp,
even cutting spruce saplings only two to four inches in diameter. In doing
this the land owners are fast destroying their forests and will regret the
improvidence when it is too late.

The spruce is slow to mature in a thick forest. From the seed to a tree
three or four inches in diameter takes, under such conditions, a quarter of a
century. But after becoming established in the ground, with strong root
system, the trees increase in size quite rapidly, providing they have space to
grow bencath the surface. Hence a proper management would be to thin
these dense thickets by cutting out everything not desired for permanent
stand, and these should be not closer than eight or ten feet, and much farther
apart for lumber purposes.

When it is considered that paper manufacturers are on the alert for some
vegetable materials from which to make paper, and which shall be more
economical than forest products, and that successful experiments have been
madc with corn stalks, of which millions of tons go to waste annually, and
with the straw from the rice fields of Texas, Louisiana and the Carolinas, and
with hemp, and cottonseed hulls, millet and other substances which are now
at least partially waste products, it should set the Maine people to thinking
that by their improvidence they may, ere long, drive the paper industry from
Maine and the east, to the Iowa and Indiana corn fields or the Texas rice
plantations.

Certain it is that paper can be made from many substances besides wood,
for cellulose exists in very many vegetable growths which are abundant in
the United States.

The best advice which can now be given the owners of timber land, who
are using it for making pulp, is, to spare the young spruce and fir, but to thin
them severely in order that the individual trees may increase in size, which
they cannot do in such crowded condition.

There is no one fact in arboriculture which demands such constant and oft
repeated admonition as, that for economy of time, largest income for money
invested, and truest principles of forest management, all trees must have ample
room for root extension; and no advantage gained by elimination of lower branches
through overcrowding, can compensate for the enormous loss of time required for
its accomplishment.

The ax, saw and chisel must be used to remove superfluous branches. A
dollar expended in labor in performing this operation saves twenty-five years
of time, the interest on an investment for a quarter of a century, and the dis-
couragement which everyone feels in holding forest property which yields so
slight an income.

In proof of this assertion, it is a well known fact that millions of spruce
saplings two or three inches in diameter, show by their circles of growth
that they are twenty-five years old, and trees a dozen inches across the
stump have stood for three hundred years, while in every city in this land are
70 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

trees of the same species, from fourteen to twenty inches in diameter, which
were planted by persons who are still alive, within the past sixty years. These
latter have had room for root extension, while those of dense forests have been
overcrowded from the first germination of the seed.

Since the poplar family is so well suited for paper, and grow more rapidly
than most other trees, some of these varieties should be planted extensively
for this special purpose.

The Abele, which grows abundantly from suckers, is desirable for
planting in forest. The Carolina Poplar is easily grown from cuttings, and
is an upright and rapid growing tree. This tree is specially desirable for pulp
wood.

It is not necessary to entirely clear away a forest in order to plant these
trees. Narrow lanes cut through the small inferior growths which have come
in since removal of the pine will suffice. The rapidly growing poplar wil!
over-top the dwarf growths, and overcome them. Yet in the long run it may
be better to cut the poor stuff off clean.

The trees which will grow the fastest, provided they are suited for the
purpose, are the most economical to plant.

Experiments with the Catalpa speciosa, as a tree for paper pulp, are being
made in Maine and other New England states. These experiments will be
watched closely by those interested in the subject.

As is known the Catalpa possesses a long fiber, is extremely rapid in
growth, and perfectly at home in New England, as far north as 44 deg. lat.

In this connection it has been said:

“The question of the removal of the duty from wood pulp used in the man-
ufacture of paper is, as Mr. Hamlin, of The St. Paul Pioneer Press told the
Publishers’ Association the other day, of vital importance to newspaper
makers. It is also a matter of some importance to Americans in general.

“The best authorities calculate that there is enough timber now standing
in American forests to meet our present requirements for fifty years, but if the
annual rate of consumption of lumber increases as it now increases from year
to year, there is not enough standing timber to last us for thirty years; and
the coniferous supply, that is the pines, hemlocks and spruces, will be all
cleared off in less than forty years, even if the present requirements are not
exceeded.

“Forestry experts and census compilers agree with regard to this. Why
the activity of the lumberman’s ax should be confined to American forests
by a tariff which keeps out Canadian wood pulp from American paper mills
is indeed a difficult question to answer.”
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 71

CONGRESSIONAL ACTION FAVORABLE TO FORESTRY.

Able statesmen have at various times made such laws as, it was thought.
would encourage the preservation of some of our forests, and provide for the
planting and care of forest growths on the semi-arid lands of the West, but
from various causes they have been of little practical utility.

Thousands of homesteads have been taken in the Northwestern Timbered
States, on lands of no value whatever for agricultural purposes, destroying
wantonly millions of feet of valuable timber in order to secure homesteads
where they should have been timber reservations, or the land sold for its
value as timbered lands.

This has been done to fulfill a positive requirement of the Homestead
Act, that a certain area should be cleared and cultivated before a title could
be obtained, and by making oath and proof that these heavily timbered lands
were of greater value for farm purposes than for timber. The Act gave the
preference to the homesteads. Notwithstanding the immense value of the
timber destroyed to make a few acres of farm land.

All heavily timbered tracts should be withdrawn from Sale for Home-
steads, and either held as forest reservations by the Government, and the
trees sold from time to time as they are demanded, or sold outright as timber
lands at prices corresponding with the real value of the lumber.

In all probability, if the Government would retain the title to timber
lands, in mountain regions, and sell at stated times, the trees of a
certain given size, with the requirements that young growths should be pre-
served, and the prices fixed according to measurement of the stumps, a far
greater sum would be derived from the timber than as by the present method,
and instead of such terrible waste as has heretofore been practiced a continuous
supply of lumber and timber would be provided for posterity.

The timber Act, granting lands to those who would plant and cultivate
timber trees, was fatally defective. It was not taken into consideration that
a great majority of those who were willing to take such lands and plant
timber, were very poor men, unable to carry out the intention of the Act,
without practical assistance from the Nation. No provisions were made for
supplying seeds of valuable trees, young seedlings, or other plants. The
result is that a few cottonwood groves are about all that can be found.

The Government should provide an abundant supply of seeds, cuttings,
and young plants of the more valuable forest trees, and distribute them
72 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

freely to all who will bind themselves to plant and cultivate them according to
such practical directions as the Departments should furnish.

Certain tracts could be reserved and forest plantations established on the
Western Prairies, and where at least a portion of the seedlings might be grown in
Nursery for distribution.

A very moderate sum of money, if rightly expended in this direction,
would demonstrate the capability of such lands for growing every variety of
hardy timber tree and shrub.

EXPERIMENTAL FORESTRY.

The Government has been extremely liberal in its endowment of the
various Farm Experimental Stations.

\Vhen internal improvements are asked for, Congress has seldom refused
to make large appropriations for such purposes, and when it was thought that
some of our semi-desert lands could be converted into woodlands, laws were
enacted which, it was hoped, would secure such results, and tracts were
given to settlers who would plant a part of them with some kind of timber.

But the subject was a new one and some mistakes were made in the
provisions of the law which has made them ineffective to a great degree.

Men who accepted the provisions of the law were unable to comply with
its full intent for various reasons.

As a rule they were not able financially to purchase trees, plants, seeds
or cuttings of the better class of woods, and were obliged to resort to such
trees as could be obtained at the least cost, from native thickets near at hand.
which were usually cottonwood or willow.

Left to their own resources, with slight knowledge of forestry or the
growing of trees, far away from extensive nurseries where information might
be obtained, it could scarcely be expected that many of these tracts would
become valuable forests. or that the settlers would be able to accomplish a
work requiring skill, labor and a certain amount of funds.

It must certainly be acknowledged that forestry is entitled to equal con-
sideration by our Government. it being a duty to coming generations as a par-
tial equivalent for our past wastefulness.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE a

PRESERVE THE FORESTS, PROTECT THE BIRDS.

A casual view from the railway window, or from any prominent point
in the older settled states is often very deceptive. The landscape, varied by
numerous groves of woodland in the agricultural portions, presents the ap-
pearance of extensive, heavily wooded tracts, which upon nearer approach
prove to be in most cases only a few remaining inferior growths, mainly of
Beach, the more valuable Oak, Ash, Walnut, Hickory, Poplar, etc., having
been cleared.

In the higher mountains, where from the distance there seems to be heavy
timber without limit, a closer inspection shows but comparatively few trees
of real value, but quantities of brush, scrubby trees and sorts which have no
real value in the commercial world.

The lumberman seeks now in distant regions among the rougher moun-
tains for oak that is suitable for quarter sawing, and for woods that are re-
quired in manufacturing, while the pine forests are fast disappearing.

If we would renew these old woodlands, cattle and sheep should be ex-
cluded, in order that the young growth may not be destroyed. If the existing
trees are not of a valuable character, seeds, nuts and young plants may be set
among the growing trees, which probably will give them sufficient protec-
tion. If not, the natural conditions of forests should be renewed by mulching
With straw or other material, to destroy such grass as forms a turf: by en-
couraging the growth of such shrubs and plants as “Nurses,” which, by loos-
ening the soil with their penetrating roots, shading the ground and mulching
it with their leaves, protect the valuable forest seedlings.

A dense undergrowth should be permitted in order that the evaporation
may be reduced to a minimum.

There should be planted in generous proportion such trees as produce
berries and fruits from which birds may obtain a supply of natural food, as by
their labors the husbandman is protected from innumerable insect foes.

Where Imperial Germany imposes the obligation on every land owner
that for each tree he shall destroy, another must be planted, thoughtful Amer-
icans should impose such duty upon themselves. Societies whose object is
the dissemination of agricultural knowledge, might well encourage the plant-
ing of trees. and by discussions of the subject of forestry. The press, whose
power for good or evil is without a limit, can advance the cause of forest re-
newals by bringing the subject frequently before the people.

Land owners, who for speculation have invested their capital in wooded
mt PRACTICAL. ARBORICCLIURE

tracts. with the expectation of realizing a profit on their investment, should
adopt such measures as would tend to increase that profit.

Immediate returns may be had by “skinning” the land: by taking of
every tree that will be received at a saw mill, and by selling the tan bark while
the oak is left to decay, but such management decreases the profit on the in-
vestment together with the value of the land.

Rather preserve the better class of voung trees to grow into more valuable
timber in futwre vears. It the character of the timber is not such as is de-
sired, plant other sorts, systematically, if possible, or promiscuously. if prefer-
ted. The expense of having this done will be trifling. while the investment
will be of greater value. Having the requisite conditions. soil, shade. shelter.
these seeds or plants will soon grow into value.

It does seem entirely superfluous to say one word in defense of our
native birds. or to attempt to show their beneficial character. Yet when we
see the numerous vermin destroving hawks, which, through ignorance of their
habits, many farmers destroy, hanging their bodies on trees and poles to warn
away their mates and fellows, it is necessary to speak.

With the exception of a verv few varieties, which destroy poultry occasion-
ally, the numerous members of the hawk family are persistent hunters for fiel-l
mice and other small animals which are destructive t farm productions or crops.

The food of most birds consists of insects almost entirely. The seeds of
noxious weeds also forms the principal diet of many small birds. while wild
iruits, berries and seeds supply them with all the food they need, but when
man has destroyed the forests, and the natural provisions for their support.
some are compelled to seek a partial maintenance in the orchards and fields.
But all earn the pittance which they receive by destroving innumerable in-
sects that infest every plant cultivated by man.

Nearly every town in the country is scoured by boys anxious to try their
rifles and shot guns on whatever member of the feathered tribe they may
see: often the mother is slain and a nest full of voung birds die from starva-
tion.

It is almost impossible to secure the passage of laws for the protection of
friendly birds except for a very limited period. whereas all insectivorous birds.
including the quail, should be protected by stringent laws to remain in force
throughout the vear, and for a long time in advance.

Quail were sold in the city market during the past winter at 75 cents
per dozen, while their value to man as insect destrovers. if it could be estimated
in money, would exceed that amount many times over. and these birds. sent to
the market, are killed by professional pot hunters who have no other interest
than the money they receive in their sale.

Fifty vears ago peaches and other fruits ripened in the greatest profusion.
in Indiana and other timbered regions. usually free from insects, and seldom
imjured by frosts of winter.

The clearings and cultivated lands were so protected by the surrounding
wood that fruit was uninjured by cold. The balance in nature was main-
tained. Enough birds filled the timber to destroy multitudes of insects and
keep them in check.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 75

As year by year the area of the cultivated lands greatly increased and the
extent of wild forest as rapidly diminished, so also have the birds disappeared.
and, of a natural consequence, the insect world has as greatly increased, until,
at the present time, each plant grown by the farmer, gardener and fruit
grower is attacked by myriads of insect enemies and the grower must wage
a ceaseless warfare in order to secure his share of the products.

As certain trees of the forest have been exterminated, the bugs and
worms that feed upon them have been forced to find other plants in the cul-
tivated lands on which to prey.

The increase in population has also caused a diminution of the number
of game birds, as the demand for food seemed to require. At the same time
the secret hiding-places for nests have been removed with the destruction of
the forests, hence many birds seek other locations in which to breed.

In some of our western prairie states a few years since, there were large
numbers of quail and prairie fowls. This region was visited by a scourge of
locusts Which came late in the summer of 1878. The corn, grass, vegetables
and trees Were ruined in a very short time after their visitation.

The females deposited untold myriads of eggs in the hard trodden
roads, fields and woods, and then died.

Many of the inhabitants, having lost everything they possessed except
the land, felt obliged to make hunting the winter's occupation to keep from
suffering.

Hundreds of car loads of birds were shipped to the markets of the Eastern
cities during the winter.

Spring came, and with the warm days the hatching of the grasshoppers,
at first so very small that a quail might eat a hundred before its hunger would
be appeased. But there were no quails. A family of prairie chickens might
require several thousand daily, but there were no birds left to devour the now
rapidly growing ‘hoppers.

With the springing up of the young corn and grain, onward came the
army of locusts, now beyond the power of man to vanquish, and a second
time the crops were destroyed before the insects were large enough to fly
away. The balance provided by the Almighty between birds and insects had been
destroyed by man.

As a result several of the Western States were retarded in their pros-
perity and did not recover for several years. It would be impossible to esti-
mate the suffering caused, much of which might have been averted had not
this wholesale destruction of birds taken place.

The planting and maintaining of additional woodlands, more especially
if there were also thickets, or dense undergrowths, would do much toward
encouraging the birds, and, if their number is increased there must be a cor-
responding reduction in the number of insects which are now so destructive
to all cultivated crops, and also a large increase of game birds for human food.

Destruction of forests reduces the number of birds and quite naturally
insects multiply as a result.

Protect the birds; increase the forests, and insect pests will gradually
cease their annoyance.
76 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

TRANSPORTATION INFLUENCED BY FORESTS.

There was very much to instruct as well as to interest the visitor at the Trans-
portation Building of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.

One here saw the rude carts and pack animals, which are still used in some
distant and mountainous countries, as well as the primitive methods of transpor-
tation of the earlier settlers of our own land, and by their side view the magnifi- —
cent trains of palace cars and the elegantly equipped ocean steamers of most.mod-
ern construction.

The engines and train service of Germany, Great Britain, Japan and United
States were compared, and every equipment for the safety, comfort and speedy
conveyance of travelers and economical transportation of freights, shown by all’
countries which are engaged in manufactures and commerce.

Within glass cases were exhibited upwards of an hundred models of ocean
liners, the models being usually from ten to twelve feet in length. The beauty
of these miniature steamships, the elegance and finish of the models and their de-
sign and workmanship could only be equalled by the vessels themselves which
were represented by these models.

Lefore the products of the world can be conveyed to distant markets by sail- .
ing vessels, ocean steamers, or other forms of commerce, there is in every case a
greater or less distance over which the crude products must be transported by
some land or water conveyance, the methods adopted by various countries in car-
rying these raw materials to the sea or to the factory was shown in the Trans-
portation Building, and made an interesting study.

The great balloon, which is partly inflated. in the center of the building, rep-
resents aerial transportation or navigation as is the usual expression.

Of course there is a limit to the buoyancy of a vessel which must be sup-
ported by a gas which is slightly lighter than the air, or, as in some proposed air
ships, lifted by fans which are operated by machinery and this additional weight
must also be supported as well as the vessel by the same means, and therefore no
matter how great the interest of the public or how strong the curiosity to see some-
thing new, vet the practical benefits which can be derived from atmospheric navi-
gation will always be restricted. Pig iron, wheat. grains. food stuffs, coal, lum-
ber, textiles, etc., go to make up the world’s great industries which require trans-
portation, and they will scarcely be carried by balloons to any great extent or
distance, notwithstanding the craze which impels inventors to enter these mis-
directed and chimerical channels.

From Acoma, New Mexico, came an ox cart of the rudest construction, no
 

 

 

 

 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 79

metal fastenings having been used in its makeup. A log sawed across the grain,
the transverse section often forms the wheels of these Mexican carts, the pattern
of which is ancient and is variously followed in Central America, South America
and in parts of Old Mexico as well as in New Mexico.

From Bogota, Colombia, were models of the various forms of pack saddles
and animals, the saddle horse, milk peddler’s outfit, and several saddles for freight
packing in mountainous regions, where pack animals and human porters are the
principal, if not the only methods of conveyance.

The Hama, with pack in panniers made an attractive exhibit ; this patient ani-
mal is the common carrier throughout Peru.

The highly ornamented donkey cart from Palermo, Sicily, a gay affair, while
the snowless bullock sledge from Fanchal, Madeira, a curious vehicle, is dragged
over the roads as a sled, in a country which sees no snow.

The elephant and camel as beasts of burden, with their curious saddles and
fanciful trappings, fulfill their spheres in the transportation of valuable freight
and human travelers; the former in India and Africa, the latter in the countries
of the Orient.

The peculiar boats and carts from Siam, with covered bows to screen from
a tropical sun, add to the variety and interest of transportation methods.

At the Boer War exhibit are two wagons, duplicates of those used in South
Africa, far from railways or waterways. The twelve ox team, loaded with provi-
sions for the Boer army, and the ten mule team, each examples of human ingenuity
in overcoming obstacles in a locality where greater conveniences are not found.

The teas of China and Japan are grown far from the seaport cities, and are
mostly carried by human porters, over mountain and plain for very great dis-
tances. Usually the neck yoke is used from which to suspend boxes of teas, or
heavy bundles of various freights.

The Chinese brought this custom to California in the ‘40s, the gold bearing
gravel being thus transported to the streams where the gold was washed out, and
also to convey stores and goods from the seaports to the mines.

When it is considered how great a quantity of tea the world uses, and that
all must be conveyed to the ships with comparatively few railways, this method
of conveyance by porters will be recognized as a prominent factor.

The coffee grown in Brazil is also far from Rio de Janeiro and the silver
of the Argentine Republic lies many miles away from Montevideo, the principal
seaport of eastern South America.

Human ingenuity is always equal to the occasion, however, and the long tree
trunks are fashioned into boats, by which these articles are floated down the Ama-
zon, Parana, and other streams, or carried over mountain roads by ox carts, or by
pack animals of various kinds.

Without a doubt water transportation is by far the cheapest method, where
the conditions are favorable. Not only is this true where ocean vessels can ply,
but upon the interior rivers, canals and great lakes which afford communication
for heavy traffic. Water craft is the most economical. This is graphically illus-
trated in coal boat movements upon the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Here one
stern-wheel steamboat tows twenty-eight barges of coal conveying twenty-nine
thousand tons of fuel. These barges are six feet deep and cover an area of three
80 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

and a half acres. It would require twenty-five trains of forty cars each, anc
twenty-five locomotives to move this load. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Cincinnati
Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; and New Orleans, Louisiana
are thus connected, the steamer towing sixteen empty barges back on the return
trip.

The long lines of barges towed by one steamer on the Hudson river are fa-
miliar objects to all who have visited New York. Here the steamer precedes the
load, towing the barges with long hawsers of great size, while on the Ohio the
steamer, usually a stern wheel boat, pushes the barges ahead of her. On Puget
Sound rafts of logs, confined in a “boom,” are towed across the sound to the
various saw mills, by powerful ocean going tug boats, the rafts following after the
steamer. :

Elsewhere is shown one of the noted steamboats which plied the Mississippi
Tiver in 885. This was a very large and popular passenger steamer, as well as a
cotton freight boat. In time of cotton picking and marketing. on all Mississippi
and tributary streams within the cotton belt, every steamboat carried the bales
of cotton, piled about the bow and sides of the vessel like a great fort.

It was this “hurry up” freight, each bale worth five hundred dollars, that
paid the highest freightage, and all were anxious to secure this trade, and every
boat coming into New Orleans was loaded to the guards with this product of the
great plantations.

Steamhoating at present is not as remunerative as it was a third of a century
ago. It is commonly supposed that the construction of so manv lines of railway
has destroved the steamboating industry, but this is by no means the cause; there
are other factors which have made the river transportations unprofitable, anc
transferred most of the business to the railways.

River fogs, which at times become so dense that pilots cannot see objects or
shore with sufficient clearness to safely navigate the streams, while the mariner’:
compass is seldom used on inland American streams. Time lost in this way make:
iavigation uncertain and dilatory. Boats must wait until all freight has been car-
ried aboard; this may be a few minutes, or at times several hours. Hence steam-
boats are often many hours behind their schedule time. Railway trains are al
ways on time, or very nearly so, and the promptness induces patronage.

Then erosion of the soil from farms and hillsides, since the clearing up anc
cultivation of the lands, has caused such deposits in all streams that bars hav
‘een formed and the course of the rivers changed, all streams having become mor:
difficult for navigation, especially in low water.

With the clearing away of the forests, the rainfall runs off with greater rap
idity than formerly, the variation in depth of water heing excessive. The Missis
sippi river at times becomes so low that large steamers cease to ply their trade
Perhaps a month later, with heavy rains and melting snows, the levees may be i1
denger from destructive floods.

\ll these causes operate to make water transportation unreliable upon west
ern waters, while trains are run night and day with greatest exactness.

In the Ohio Valley the farm lands were formerly new, fresh, fertile, im
mensely productive and they supplied traffic for river boats to their greatest ca
pacity. Now the soil has been eroded, hills have become barren, and the pro
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 81

ductions of farms have so decreased that business for boats no longer exists as in
former times.

It is not fully recognized that the forests very largely control the transpor-
tation of produce, both on land and upon inland waters, but this is nevertheless
true.

As we have shown, erosion from hills and farms, filling the streams with
silt, has been the principal cause of irregularity of depth in the waters of rivers,
and a hindrance to free navigation. One of the great items of expense in the

 

A KOREAN PORTER

United States is the river and harbor expenditures, to overcome this filling up of
the channels, which each year is giving greater trouble.

Then electricity is controlled by forest trees which are the principal means of
communication between the earth and the clouds, and as the volume of water
which the atmosphere can retain is altogether regulated by the presence of a greater
or less quantity of the electric fluid, the presence or absence of ample forest bodies
82 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

goes far in determining the quantity of rainfall, its regularity, and consequently
the condition of flow in streams, depth of water and value for navigation.

Countries which have few or no forests must adopt human labor as porters, or
animals as beasts of burden, and rudely constructed vehicles for freight convey-
ance, while those rich in forests are well equipped with railways and with vessels
of skilled construction as well as all the purposes of civilization which the prod-
ucts of the forests inspire.

China, Manchuria and Norea are examples of regions practically free from
forests, and except as foreign nations have constructed railways, bringing materi-
als from abroad, the transportation is by human burden bearers supplemented by
rude boats upon the streams which are at times navigable.

Egypt and all Northern Africa, Arabia, Persia and Central India, countries
without forests and almost treeless, have only caravans of camels to transport
travelers or products of the land. And South Africa, without trees, almost en-
tirely depends upon ox carts and mules as pack animals for carrying the food
stuffs, machinery and stores to the interior where mining is the principal indus-
try, and the mineral products back to the sea.

While Germany, France, Austria and the United States, which have forests,
cr have had until recently, are well supplied with all the modern means of trans-
portation; the finest steamboats, ships and railway services possible to obtain.

Rome was once a seaport city, the Tiber having sufficient depth to float the
vessels which navigated the Mediterranean sea, but the shifting bars have closed
this river to navigation, silt, and erosion filling up the beds of streams, history
repeating itself in Italy and America, extremes of forest removals causing ex-
tremes in flow of water, floods and drouths succeeding each other.

It is a well known fact that the Chio river, which formerly maintained a
twelve foot stage of water throughout the summer season, now frequently becomes
so low, two to three feet, that navigation is practically suspended for several
months each year, only the smallest, light draft boats being able to ply their trade.

Not only is this the case, but at intervals the western rivers are flooded, doing
vest injury to the farm lands along their courses which are then submerged.
Strangers can scarcely realize that a stream can become so vacillating as to have a
depth of two feet one dav, and 71 feet perpendicular depth a month later, as is the
case with the Ohio river, and which is shown elsewhere.

Forest influences alone are responsible for these extremes.

The exhibit of the railways at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in many
respects marks not only an era in locomotive science, but in mechanical and elec-
trical fields as well.

And vet, were it not for the forest products, these marvelous pieces of ma-
chinery would be entirely worthless and its beautiful mechanism be cast aside
to be destroyed with rust.

Not only the ties which support its guiding rails are of wood, but almost every
passenger and freight car: a majority of the buildings for the transaction of its
enormous business are also wood, while a very large proportion of its freight
traffic consists of the products of the saw mills, and besides almost the entire ship-
ment of freight are enclosed in wooden cases. Thus even the metal industries are
denendent upon the forests in a very great measure.
PRACTICAL ARBORTCUOLE URE 83

THE RELATION OF BIRDS AND FORESTS.

Address by John P. Brown before the State Audubon Society at Indianapolis, March 19, 1901.

In the economy of nature the feathered branch of the animal kingdom and
the major portion of the vegetable world are ever one and inseparable; one was
created for the other; the life and well being of each depend upon the ability of its
mate to protect it from insidious foes, tireless in their efforts to destroy first one
and then the other.

While we are aware that upon the arid plains a few birds exist, and that some
are born in the frozen, treeless, arctic wastes and follow the billows of the sea in
search of food, apparently as free from attachment to forests as are the fish upon
which they daily feed, yet upon general principles, and in general terms, forests
are as necessary to the well being of birds as are the birds indispensable for forest
preservation.

[ propound a mathematical proposition which is capable of conclusive dem-
onstration. Given and old field, a worm fence and a bevy of birds, the invariable
result will be a hedge row of trees and shrubs, bearing fruits and nuts, edible to the
winged tribes of the locality.

Thus the birds, which were the creators of forests, become also their pro-
tectors by reducing the number of insect enemies, and as a consequence the
existence and well-being of the birds is 1aaintained by the natural productions
of the forests, the fruits of their own labors.

THE BIRTH OF A FOREST.

Nature and man have different methods of forest planting. Nature is delth-
erate, man always in haste. Nature begins with the seed, man demands a trec
already grown to start with, the larger the tree the better. Nature designs va-
riety, all sorts of trees mingled together, some of economic worth, many being
valueless for commercial uses.

We view a forest: A hurricane sweeps through the wood, leveling the timber
by a single blast. Miles of territory are cleared of all forest growths.

Time passes. The dead trunks feed the fire which completes this work of de-
struction.

Nature abhors a barren waste and in time begins the work of restoration.
Birds fly across the treeless plain bearing food for themselves and their young,
and deposit here and there such seeds as compose their food. Each stump serves
84 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

as a perch for one after another of these songsters; every rock and crag make fa-
vorite places about which numerous seeds are sown.

Then squirrels come with their stores of nuts for winter use, selecting choice
spots for store houses, which become well filled as these graceful creatures ply
often from yonder nut trees to their hiding places.

The wind blows briskly, and thickly fly the downy thistle, the cottony seeds
of the willow and populus families: whirling with rapidity come the heavier
winged seeds of liriodendron, ashes and maples, which, alighting here and there,
bury their heads ‘neath the soft mud of the water-soaked soil: further on the
lighter seeds of elm are wafted, strewing the ground as with snow.

Seeds of herbaceous plants are scattered hither and thither as the winds and
birds gather them up from the verdant spots, to be strewn where there are none.
Gently the falling leaves from the adjoining forests spread a light cover, hiding the
scattered seeds and affording protection from the elements. Soon the snowflakes
fly thick and fast; a mantle covers the land. As the suriace is melted by the sun
and frozen when night comes on, the snow crust forms an ideal playground for the
wind, which, shattering the seeds from cones of hemlock, pine and spruce. drives
them fiercely over the snow until they are caught by some obstacle.

Spring comes, with rains; the rushing waters overflow their banks, picking up
the twigs with clinging seeds, bear them further down the stream, and spreading
over the treeless wastes, deposit them to sink into the vielding soil. With the
warm, life-giving sunshine of spring the seeds thrust downward their rootlets
while upward reaches a bud, when two tiny leaves appear as harbingers of spring.

And thus a forest is born. Not in a day, nor a vear, for nature takes her own
time and methods to accomplish her objects, vet in due time a natural forest covers
the spot which accident or design had made barren. Here are beech, ash and
maple, there a clump of elms, a walnut and hickory alternating with blackberry
briars and elder, hemlock with pine: trees of mammoth proportions and shrubs of
low degree: ginseng, violet and twining grape strive for space to spread their
roots and display their peculiar attractions.

Yonder chestnut will afford abundant nuts for boys and squirrels: these
hackberries. cherries, grapes and elderberries will feed the birds which planted
them: that oak may become a gnarled monarch among whose branches birds will
twitter their songs of love, build their nests in safety and feed upon its countless
acorns, which, as 1f to acknowledge its dependence upon the birds and small ani-
mals, it supplies in such abundance.

Certain birds plant nuts and acorns with systematic regularity, burving them
‘neath the surface, one in a place. expecting ere long to find its food. either from
an enclosed egg which will in time hecome a fat. luscious worm, or else the meat
of the acorn.

In Arizona the blue jays gather the pine nuts and bury them singly to a
depth of an inch or more, in the arid sands. Here they are preserved for months,
or until the snow has fallen and melted, moistening the seeds. In this manner
the pinion is planted.

The wild cherry, but for its tasty, juicy berries, as also the hackberry, would
soon become extinct or at least confined in narrow limits but for the birds. These
seeds have no wings to be borne by the winds: they do not readily float upon the
 

 

 

WILLIAMSON’S SAPSUCKER. (SPHYRAPICUS THYROIDEUS.)

(Figure on left, male; on right, female.)
PRACTICAL ARBORICULT URE 87

stream ; they would simply drop to the ground and spring up in thickets directly
beneath the parent tree. But when devoured by birds they are distributed far
and wide, the seedlings taking root wherever a tree or rock or fence permits a bird
to perch. Thus they are perpetuated and extended to various portions of the globe.

The aromatic seeds of the juniper or cedar will only germinate under condi-
tions of heat and moisture such as are found in the crops of fowls. The shell being
too hard for the enclosed germ to open, hence they would fall to the ground and
perish for want of moisture but for the birds.

The wild apple, pear and pulpy fruits are similarly transferred to distant
points, thus ensuring the perpetual propagation of such trees.

The beech, with its savory nuts, as also chestnuts, chinquapin and other small
nuts are borne to hiding places for food by birds and squirrels, while an ample
share find their way to the ground, forming new forests.

The cross-bill, with its peculiar mandibles, opens the cones of pine, ex-
tracting the seeds, of which it is fond, and distributes many in flight.

Birds often practice the art of grafting. The mistletoe of Christmastide,
living as a parasite upon the branches of large trees, has clusters of small white
berries which contain the seed. They are transferred from branch to branch by
adhering to the bill; the bird pecks into the bark to remove the seed, which thus
becomes engrafted into the tree.

Are the birds disturbed in the wood? So also the forest is constantl,
harassed by enemies which menace its destruction.

Age and decrepitude are common to trees as to animals; their existence ter-
minates in decay. Were it not for nature’s army of birds, aided by their allies
the squirrels, many sorts of trees and plants would become extinct.

Boring insects penetrate the bark and wood, existing upon the sap of grow-
ing trees, and unless held in check by hungry birds, multiply rapidly and eventually
destroy the forest.

Destructive bark beetles become so numerous as to completely girdle large
numbers of pine trees. They live upon the cambium which forms the connecting
tissues of bark and wood; their burrows encircle the trees and prevent the sap
from ascending to support the foliage, which withers and dies.

Woodpeckers whose instinct excels the marvelous X-rays, discover the beetle
beneath several inches of overlying bark, and boring through thrusts in his long
tongue, drawing out beetles and larvae.

In an official report made to the Commissioner of the Land Office of my visit
to the Black Hill forests, I stated that in one tree, eight inches in diameter, we
counted and estimated 10,000 beetles and larvae. The bark came off in sections,
having been entirely separated from the wood by the insects. There were no
woodpeckers, and few other birds, while one-third the entire forest was dead.

Aphides suck the juices from leaves and tender stems. A horde of worms
infest the buds, devouring the vital organs of trees. Birds are always on the alert.
Hungry they awake at early dawn to breakfast upon these enemies of the forest.
Impelled by hunger they continue their labors all day gathering in the flies,
mosquitoes, bugs and worms, thus keeping them in subjection.

One battalion hovers around the conifers in search of beetles: other scouts
seek those enemies which curl the leaves and feed upon the juices: a regiment is
 

 

 

 

 

 

THE CAT BIRD.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 89

kept on special service as snake and vermin destroyers; a large brigade is on
duty watching for mice in the open fields by night, returning to the forest during
the day. In this way owls and hawks earn that living which human kind denies
them, but shoot upon all occasions.

In return the forest affords shelter for the birds; their nests are built among
the branches, hidden by leafy canopies from the intrusion of numerous enemies
and sheltered from storms.

It is natural for all animal kind to seek seclusion at times; nesting places
are sought safe from view; only in the thick woods can perfect security be
found. Here insects abound, berries, fruits, nuts and oily seeds are in profu-
sion; happy is their lot. Small birds without forest have little chance for their
lives, where animals of the cat tribe or birds of prey have every advantage.

Quail are invaluable on farms, each one being worth more than its weight in
gold asa bug destroyer. An agricultural authority says that the past wet season
has been unfavorable for them, and unless protected this winter they will not be
able to produce their usual broods next year.

There are no two subjects more closely related than are Ornithology and
Arboriculture. Were the birds to be exterminated from any cause, the forests
would not survive a vear; there could be no trees, for the insect enemies would de-
stroy them in a very brief period. Agriculture would become a hazardous occupa-
tion because of the enormous increase of insects and vermin.

With the disappearance of the forests bird food is insufficient ; they are driven
to the fields and slaughtered. The balance in nature being destroyed, insects
increase immoderately, and are driven to feed upon orchard and domestic trees in
cur gardens. So additional burdens are placed upon the husbandman who un-
wittingly contributes to his own misfortunes.

Fifty years ago the San Jose scale, codling moth, wooly aphis, ‘plum curculio
and a host of pests now so common, were not known, or gave so little trouble
as not to attract attention, while fruits of all kinds were abundant where there
were trees.

Surely no one can imagine that these pests were created during the past half
century; not all of them were imported from countries which had centuries ago
cleared away the forests. No! They were intended to be kept in subjection to
nature’s laws, which invariably preserve a balance.
go PRACTICAL ARBORECUL UIE

FORESTRY IN NEW MEXICO.—THE MAXWELL LAND GRANT.

The above tract is under control of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.
In January, 1902, the author was employed by this company to examine the
grant, and we append his report upon the same after one month’s horseback riding
over the mountains.

Mr. J. A. Kebler,
President Colorado Fuel & Iron Co.

Dear Sir:—In response to your letter of Dec. 5, 1901, requesting me to
make an examination of the lands of the company within the Spanish Grant, and
to advise with regard to their re-afforestation, and especially to determine their
adaptability for growing the Catalpa tree:

I would respectfully report that I have performed that duty, having visited
all that portion of the grant lying in Colorado, and a sufficient part of New
Mexico lands to determine their general character.

The elevation of the company’s lands in Colorado is too great for the suc-
cessful growth of the Catalpa, and the valleys are too narrow and are limited in
extent.

I do not think that any artificial system of tree planting which can be
devised, upon the mountainous tracts of this grant, comprising 240 square miles
of cut overlands, and 500 square miles of leased territory, would be considered
by your company, owing to the great cost and lengthy period required for
maturity.

A more rational system of cutting the timber than has been before prac-
ticed would make these forests a perpetual source of income, permitting nature
to seed the ground under protection of your company's agents.

There are, however, portions of your lands which it would be desirable to
improve by replanting coniferous trees.

Two methods are practicable in mountain afforestation.

First, by scattering seeds of desirable trees, carefully, and raking them in,
leaving to nature their future care. Only a small portion of such seeds will ger-
minate and produce tree growths.

Douglas Spruce (Red Spruce) is probably the most rapid in growth, most
durable wood, and desirable tree, for this locality. Since there are 30,000 seeds
to the pound of Douglas Spruce seed, and the cost is about $1.50 per pound. it
will not be a serious expense to scatter a ton of this seed. It catches rather readily,
and, protected by what natural growth remains on the summit and north side of
the mountains, would produce a forest sooner than most other trees.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE gI

The Yellow Pine, Ponderosa, can be grown on the parks, and lower lands in
the elevated districts. 50,000 seeds in a pound and the price 50 cents. This will
also be a desirable tree to seed.

Picea Pungens, the beautiful silver spruce, not so valuable as a timber tree,
yet important to grow, has 100,000 seeds in a pound, which is sold at $2 per pound.

Eagleman Spruce has 200,000 seeds in a pound, and worth $2.50.

Concolor, the most beautiful silver fir, should be included, for variety, 30,000
seeds make a pound, value 6o cents.

Norway Spruce, Australia Pine, Scotch Pine, all foreign, are readily adapted
to American mountain conditions.

The other method is to collect from the canyons small coniferous trees, plant
them in a nursery near at hand, shade them with lattice frames, grow for two
years until new fibrous roots are formed, and then plant in permanent forest.
This is necessarily a more expensive method, but quite successful. I should sug-
gest planting 16x16 feet, or 170 trees per acre, being near 100,000 trees to the
square mile, and would require an expense of $1,000 per mile.

Upon the south slope the Red Cedar would be advisable, resisting the sun
better than the spruce and pine.

Small plants grown from seed in nurseries cost $50 per thousand, and may
be obtained at once or any time.

On northern slopes all native coniferous trees may be planted.

TIMBER TREATING PLANT.

On the higher slopes of the Sangre de Christo range there are vast areas of
aspens, which are quite dense, often as many as one thousand trees per acre,
some of which are of large size. I measured one which was thirty-two inches
in diameter, and many are sixteen inches.

There is an unwarranted prejudice against the aspen. It is stronger than it
is generally supposed, and when not in contact with the ground is durable.
Hundreds of adobe houses on the grant have aspen poles to support the roof,
which is of earth, these poles having been in use as such for very many years.
The lumber of aspen is suited for many purposes and it may become a source of
income for the company. Its growth is extremely rapid, and is the only decid-
uous tree which grows at this altittude—8,000 feet.

The most important service performed by the aspen is to protect the growing
coniferous trees, which are coming in very thickly among the aspen thickets,
from seed scattered by the wind.

Should it be considered unwise to use this wood in the natural state, then I
would urge the erection of a portable plant for chemical treatment of this wood
especially.

The Egyptians, four thousand years ago, embalmed their dead, and impreg-
nated cloth and wood with asphaltum obtained from the Natron Lakes. European
countries now use creosote, a product of wood distillation for the same purpose,
but its cost makes it prohibitory in America. The American process of creosoting
js to use the product of coal tar. These substances are antiseptic, resisting decay.
g2 PRACTICHL ARBORICULTURE

The cheapest and most common process is that used by the Rock Island, Santa
Fe and other railways, where the basis is chloride of zinc, a by-product of the
smelters.

Fermenting sap of the wood is removed by steam in a large iron boiler,
after which the solution of zinc and other substances is forced into the empty cells
of the wood, under pressure with steam. Soft wood with open grain is preferred
for this treatment, and many years are added to the durability of the wood by
this means. The capital invested in such a plant would produce a regular and
remunerative income for the company.

The practice of cutting very small and immature pine and spruce trees, of
which the managers of vour lumber company have destroyed so much, should
cease at once. I saw Mexicans cutting pines which were but five inches diam-
eter at the stump, and this in large numbers, for mine props.

Such wood decays quickly, and forever prevents a forest growth. When
trees have grown for twenty years and have become of this size, their future
increase will be far more rapid. Hundreds of acres of young forest trees have
in this way been utterly destroyed, without anv corresponding benefit.

INSECT DEPREDATIONS.

Two prominent insects which destroy the yellow pine are present in the
timber upon the grant. The large, destructive bark beetle and the small beetle.
I collected specimens and sent them to the entomologist of the United States.

These are flying beetles, the egg is deposited in the bark, and hatches into
a worm or larva, which lives upon the cambium or inner tissue of the bark.
As it burrows about the tree, it finally completely girdles it, so that no sap can
circulate and the tree dies. In time this larva is transformed into a winged
beetle, which, emerging from the bark, goes to other trees, depositing eggs in
great numbers. When these beetles become very numerous, the trees are killed in
such numbers as to threaten the entire destruction of the pine. Fortunately
their numbers are small vet, on the grant, and held in check by parasitic enemies,
and very largely by woodpeckers, which birds should be protected.

I recommend that every dead tree be cut, the bark stripped off and burned,
together with the tops, branches and stumps. The wood is suitable for lumber,
if not too far decayed. At present there is no cause for alarm in this vicinity.
Some pine-leaf scale is present, but not in great quantities. By protecting all
birds, there need be no fear of serious insect injury.

PASTURAGE BY GOATS.

Spain was once the peer of any nation. Her downfall, although requiring
centuries for its accomplishment, was caused by so insignificant an animal as the
goat. Clearing the forests from her mountains, nature in time would have reaf-
forested them, but immense herds of goats were pastured on these hills, destroy-
ing every living tree and shrub.

Mexican goats are performing like destruction on the mountains about Las
Animas and other portions of your grant. It will always be impossible to preserve
any tree growth where these animals are fed.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 93
PASTURING BY SHEEP.

Next to goats, sheep are most destructive to young and tender trees. No
one has a higher opinion of our American wool industry and its importance
than I, but the prairie and plain are the places for them to feed. If it is desirable
that the higher mountains entirely non-agricultural should be re-afforested, then
care should be used in leasing lands, that these be not over pastured by cattle,
and not at all by animals which browse the young seedlings, as sheep and goats.

EMPLOYMENT OF A FORESTER.

Sawmill owners and timber dealers are not usually interested in the distant
future, but want the greatest present income. I would recommend that some
person who possesses a knowledge of trees and who is competent to consider the
permanent interests of your company, be employed as a forester. Such person
should be empowered to direct what trees shall be preserved for the re-afforesta-
tion of the lands. The size and character of young trees which it is desirable to
reserve for future growth might be left to the decision of such forester. He
might also have in charge the general fire protection, planning the fire lines,
their construction, and in case of dangerous fires in time of dry weather, be able
to call for help to extinguish the flames and thus save much valuable property.

The intimate acquaintance of every portion of your lands and the character
of timber thereon, which a person in this position would soon acquire, would be
of great value to your company. If it were desirable that trees should be planted
for future timber, the forester might have charge of that also. A conscientious
man would find ample work to keep him well and profitably employed.

A CATALPA PLANTATION.

The time limit of the Rocky Mountain timber supply is but very few vears.
The durability of native woods is slight. Mines must have timbers, even though
they be transported for hundreds of miles, even from the tropics. It is well to
provide for this inevitable failure in timber supply. No tree except the slow-
growing cedar is so durable as the catalpa. No tree possessing any value grows
so quickly. But the catalpa will not succeed on the higher elevations of the
Maxwell Grant in Colorado, and it must have water anywhere.

The company’s lands about Pueblo are suited to the growth of catalpa,
but the steel works demand ail the available water. The catalpa has been proven
to be successful at Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Junction City, in
Colorado; also at French’s ranch and other points on the Cimarron River, in
New Mexico, and in many parts of Utah.

I would recommend a further examination with a view to the purchase of
a tract of land suitable for this purpose, and the planting of not less than one
thousand acres in Catalpa Speciosa, especially for mine timbers. This should be
near some railway, and preferably in proximity to the company’s road, as it will
be extended in New Mexico. I cannot at present determine what such lands
would cost. nor what the water would cost, but aside from that, the expense of
o4 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

the plantation would not exceed $8,000 to $10,000. In eight years 680,000 mine
ties and the same number of ten-foot props, possessing a value of $20,000, may be
obtained. In eight years more a new growth from these stumps will produce an
equal number of timbers for mines.

In strength the catalpa far exceeds that of native timbers now used.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS.

1. Cease cutting small, immature coniferous trees ; limit the size to 12 inches
diameter.

2. Saw railway cross-ties from large trees.

3. Use aspen for mine timbers.

4. Erect portable plant for chemical treatment of wood.

5. Plant 1,000 or more acres of catalpa.

6. Establish fire protection.

7. Employ a forester.

8. Leave numbers of good sound trees for seed trees.

g. Preserve the dwarf oak and aspen for protection of coniferous seedlings.

10. Reserve storage reservoir sites.

11. Post printed notices warning against fire.

12. Forbid the herding of goats.

13. Limit the number of cattle to be herded. Confine them to treeless
portion of grounds.

14. Forbid sheep herding in timber.

15. Adopt a twenty-year course of cutting timber.

16. Select and reserve some sites for hotels and resorts.

17. Lay the foundation for a long-time investment by perpetuating the for-
est growths.

18. Avoid unprofitable competition in lumber.

IN CONCLUSION.

A corporation of such magnitude as the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company,
with your varied interests, landed, commercial and manufacturing, and extending
throughout the entire Rocky Mountain region, cannot fail to be affected by what-
ever influences the regions in which your operations are extended.

No one thing can permanently injure this entire country to such a degree as
a total destruction of the forests covering the higher mountains, for that changes
the climate, water supply and future manufactures, influencing agriculture, com-
merce and every condition of business.

On the contrary, a conservative use of the timber which is ripe and ready
for use, not removing all at one time, will enable nature to maintain the condi-
tions best suited for the use of man.

And as Colorado, New Mexico and all the middle west is benefited, in like
degree your business interests will be improved and perpetuated. #

Very respectfully, Joun P. Brown.
 

 

 

 

 

RANGE, SOUTHERN COLORADO. THE HIGHEST PEAK IN COLORADO.
ALTITUDE, 14,390 FEET.

SIERRA BLANCA, SANGRE DE CHRISTO
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 97

YELLOW PINE FOR THE WEST.
(Pinus Ponderosa.)

Among the Clouds in Colorado.

It is not an uncommon experience for mountain climbers to be upon a high
peak and look down from a clear sky upon dense clouds from which snow or
rain is being precipitated upon the plains or valleys below; the author has had
many such impressions, but on February the 23rd, while examining a large tract
of pine timber on the divide not far from Palmer Lake, Colo., quite another experi-
ence occurred.

The morning was fairly bright, as at sunrise the range of mountains to the
west, as well as Pike’s Peak, was in plain view, the snow-covered slopes shining
resplendent as a ray of sunshine penetrated the partial mist, and the dark, steep
canyons contrasted with the more regular snowy surfaces. While yet admiring
the beautiful scene, Pike’s Peak was suddenly enveloped in clouds, and soon
the entire range was hidden.

The elevation of this divide is 7,000 feet, nowhere steep, but with long, gently
rolling slopes over which we drove in a buggy through forests of Pinus Ponde-
rosa. This tree is not a dweller of the highest Rockies, but gradually disappears
at from 7,000 to 8,c00 feet elevation—spruce and aspen appearing at the latter
elevations.

Ponderosa is essentially an arid region tree, the melting snows and mini-
mum rain showers providing sufficient moisture, while the sandy or gravelly
soil of the plains suits its ponderous roots, enabling them to build up the super-
structure which is so well named Bull Pine.

There seems to be no other tree of any consequence which will take root
from natural seeding, grow rapidly and develop into valuable timber in a soil
so dry and porous as exists throughout the plains regions, under conditions of
aridity which prevail west of the 100th meridian and at such an elevation.

Pinus Ponderosa therefore possesses a value in re-afforestation as a grand
forest tree which places it beyond the usual popular estimate of timber trees.
It is the only solution of the forest problem for the great plains region, South
Dakota, western Nebraska and Kansas, Colorado and westward to California.

Of the millions of seeds produced, by far the greater quantity are devoured
by small animals and also forms the food of birds, yet a sufficient quantity falls
in good ground and germinates to quickly reproduce a forest where a sufficient
number of seed trees remain.
 

 

 

 

PINUS PONDEROSA, NEAR PALMER LAK£, GROWN IN ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE YEARS.
SINCE THE FORMER CUTTING.
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

PINUS PONDEROSA.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 101

The tract over which I was passing supplied the cross-ties for the Kansas
Pacific railway in 1869, being hauled in ox-carts four hundred miles into Kansas.
Again, a few years later, the trees which had become large enough were cut for
the Denver & Rio Grande and Colorado & Southern railways. The last cutting
was in 1884, when every tree above eight inches in diameter was removed for ties
and fuel. The rapidity with which the young timber has grown is marvelous
when the environments are considered. Many fine trees are now twelve to six-
teen inches in diameter and stand fairly well upon the ground. Seed has been
produced in abundance and groves of young trees of from six inches to six feet
in height are numerous where the seed has scattered in more recent years. On
this tract care has been used to prevent fires and the young growths are therefore
uninjured.

It is interesting to note the rate of increase in this timber in nineteen years.
The trees eight inches in diameter were then cut for shingles; those of larger
size for ties. Thus the growths which were seven inches are now twelve to
sixteen and upwards in diameter, probably an average of six and one-half inches
increase, or one inch in three years, the increased area in the nineteen-year
period being 3.7 times that in 1884, while the increased bulk is four times as great.

Towards noon the clouds began to descend; like a great fog they rolled along.
The temperature was reduced, being somewhat below freezing. There was no
rain or snow, but upon every tree and on our garments and wraps there was a
frosty deposit which clung with tenacity. We had some thirty miles to drive
through this cloud; objects at a distance of two hundred yards were entirely
hidden, and at one hundred yards the trees could be seen dimly.

The frequency of this humidity at the altitude of 7,000 feet is probably the
solution of the vigorous growth of the pine here, where rainfall is irregular and
so slight in quantity.

Early maturing corn, small grains and potatoes give quite excellent results
in the parks or little prairies between the groves of pine, while a high grade of
grass and wild hay provides pasturage for many cattle.

About eight cents per acre is received for pasturage during the season, but
where much stock grazes and tramps the forests the young growths are severely
injured. It is more than probable that for every dime received by the owner for
pasturage, there is a loss of a dollar by reason of damage to young tree growths.

Examination of many dead trees proved them to have been killed by light-
ning or by former fires, since only one group of half a dozen trees showed the
presence of the destructive bark beetles.

By a systematic effort at reafforestation, western Nebraska and Kansas,
Wyoming and eastern Colorado, could be reclothed with magnificent pines, but
this a matter which demands the assistance of the state and general govern-
ment, and only a high degree of statesmanship will cause active interest in this
direction.

During the past month a more thorough study has been made of this very
interesting body of pine.

The elevation is from 7,000 to 7,700 feet, Denver being 5,200 and Col-
orado Springs 6,000 feet.
102 PRACTICHL ARBORICULTURE

‘The land is sandy, sandstone cropping out on the higher points.

Before the settlement of Colorado there was an extensive body of timber
in this locality. Denver, Pueblo and Colorado Springs were built from timber
cut on this divide. In 1865, while constructing the Kansas Pacific Railway,
this forest supplied the bridge timbers, lumber and cross-ties, which were
hauled four hundred miles. At first mule teams were used, which, in the
Indian wars then progressing, were captured and run off; but the energy and
determination of the builders of thisepioneer railway were equal to the emer-
gency, and thousands of oxen were purchased from Mexico. Since buffaloes
were roaming the plains in great numbers, these lean animals were abhorred
by the savages and went unmolested.

Several cuttings have since been made. The Colorado Southern and Den-
ver & Rio Grande were built from timber grown here.

At present there are growths of all sizes, from seedlings one to ten years
old, standing thickly over portions of the land, up to trees of six to sixteen
inches thickness.

It is interesting to note the difference in size of trees having the same
age. Some standing thickly, thirty to the square rod, are only an inch or two
diameter, while others having more room, four to the rod, are six inches
through and forty feet high. This shows the importance of artificial thin-
ning. It takes nature many years to accomplish what man can do, with a
small amount of labor in destroying surplus growths, in a brief period,
 

 

 

 

 

Photographed by the Author in the Wabash Valley.

 

ST.

Y LOCL

TIONE
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 105

THE HONEY LOCUST.

(Gleditschia triacanthos. )

It is not the intent of the author to seek popularity by following the drift
of public opinion when we are convinced that from prejudice or indifference
upon one hand, or from financial interests upon the other, the public are in
error.

We champion the cause of the forests against strong opposition, terrible
indifference and personal business interests among the public masses, and the
determination of timber owners to denude the American forests as rapidly as
possible in order that they may get gain thereby, regardless of the rights of
the nation, or the consequences to posterity.

We proclaim the virtues of the catalpa tree, notwithstanding the pre-
judged opinions of many doctors of the law, professional scientists, and the
erroneous opinions formed from observations of other trees similar in name.
And now we present the claims of a tree which has more enemies among
farmers and the general public than any other American tree.

Upon a thousand hills, in many a pasture field, along the highways and
by-ways, the thorny, dwarfish clumps of locusts, growing in clusters, a dozen
stems from apparently the same root, seldom exceeding twenty feet in height,
grows the honey locust.

It catches the fleece and tears it from the sheep’s back, menaces the cat-
tle and horses in the steep hillside pasture, and effectually guards the verdant
grass beneath its branches from the intrusion of anxious animals.

The thorny spines forbid the small boy to climb its trunk in search for
eggs and nestlings of the songsters, which thus receive protection.

The farmer boy inherits a decided hatred for the thorn bush ‘neath the
branches of which the blue grass grows so luxuriantly, yet can not be reached
by the farm animals.

The boy grows to manhood, and being unable to discover any merit in
the thorn bush, causes its destruction, and soon the soil is washed from the
hillsides for want of its protecting roots and fallen branches. Cattle, how-
ever, are fond of the honey-like substance in which the seeds are imbedded,
within the curled and crimpled pods, and thus the hated tree is preserved from
extermination.

Within the animal’s stomach the hard horny shells of the locust seed are
softened, swelled, and the process of germination is begun, so that as the
seeds are expelled with the excrement, they are prepared for immediate
growth, and thus instead of one tree a dozen to twenty are found in one spot.
106 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Of course, under such conditions it may require several decades for one
stronger tree to overcome and destroy all its fellows, as it must do before
it can begin its upward growth. This is the natural history of the honey
locust as usually found outside the forest.

Locust tree is a name applied to several trees of different genera in vari-
ous portions of the world, but in the United States it is given to the black
locust, robinia pseudacacia, and the honey locust, gleditschia triacanthos, or three-
thorned acacia, both being indigenous to this country.

The former produces racemes of fragrant white flowers. The seeds, which
are small, are contained in dry, brownish-colored pods four inches long. The
bark of branches is studded with short thorns, half inch in length.

The latter has inconspicuous flowers, while the seed, much larger than
those of black locust, are imbedded in a sweetish gum in pods eight or nine
inches long and one and a half inches broad. These pods are curled and
twisted. The thorns are branched, usually in threes. Occasionally we find
a honey locust which does not produce thorns, or but sparingly. These are
preferable for planting.

American pioneers “knew a good thing when they saw it.” Therefore
thousands of miles of worm fences were built of walnut rails. Many hun-
dreds of miles of similar fences were built of catalpa rails, while a thousand
miles of straight fence still remain in which the posts are of catalpa. In like
manner every honey locust tree to be found in the forests was cut because of
its superior worth for farm purposes.

Few people have seen so large and fine honey locust as we picture, which
still stands in Gibson County, Ind. It is 120 inches girth and 120 feet in
height, standing on the edge of a catalpa forest, near the Southern Railway.

While the honey locust grows faster on rich alluvial land, yet they are well
adapted for growing upon rough, poor hill land, and if planted singly, will
become valuable and profitable in such localities.

The wood is somewhat coarse grained, of reddish color. Its handsome
appearance commends it as a cabinet wood. It is difficult to distinguish lum-
ber made from this tree from that of Kentucky coffee trees. Both are rare in
the markets.

Contrary opinions are held by woodsmen regarding the durability of
honey locust when used for fence posts, etc., in the ground.

The location where they are grown, rich or poor soil, rapidity of growth,
and time of cutting and setting the posts, whether green or seasoned, govern
their durability.

All wood intended for contact with the ground, no matter of what species,
should be first well seasoned. One stick may decay quickly, while another will
last for many years. Oak, catalpa, black and honey locust, all come under
this rule. The sap contains fermenting materials which attract and feed the
spores of decay, while if seasoned, the germs of fermentation are killed and
trot takes place very slowly.

This fact is well known to managers of wood preservation plants, who
first remove the sap with its fermenting materials before injecting the chem-
ical antiseptic preservatives.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 107

 

 

 

 

 

SPRAY OF HONEY LOCUST.

Under cultivation the honey locust grows quite rapidly, but under neglect
its progress is indifferent, just as is the case with all farm crops.

As a timber tree there is no doubt but this would excel a majority of
American trees in utility and in profit. The wood is of value for every pur-
pose of lumber, making acceptable cross-ties, fence posts and telegraph poles,
as well as finishing wood for cabinet purposes, or the demands of the builder.

The honey locust is destined to become one of the useful timber trees for
artificial plantations.

Its rarity causes it to be little known, but the commoner and better known
timber trees of North America will never again be reproduced in forest, while
in the near future artificial plantations will be grown with timber which to the
saw-mill owner, lumber manufacturer and the public at large are to-day un-
known as marketable woods.

The plant is hardy in every portion of the United States. It is easily
grown from seed, after soaking in quite warm water for several hours; it may
be transplanted without loss, is upright in habit when planted in forest form
at moderate distances, forming a long, straight body. Our illustration shows
the possibilities of this tree. Here the trees stand about fifteen feet apart,
this one being the peer of any in the forest. The grain is straight, it is easily
worked, and makes good fuel. There are few trees which afford a better
shade or have more beautiful foliage. It is also a grand street tree, standing
the dust and smoke of cities with the asphalt-paved streets, the tramping and
constant improvements which are so objectionable to most other trees, grow-
ing right along, affording a shade, and is grateful for the little favors it re-
108 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

ceives. Yet with better treatment it shows its gratitude in the brighter color
and greater beauty of its foliage. It does not sprout from the roots, and is
unobjectionable to the lawn. It requires little or no pruning, forming a round
head with spreading branches, if left to choose for itself.

The tree shown has simply been left
alone, no knife having ever been ap-
pled in pruning. The spread of
branches is eighty feet, and is about
eighty feet high.

In the days when hedge fences were
largely planted, before wire became so
cheap and effective for fences, there
were Northern localities where the
Osage orange could not be grown, and
honey locust was found to be perfectly
hardy and a good substitute for the
bois dare for hedge. ;

Several railways have tested the
wood, and having proved its character
now accept it along with oak for cross-
ties, although but. a comparative few
ties have been offered, farmers prefer-
ring to keep the honey locust for home
use, while selling the oak. A small vari-
ety G. aquatica grows in swamps. There
is not one street tree in Salt Lake City
which is so handsome or so grand for
shade as those honey locusts on Second
Street South, Second West. Here are
several very large and fine honey lo-
cust trees which ought to be patterns
for Utah tree planters.

In Washington City few avenues sur-
pass those planted with honey locust
by William Saunders forty odd years
ago, although they show some neglect.

Where in all the wide world can be
found a handsomer tree than the one
which we illustrate? No tree in exist-
ence possesses a more beautiful or
more graceful foliage. The trees are
perfectly hardy in all portions of the
United States, it being one of half a
dozen species of American trees which
have survived through thirty vears of
THE LARGEST REMAINING HONEY neglect, among the hundreds planted

LOCUST. by the Santa Fe Railway in Kansas.

 

 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 109

 

 

 

TRUNK OF HONEY LOCUST WITH THORNS.
The honey locust has few insect pests and no serious disease to contend with. It
is by no means a slow growing tree, if reasonable care is used in the planting and
subsequent treatment.

The honey locust makes an excellent screen, where planted closely, and
is used in places for a hedge, but does not thicken up sufficiently to make an
effective protection against hogs.

The ease with which it is grown, hardiness, rapid maturity, and general
value of the timber should commend the honey locust for extensive forest planting.
110 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.

 

I started from Francis on the Ward Line, or Colorado & Northwestern
Railway, at 6:20 A. M., ascended Mt. Baldy by the old trail some distance to
the deep snow among the green timbers where both white and red spruce
thickly covered the ground. The south and west slopes where the timber
has been cut away, and in places where fires have devastated the timber, all is
bare, only stumps and dead logs remaining. There is no snow on their slopes.
It has already been melted and has flooded the lower country. The effects
are seen all over the valley. On the north and east slopes there is consider-
able timber, spruce and aspen, the solidly packed snow, the fall of ten to
twenty feet, having been compressed into four or five feet. It is firm to walk
over. “2 spruce here rises to about 11,000 feet, and on the north slope is
in plac-z quite plentiful.

Upon the divide along the east arm of Baldy, at 11,500 feet elevation, is
seen the fearful effect of wintry winds. The spruce and aspen are bent with
the winds to the southward, lying along the surface of the mountain only five
or six feet high, but often forty-feet length of tree, the roots in many places
being pulled out of the rock fastenings by the wind. The trees are arranged:
in open rows with open space between, like parallel hedge rows. We reach
the summit of the divide near a deserted miner’s cabin. Numerous monu-
ments occur where mineral locations have been made.

Baldy proper is a round-top, elevated mass, with arms to east and west,
and is connected with the Continental Divide at the Arapahoe peaks. Numer-
ous lakes and streams in the valleys nearby come into view from this elevated
point. The top of the mountain is now (June 3) bare; except for occasional
patches of snow. The elevation is 12,150 feet. Far to the south Pike’s Peak
is seen, and nearby, only three to four miles distant, is the Continental Divide,
its peaks all snowcapped.

I continued a mile farther west to the foremost elevation of Baldy, where
half a dozen piles of stones mark the visit of tourists. Here I took many
photographs, some of which we reproduce. To the west are the Arapahoe
Peaks, but I see no glacier indications. They are not more than three miles
distant by section lines and surveys, and any glacial appearance should be
clearly seen from this distance. To the right is Bald Mountain, 11,493 feet,
and to the north Audubon Peak, 13.173 feet elevation, Saint Vrain Creek and
lake, or reservoir, being directly at my feet, while the black appearance of the
dark spruce shows a fine body of timber. Very much green young timber
 

 

 

THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE,
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 113

grows in the valleys and lower slopes. Southward the Colorado & North-
western Railway winds about, as it ascends the mountain, is traced for many
miles. Upon the whole this region looks quite encouraging for the young
timber on the northern slopes. A hundred miles to eastward is seen the great
plain region, dotted with lakes and streams, as now the floods from fast-melt-
ing snow fills the streams to overflowing.

Continuing west I found that the farthermost elevation of Baldy termi-
nated in a saddle, where from the head of Saint Vrain Creek a trail leads over
to North Boulder Creek. I took other views from this elevation near Arapahoe,
and then retraced my steps.

DESTRUCTION BY FIRE AND AX.

There are some locations where the entire mountain sides have been de-
nuded of trees, partly in clearing for the necessary work of mining, and partly
by forest fires. As every live tree is gone, there is no immediate prospect for the
mountains being reseeded, and of course they will be bare until either the State or
Nation or some benevolent individuals shall procure seed from other locations and
scatter it upon the bare tracts. While this is a slow process of forming a forest, yet
it is the only one practical for much of this mountain region. To plant small nurs-
ery-grown trees would be much better, but there is no likelihood of this being
done in Colorado on any extensive scale. In New York, Pennsylvania, or
more populous States with great wealth, this is the method now being adopted,
but Colorado has not the means for carrying out such a program. Yet Col-
orado can, if she will, collect and distribute seed for reclothing these barren
tracts with timber.

There is absolutely no necessity for expensive surveys, map-making and
years of study, as to what trees will grow, how far apart they should be
planted, nor any other details. These facts are now well known to our citi-
zens. The thing to do is to appropriate funds for seed collection of such trees
as are well known to succeed at these altitudes, and are now in existence all
over the State with an abundance of seed going to waste every year. Then, by
distributing these seeds and having it scattered in those bare tracts, they will
in due time make trees and timber and lumber for the benefit of the State.

During the year 18098, wishing to learn more of Rocky Mountain forests,
I engaged with the Colorado and Northwestern Railway. In the survey being
made in Boulder County, the line gradually climbed the rugged mountains,
from Boulder to and over the Divide, where it reached an elevation of 10,000
feet. While thus engaged, and upon an occasion when the party was at rest,
I ascended Mount Baldy, a great rounded mass at the base of the Continental
Divide, yet reaching 12,000 feet above the sea level. The magnificence and
grandeur of the views presented from this elevation so fixed themselves upon
my memory that I determined, when another opportunity afforded, that I
would again make this ascent.

HIGH-LINE WHITE PINE.

I find many young trees 20 to 30 feet high of this pine at Ward and on
the slopes of Mt. Baldy. The bark on young wood looks like that of silver
114 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

spruce, concolor, but has a distinct reddish cast. It is a handsome, symmetric
tree, leaves in fives, some fours, two and one-half inches long. Cone three
and one-half inches long, two and one-fourth inches broad when open. Leaves
come out on every side of branch, running in spirals, so that young branches
look like plumes. Cones, singly, in pairs and in threes at times. One tree in
Ward was 55 inches in girth, and 25 feet high.

It is scarcely profitable to discuss the climatic effect of these forests
which cover the higher mountains, and their control of rainfall and moisture-
laden air currents, together with their influence upon the country for a thou-
sand miles distance, when the United States Weather Bureau has officially
declared that forests have no influence either upon cloud movement or pre-
cipitation. An official declaration by an employee of the Government has
very great weight and is by many considered infallible, even though it be as
false as this one. Yet, notwithstanding such scientific authoritative denial,
the written history of more than three thousand years contains innumerable
repetitions of drought, famines, pestilence, aridity, together with uncontrolled
storms, tornadoes, cyclones and violent climatic disturbances, which have fol-
lowed the acts of man in forest destruction, and it is logical to presume that
the systematic planting of forests upon the mountains where they have been
destroyed by man’s agency in clearing or through man’s neglect in allowing fires
to ravage the country, as well as upon the plains where for ages no trees have ex-
isted, will in due course of time produce beneficial results, ameliorating the condi-
tions of the entire country.

Compared with the world’s history, running through forty centuries,
American occupation has been brief, and the results of forty years’ recorded
weather observation at Cincinnati, O., upon which the erroneous claims of the
United States Weather Bureau are based, can scarcely be recognized as off-
setting the records of four thousand years, and the declarations of Aristotle,
Josephus, Moses, Menander, Prescott, and many other most noted historians.

INFLUENCE OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.

There is probably no one feature in the topography of North America,
especially while we are considering the United States, which so greatly influ-
ences climatic conditions and thereby controls so largely the material interests
of this country as does the range of Rocky Mountains, the higher connected
points of which are designated as the Continental Divide.

Upon these highest elevations, where the temperature is usually quite
low, moisture is precipitated from the clouds which have been formed by the
vapor arising from the warm currents of the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of
Mexico. It is the presence of these high mountains, the Continental Divide,
which causes the aridity of the Western plains region to eastward by with-
drawing the moisture which would otherwise be broadly distributed in the
form of rain.

It is from the melting snows of these mountain slopes that many of the
great rivers are fed. The Columbia, Snake, Frazier, McKenzie, Yukon, Col-
orado of the Pacific Slope, and the Mississippi with its Western tributaries,
 

 

 

 

SUMMIT OF MOUNT BALDY, COLORADO.
(Effects of Constant High Wind in One Direction.)
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE TL?

Missouri, Yellowstone, Platte, Kansas, Arkansas, Red, Canadian, etc., and the
Rio Grande of the South, an international waterway, all rise in the Rocky
Mountain Range.

The regularity of flow in all these streams is entirely dependent upon the
snowfall and its period of melting in this high mountain range. The South
feels the mighty influence of this power as the strength of the embankment
and the height of the levees along the Mississippi and numerous rivers and
bayous are controlled by this one cause; while the navigation of Western
rivers, the period of navigable depth, and consequently the regularity of West-
ern commerce is also dependent upon the length of time occupied by these
mountain snows in melting.

A very large area of the United States is, to a greater or less extent, arid,
must be irrigated to enable vegetation to exist and thus provide homes and
farms for the rapidly increasing population.

The extent of the land which may be reclaimed from the desert, the
amount of wealth which must be expended in reservoir construction and
maintenance by the Nation, and as a consequence how great a population the
Nation may support, in the semi-arid bel:, will all depend upon conditions
existing in the Rocky Mountain region, and which may, to a very large extent,
be controlled by man, and this again will depend upon the area of the forest
cover upon the mountain slopes. The great number of bridges which in the
past few years have been swept away by floods of water from the too rapid
melting of snows attest the vast influence of the Continental Divide upon the
railway commerce of the West, while the cities submerged, homes and prop-
erty destroyed, and lives lost in these floods are in evidence to show the
destruction which may be caused by water uncontrolled, and which are influ-
enced by conditions in this elevated mountain region.

IMPORTANCE OF THE FORESTS.

So long as the mountain slopes are covered with timber, the snow is held
in place, shaded from the rays of the sun, and thus gradually, with the advent
of warm weather, is melted away, requiring several weeks to entirely disap-
pear. Although, of course, at a few points in the higher mountains, and upon
northern slopes, some snow remains throughout the year.

Removal of the forests, baring the rocks, enables the sun’s rays to reach
the snow-beds and melt it very rapidly. Thus the great volume of snow is
converted into water in a brief period, and, rushing down the steep gulches,
swells the streams to overflowing, creating havoc all the way to the sea.
More than this, the great rivers in the lower and level country, which have
thus tested the capacity of their banks and levees along their lower courses,
are soon reduced in volume, in depth, and in their capacity to bear the coun-
try’s commerce,

To remedy this condition and increase the navigable depth of rivers, the
Government expends annually many millions of dollars, under the enormous
appropriation for rivers and harbors improvement. Yet very much of this
work is ineffectual because the prime cause is lost sight of and only the
118 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

remote consequences are considered. The diesease is ignored while applying
nostrums in an attempt to cure the symptoms. For irrigation it is important
that much water may be stored, or held back in order to prolong the season of
flow. There is no method by which this can be accomplished so easily and
so economically as by refrigeration, that is, by retaining the snow in a frozen
condition. When released by heat it at once begins its downward flow, but so
long as it remains solid it is held in storage.

It will thus be seen that the forests upon the mountain slopes perform a
most important function in the economy of nature, and that their removal,
unless they shall be again restored, affects very many people and interests,
besides the few individuals who, for the sake of gain, destroy the timber. It
affects the entire Nation, and so many important interests and industries, that
the Nation, rather than one individual State or small group of States, should
be concerned in their perpetuity. The State of Louisiana, with a long line of
levees to maintain, is far more than Colorado herself an interested party to the
forest growths upon the Rocky Mountain slopes which are situated in the
latter State.

Missouri, whose citizens own and operate a majority of the steamers
which navigate the Mississippi River and its tributaries, has a greater interest
than has Colorado, whose citizens are not engaged in water transportation.

Nebraska and Kansas, whose lands are so dependent upon the flow of the
Platte, Republican, Kansas, Arkansas and other streams, are equally inter-
ested with Colorado from an irrigation standpoint, and instead of appealing
to the courts to determine how much of the water is owned by either State,
the appeal should be made to Congress to reclothe the mountains with forests
so that an ample supply of water may be secured for all.

The Mississippi River, a few years ago, overflowed its banks, burst
through the strongest levees, and spread over the State of Arkansas, forming
a lake forty miles in width, drowning people and stock, and causing great
distress to the people of that State. It seems very plain that the State of
Arkansas has a very great interest in any method by which similar floods may
be prevented in the future.

When the snow and ice have melted and flowed away to the sea, their
usefulness for irrigation purposes has ceased, and the benefits which may be
realized will always be gauged by the time consumed in melting, and it is
evident that with the direct rays of the sun, unsheltered by forests, this will
be most rapidly accomplished.

The seed collection and sowing should be performed by the Colorado
State Forestry Society, and funds provided by the Legislature to enable the
Society to carry out generous plans.
 

 

 

 

SNOW PROTECTED BY SPRUCE—MOUNT BALDY.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 121

THE BLACK WALNUT.

(Juglans Nigra.)

America’s Famous Cabinet Wood.

There are several members of the Juglandaccae family, all noted for the
rich, delicious meat contained in the nuts, which forms food enjoyed by man
as well as by the lower animals.

The European walnut, Jiuglans regia, is cultivated largely in several coun-
tries of Europe, and on a very large scale in California. This is the thin-
shelled walnut of commerce.

The butternut, Juglans cinerea, has an elongated oval-shaped nut, but
is usually consumed at home, few finding their way to the large markets. J. Sic-
boldiana is a variety native to Japan.

The Circassia walnut produces very beautiful veneers used in cabinet con-
structions.

 

There is a variety peculiar to the Pacific Coast although not very com-
mon, but the subject of our essay, the black walnut of America, is quite abun-
dant in many sections of the Central and Southern States.

In rich lands and thick woods the walnut became an immense tree, often
four or five feet in thickness, with long body, reaching one hundred feet and
upwards in height.

In soils of moderate fertility, and in open fields, or in fence corners, the
trees are widespreading, branching so low as to be of slight value for lumber.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century walnut was so abundant, and
was so peculiarly adapted for fencing, thousands of miles of rail fences were
entirely constructed of this wood. Toward the middle of the century it had
become famous for cabinet uses. By the close of the third quarter of the
122 PRACTICHL ARBORICULTURE

century the trees had become so scarce that cabinet manufacturers, unable to
secure ample supplies, brought the white oak into prominence, together with
birch, maple and other woods, but oak was forced upon the public as the fash-
ionable wood because walnut had become practically exterminated.

This very dark wood is easily wrought, takes on an exquisite polish, and
has been the most magnificent wood produced by North American trees.

The most beautiful and highly valued trees are those having interlocked
waving and figuring grain, and where the branches fork, and where the roots
gradually merge into the trunk the figuring is most highly prized.

Vast quantities of stumps have been collected from which the logs had
been marketed years before, these having become immensely valuable for
veneers.

At times various trees grow in waves, the fibers becoming interlocked,
“cross-grained,” etc. The farmer has no use for these, as they will not split
straight, not being fit for rails or even fire-wood; but the veneer manufacturer
sees in these “crotches” a very much greater value than in the straight-
grained or plain wood.

These thin veneers, but a hundredth of an inch in thickness, being glued
upon some cheap, abundant lumber, make the finest furniture.

Europeans connoisseurs place a much higher value upon the walnut than
do our American dealers, insomuch that almost the entire output of walnut
logs is shipped to Europe. The wood is among the very best for carving. It
does not warp, but holds its place perfectly.

In old trees there is very little sap wood, but in young timber this is in
excess. It has been said that lumber made from young trees does not pos-
sess that dark rich color characteristic of old timber. This is probably the
case with trees less than twelve to fifteen inches thickness, but not with those
of somewhat larger size.

The coloring matter is in the ascending sap, and as the cells are formed
they are stained with this dye which with age deepens or darkens.

The husks surrounding the nuts contain quantities of this black dye, as
does also the bark. Both the butternut and walnut were formerly used for
dyeing home-made clothes by American pioneers.

The cultivation of the walnut is one of the easiest tasks with which the
farmer has todo. The nuts are all fertile, and grow spontaneously, if covered
with leaves or earth to prevent drying.

The trees grow rapidly, and if in thickets, or shaded by other trees, they
are upright, with long trunks, which are usually quite straight.

THE SHAPE OF TREES.

All forest trees prolong their growth in the direction from which light is
received.

In a moderately close forest the trees reach upward and thus form
straight, upright boles. On the contrary, in an open field the branches push
out in every direction because light reaches the foliage on all sides.

Where a house or other obstacle cuts off the light, as on the outer edge
 

 

 

 

EY FEEL,

OVT

IN.

ROWN

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TRI

WAENCD

TY EICAM:
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 125

of a forest, the trees are one sided and bent away from the object which cuts
off the light.

The walnut is particularly subject to this law. One nut planted in the
midst of a quarter-acre field will in time extend its branches to cover the entire
field, but its trunk will be very short. Yet fifty trees grown upon the same
area will form tall trunks giving high value to the lumber.

However, if 680 trees be planted on this same quarter-acre tract (the
4x4 feet system), none will make trees, but spindling shafts starved and stunted
forever.

There are certain trees which have the habit of pushing forward their
terminal shoot with great vigor, the side branches also making upright
growth, such as the Lombardy poplar; but these are few.

In order that profitable timber be secured, and the greatest increase in a
given period, there should be approximately two hundred trees upon each
acre of land.

We seldom appreciate any possession during its abundance, nor until it
has disappeared is its want felt.

One of America’s most abundant forest trees, the walnut, as a commer-
cial timber, is practically exhausted. Can it again be restored? Will the
National and State Governments render substantial assistance? And_ will
individual land owners begin its restoration, and, further, will it pay? These
are some of the questions which we propose to discuss.

DISTRIBUTION OF FORESTS.

The Creator in His wisdom has devised various methods and adopted
many agencies for the distribution of forest trees.

The wind carries those seeds which are light and downy many miles from
the parent tree, and those of lesser weight but which are winged, to lesser distances.

Streams of water bear others which will float, depositing them in the
soft mud along their shores.

Others are surrounded with edible pulp or pleasant juice, which is relished
by birds, and such fruits are devoured by these feathered planters of forests, the
seeds growing into forests often very far distant.

Wild animals, and especially the smaller quadrupeds, gather acorns, nuts
and edible fruits, store them for time of need, and dropping some by the way
or leaving others in their store-houses, become, unintentionally, the builders
of forests.

Man has seldom been charged with forest planting in America, yet the
Aborigines were the principal distributers of the walnut and other nut trees
from which a goodly portion of their food was obtained.

As the American Indians had no fixed homes, but wandered at will up
and down the great rivers from the St. Lawrence and the Northern Lakes
to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Hudson River westward to the Missouri
and bevond, camping along the streams, visiting with tribes with whom they
were friendly, and warring with others to whom they had enmity, they car-
ried the nuts from place to place, some of which were dropped and became
trees.
126 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Thus from Quebec, through New York and Pennsylvania, southward to:
Florida and the Gulf, along all water-ways, at the favorite camping places, we
find the walnut growing in profusion.

Probably from the enmity which existed between the far eastern tribes
and those to the westward, there were no walnuts planted by Indians in New
England, although they were abundant upon the Hudson and in the West
along the valleys of Eastern Nebraska and Kansas.

THE FOOD VALUE OF THE NUTS.

Commercially the American walnut has no such value as the European
walnut possesses. The meat is strong and very oily, while the shell is rough,.
coarse and bulky compared with the meat within.

The brown-stained hands of the schoolboy at nut-gathering time shows
his love for this fruit, but more, however, for the pleasure of an outing in the
country while gathering them. The green hulls surrounding the nuts contain
a powerful coloring matter, and in removing these the boy's hands are stained
indelibly, only being removed as the epidermis is gradually worn off.

While a comparatively few are collected for home use, and a very small
number find their way into the country store, the vast majority of walnuts re-
main on the ground beneath the trees until by drying in the sun, after the
leaves have fallen, the germ is destroyed and the nuts decay.

PROFUSION OF SEED.

Enough seed are produced by a single tree each year, if properly planted
to produce from one to five acres of walnut forest, and it would not require a
very large expenditure of money or length of time in waiting to re-clothe a
goodly portion of land with forest.

TRANSPLANTING WALNUT.

Owing to the root character of the walnut, it having a hard woody tap
root, with but few fibrous roots near the trunk, the trees (as are all nut trees)
are difficult to transplant, and this should not be attempted except with one
year’s growth and probably not at all. The nut should be planted where the
tree is expected to remain.

True, nut trees are occasionally removed, and some, nursery grown, with
roots pruned to increase fibrous rootlets, are sent out from the nurseries, but
this is not practical with the walnut.

The same root character gives to the walnut a power possessed by few
trees, that of penetrating hard soils, breaking them up and admitting air and
moisture, thus hastening soil fertilization to a great depth.

The walnut never grows in very poor soil with satisfaction. If it happens
to be planted in such locations, it improves the soil, enriches it by deposit of
leaves which contain great fertilizing power, as well as by loosening the sub-
soil and carrying fertilitv to a great depth.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 127
PLANTING WHERE NOT INDIGENOUS.

It has been claimed by certain persons that as the walnut was not indige-
nous to New England, it follows that nature never intended it to grow there,
and that it would not succeed in such localities.

Of course this is but the vagaries of short-sighted individuals. Many
instances are recorded of fine walnut trees which are growing in Massachusetts and
other States, from seed planted by man, and which have proven the profitable
character of this tree.

PRACTICAL FORESTRY.

Prof. John Gifford, in his “Practical Forestry :”

“The simple fact that a certain species (tree) may be found growing only
in a very limited range is no reason for believing that it will not grow else-
where. Many species which have been moved from their native place have
met with new enemies and have perished; others, however, in being moved
have escaped their foes. . . . The day is passed when we should concern
ourselves exclusively with the species of our own country in spite of their
abundance and great variety. We should search the world for those species
ci the greatest value, which will grow to the best advantage in various parts
of this country. . . . Natural distribution of species, as it stands to-day,
is mainly a matter of accident. The locust, red oak and Douglas fir are as
well, if not better, known in Europe than in their native land.”

We commend these thoughts to our friends in New England who reject the
black walnut because it was not indigenous—and who are losing much by refusing
to plant it by the millions. The application may also extend to the Catalpa speci-
osa, which a century ago was only known in the valley of the Wabash River, cov-
ering not more than 150 square miles, while to-day it is found in every portion
of the globe.

AN IMMENSE FOREST TREE.

In the North Carolina exhibit of forestry at the World's Fair was a walnut
log, 52 inches in diameter, 12 feet 4 inches long, attached to which was a card
wh.ch read:

“The big walnut tree of the Moore Cove was for many years a famous
tree, standing in the Moore Cove, Jackson County, North Carolina, until it
was bought for the Williamson Veneer Company and shipped to Baltimore to
be cut into veneers. The log on exhibition is the second one from the tree,
which made altogether eight thousand feet log measure.”

Fifty years ago there were many such trees in Indiana, fully as large as
the one on exhibition.

Many of these trees were made into rails with which to fence the fields
of Indiana pioneers, and until a few years ago there were a hundred miles of
worm fences, built of walnut rails, in Indiana.

The wood was not valued at that time, except as a convenient, easy split-
ting timber that could most easily be made into fencing.
128 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Still more wasteful was the practice in the valley of the Kansas and
Marais des Cygnes Rivers, in Kansas, where walnut and oak logs of giant size
were rolled into the fence rows and thus used as barricades against stock, it
being too much labor to split them into rails and build fences.

Walnut was very abundant in the valleys of Eastern Kansas, yet, but a
dozen miles away there were treeless prairies of great extent, which were at
an early day considered as part of the Great American Desert, but which now
are highly cultivated. It was thought no lumber would ever be required to
improve this “desert” region.

The walnut was distributed over a great extent of territory, but never
existed in exclusive forest, but always in mixed woods, owing to the method
of its distribution by Indians who camped in old woods.

Grown in fence corners or open field, away from other trees, the walnut
becomes a low-spreading tree, with a minimum of sawing lumber in the trunk.
The same may be said of many other forest trees.

But when grown moderately close the timber becomes tall, upright and
free from branches to great height.

This does not prove that the nuts should be planted with a wheat drill.

PLANTING THE NUTS.

Trees may be too close together as well as too far apart; both extremes
should be avoided. We think 7x7 feet a good distance at first, thinning as
becomes necessary.

For the improvement of small growth forests, and where the trees are of
slight value, the walnut may be introduced to advantage.

Presuming the second growth of such woodlands to be dense enough to
keep down grasses, and to give some forest conditions, the nuts may be
planted with some system among the standing wood.

A hole may be made with the mattock, three or four inches deep, a nut
dropped in and the earth covered over it with the foot. This is the simplest
and quickest method in such cases.

The young plant is very hardy, and being crowded by the surrounding
brush will shoot upward without side branches. In a few vears the walnut
will occupy the land, destroying slower growths.

The importance of changing the character of the wood growths through-
out a very large portion of our country is not sufficiently appreciated. Mil-
lions of acres which are covered with scrub growths ranging from ten to
thirty feet height, and of no commercial value, give the appearance of a forest,
and in theoretical estimates are classed as timbered areas, causing the false
impression that we have vast areas of valuable forests still remaining. These
inferior growths do not produce an income for the owners or a revenue for
the State.

By introducing the walnut, and other valuable trees of greater stature and
higher financial importance, these low-valued tracts may be brought up to a
much higher standard. For instance:
“

- PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 129
HEIGHT OF TREES.

The trees of the Northwest Pacific coast average 300 feet in height. Those
of the mixed forests of our Middle States were originally 150 to 200 feet high,
but those now remaining will not average much more than 80 feet, the yellow
pine of the south, 125 feet, while in the general wood lots of Massachusetts the
height is but thirty feet. The white pine of the North was 150 feet and up-
wards, but now is measured by the remaining stumps. There is no reason why
the height of trees in New England and the North may not be as great as in
other portions of the country, if the proper kind are planted and intelligently
managed.

USES OF BLACK WALNUT.

The pioneers of the Middle States valued the walnut for what they could
make with it — fence rails. With the advent of saw mills, furniture factories and
improved machinery, the walnut became the principal wood for chairs, household
furniture and office finishing.

The quality of the wood makes it specially suited for carving. No other
American wood equals the walnut for this purpose.

At the present time a very small quantity of walnut is used in the United
States. Its scarcity and high price, combined with the fact that quartered ak is,
for the time being, the fashionable wood in the United States, cause almost the
entire output now to go to Europe where it is still appreciated, the standard for
fine lumber being higher than here.

There have been a limited number of railway ties made from walnut, which
have given some satisfaction, but the wood is of far too great value to be used
for this purpose.

WALNUT FOR SEED.

The germ of the walnut is destroyed by drying, hence they should be kept
moist, although not in water, until ready for planting.

The outer hull or husk, which is removed when the nuts are gathered for
eating, should be left on when intended for seed, as it serves a double purpose,
not only keeping the kernel moist and fresh, but when the young plant begins
growth it provides nourishment until the root has obtained a hold upon the earth
and is capable of gathering food.

Every portion of the hard shell and the husk is absorbed by the young plant
as they decay quickly.

It is imperative that nuts which are intended for seed should be gathered
soon after the frost ripens them and loosens their hold upon the trees, and they fall
to the earth.

They should be stored in piles, preferably covered to prevent drying, or
packed at once in barrels for immediate shipment.

When the nuts are gathered for eating the husks are removed and nuts spread
out to dry, as the fresh live kernel is not desirable for eating.
130 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Frost is not essential for either the ripening of the fruit or for cracking the
hard shell to release the growing plant, for the walnut often grows in the South
where severe frosts do not occur, yet they grow as well as those acted upon by
freezing.

Neither does the frost injure the seed or trees, both being very hardy.

The nuts vary in size greatly, and possibly might be improved by selection of
seed, but the variety of edible nuts of other trees, and especially the European
thinshelled walnuts which are far better in flavor and are less bulky, would make
such attempt at improvement unprofitable.

INSECT PESTS.

There is a strong odor and a sticky, highly colored sap in the walnut, which
is obnoxious to most insects. No borers are known to injure the wood, and but
few attack the foliage, hence its freedom from insect enemies commend it for cul-
tivation.

ENGAGE SEED IN ADVANCE,

Every season inquiries are made for walnuts for seed, but usually it is too
late to obtain them. They must be engaged in advance. No one can aiford
to collect them in large quantities and prepare the nuts for planting without
knowing in advance that they will be wanted. Yet enough nuts could be
secured to plant thousands of acres if parties desiring them would make their
wants known before gathering time.

CULTIVATION.

It is absolutely a waste of time, money and energy to plant anything and
then abandon it to nature.

Walnut trees must be cultivated the same as corn or other crops if the
best success is expected. This must continue for four or five years, or untul
the ground is so shaded as to keep down grass.

Of course this pertains to land not in forest, for there cultivation has a
better substitute, a loose mould and mulching of leaves.

The man who plants a forest of any kind, and relies upon nature to do his
pruning, must plant very thickly and will leave the farm, entailed, to his
great-grandchildren, who may receive some benefit.

Pruning is not expensive—it is much cheaper than paying interest on a
long-time investment while waiting for nature to do the work.

Cut off a side branch when less than an inch in thickness and the saw
will not be required to remove it when a foot through.

Rapidity of growth will depend upon treatment rather than other causes.

From several hundred measurements I have found that with room to
secure nourishment, and not in a hard sod, the average growth up to thirty
years is two inches girth increase per annum. A tree twenty vears old should
be in girth 40 inches or have a thickness of 1374 inches.

As the walnut became more scarce from the excessive demand its value
arose to a fabulous price. .\gents scoured the country paying enormous sums
‘SHUUL LANIVM £O TAOND

LNV Id

 

“NOSNIMLY

TAREE

 

 

 

 

 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 133

for logs that were but a short time before considered without value. Old
stumps were dug up with which to make veneers, while limbs and short,
crooked logs were hauled to the mills and utilized as lumber. But the end
soon came. Such a continuous demand upon the forests which had been
wastefully destroyed for so many years, with no attempt at renewal by plant-
ing more trees, could have but one result; the beautiful black walnut no longer
to be had for commercial purposes was replaced by oak, birch and other
woods, and is now seldom used as a cabinet wood.

In the California exhibit, in Forestry Building, were two immense boards
of walnut, highly polished, which have an interesting history.

There is one walnut which is indigenous to California, Juglans Californica,
having smooth shell and a small nut.

But the boards mentioned are from the eastern walnut, Juglans Nigra, the
seed of which was planted by a Mr. Taylor about 1848, the nuts having been
brought from the Eastern states.

One board is 36 inches wide and nine feet long; another being 4o inches
wide. The figure is excellent. ' The tree grew in Yolo County, not far from
Sacramento. ‘The rate of growth in this tree was nearly three quarters of an
inch diameter per annum, which is far greater than the walnut increases in
the Middle and Eastern states. :

If California can secure and maintain such timber growth it will be a
most profitable field for an investment.

In a natural forest seed bed, with shade and abundant mulching of fallen
leaves, the surface soil mellow and in the best condition for the young plant,
it makes very rapid growth.

Under cultivation, these conditions should be secured by thoroughly stirring
the soil for several years, often enough to keep down all grass.

While the writer was living on the prairies of Kansas some years ago,
it was quite difficult to obtain nuts for planting, but on almost every farm in
the, older States are trees from which several barrels of nuts could be obtained
in the fall after the first heavy frost. Preferably, the outer hull should remain
on the nuts if for seed.

Corn or other farm crops may occupy the space between the rows for
several years, thus reducing the cost of cultivation.

There are numerous walnut trees which have grown in fence rows on
Western farms, making large trees in from twelve to twenty years, sufficient
for milling purposes except for length of body. A grass sod, however, soon
stunts the walnut, from which it never recovers. Other trees do not thrive
well in close proximity to the walnut, hence the various species should be

planted separately.

GREAT WALNUT TREES GROW IN PRAIRIE STATE.

That there is enough walnut timber in Nebraska to warrant the existence
of a company for its exclusive handling is something of a surprise to those

wont to think of Nebraska as a prairie State.
It is a fact, however, that there is a considerable growth of walnut trees
134 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

over the State, some of them of a size and quality that have been found
acceptable even in the Liverpool market.

The growth is scattered, the most of it being found near the Blue River,
not far from Seward. There the trees grow from twenty to forty-eight inches
in diameter, some of the logs cutting one thousand feet of lumber.

The quality is all good and finds a ready market. The walnut lumber
company has just shipped to Liverpool three carloads of logs that have been cut
near Seward.

In the early days of Kansas there were numerous black walnut trees of
immense size growing in the rich bottom lands bordering the Kansas, Marais
des Cygnes, and other rivers, undoubtedly planted by the Aborigines.

The early settlers built many fences of solid logs of oak and walnut, not
taking the trouble to split them into rails. But walnut had no value at that
time, and the great prairies now so thickly settled were considered unin-
habitable.

It seems that Europe now demands all the walnut obtainable, while other
more abundant woods have the run in American markets.

The land owner who plants walnuts and takes care of them will have a
competency in old age which can not be assured by any of the life insurance
plans yet devised.

A billion dollars can be added to the value of realty in the United States
by the systematic planting upon the waste lands of American farms, the wal-
nuts which go to waste in one year.

Less than forty years ago the walnut, oak and other hard-wood trees
which had covered the rich lands of the Kansas River and other streams of the
State of Kansas, were cleared away entirely, the land having been farmed
continuously for many vears. Yet to-day there are many walnut trees of from
six to eighteen inches thickness, mingled with the fringe of timber which has
grown up since that period. ,

At Topeka, Lawrence, Junction City, and away out to the head waters of
the Kansas streams there are walnut trees which have been planted naturally
within the past few years.

Usually these trees are in rather open woods or alone in fence corners,
and naturally they are short-bodied, but by proper care with systematic plant-
ing they would be tall and upright.

For several hundred miles along the Union Pacific Railway, single trees
and groves of walnut are frequent; scarcely a mile is traversed but they are
in evidence. At shipping time many carloads of these nuts could be secured
if proper efforts were made to save them.

At Lawrence, Kan., a few days ago we saw quantities of walnut logs
being hewn preparatory to ship out to Europe. Foreign buyers have the
logs hewn or roughly squared for convenience of handling on steamships,
NSIIVIONANNWOO NVOINANV GNV SOILITOd AM GCHAONLSAG ONIAD ‘STIVA VAVOVIN

 
PRACTICAL ARBORTCOULTORE 137

THE FATE OF NIAGARA.

Shall American Commercialism Destroy the Greatest of North American
Scenic Attractions?

The view of Niagara Falls in winter is impressive, and when once seen is
never to be forgotten.

In January, 1904, as we stood below the American Falls, the ice was
formed into a mountain just below the precipice, while the floes, blown to the
American side upon the rapids above, had entirely shut off the flow of water
from these falls. Not one drop of water was falling over this side.

Walking around to the Canadian side there was a very moderate quan-
tity of water pouring over the Canadian Falls, but by no means the abundance
which formerly made these waterfalls so attractive.

The water has been so diverted to the tunnels and water wheels on both
the New York and Canadian sides that the scenic feature of the great falls
has to a great extent lost its impressiveness.

There are still other schemes on foot, on both sides of the river, which
purpose the taking out of the stream a‘still greater portion of water, and bids.
fair, if not checked, to destroy the beauty and grandeur entirely.

The Niagara River is an international waterway, and the control of the
stream should be by joint action of the United States and Canadian govern-
ments.

The State of Michigan or City of Detroit would not undertake to so greatly
divert the waters which ow between Lakes Huron and Erie, for the navi-
gation of the Great Lakes would thus be impaired, and this concerns the
national government of both the United States and Canada.

There is no reason why the same law should not control Niagara, which
is visited by hundreds of thousands yearly, to view its wondrous grandeur.

It is to be hoped that some effective means may be employed to prevent
further encroachment, and to limit the volume of water which existing manu-
facturers shall withdraw, and it may be best to confine this operation to the
right period, leaving the full volume to flow during the day.

No corporation would construct a bridge or make other extensive im-
provements where the territory belongs to two independent governments
without first attaining the consent of both nations, nor should the water be
diverted from the Niagara River upon any other condition.
 

 

 

THE RICE FIELDS, KOREA DEVIL POSTS, KOREA

 

 

KOREA THE FUEL AND MODE OF TTS TRANSPORTATION

A PROMISING YOUTH, SOUL,
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 139

INFLUENCE OF FORESTS UPON A PEOPLE.

With Illustrations from Korean Scenery.

There are influences, which, to a greater or less degree, control the
destinies of nations, but which, from their silent actions, are unrecognized
as the cause of national decadence, or of national supremacy. The presence
of a fair proportion of forests, or their entire absence, has often been the
means of uplifting a national life, or, on the contrary, its degradation.

 

 

 

 

A KOREAN INN, THE STABLES

China is an illustration of a people, older than any other nation of the
earth, more densely populated, ranking high in education, but of a character
peculiar to herself, boasting of a civilization which antedates all other history ;
yet China is a country without forests, and her millions of people are unable
140 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

to stand as equals before the nations of the earth, whiie she is imposed upon
by all. :

Instance Germany, France, and other continental nations, whose forests
are protected and made to aid in her manufacturing industries, and note the
higher civilization of these people.

~

Observe the world power of ancient Israel, in the time of Kings David
and Solomon, and her forest wealth, the ten millions of people supported by
the soil of Palestine, and compare this with the same region in its degradation
at the present time—its total absence of forests, and poverty of soil.

But we ‘wish to show the condition of Korea, the Hermit Kingdom; a
land without forests, a people enslaved by other powers, and to trace a con-
nection between these two conditions.

 

 

DEVIL POST BY ROADSIDE, KOREA

The twelve million Koreans occupy 85,000 square miles of land, 140
inhabitants to the square mile—a far denser population than Europe, or all
of Asia.

There are some trees in Korea, standing upon the hilltops, where rest the
bones of her ancestry. The religious observation of an ancient custom, the
preservation of ancestral graves, and veneration for the dead, has caused
them to refrain from disturbing the trees upon these sites, and alone preserved
them from destruction.
PRACTICAL, ARBORTCULTURE I4i

The absence of timber prevents the establishment of adequate manufac-
tories, which might keep the people employed; hence, idIness is the prevailing
condition.

The Koreans are not a bad people at heart; on the contrary, they are
gentle and kind, and were it not for their idle habits and false notions of reli-
gion, they would rise as rapidly as have their Japanese neighbors.

 

 

THE BLACKSMITH, KOREA

The presence of forests enables man to procure materials from which to
make things. It gives employment to the people. It increases the desire for
better homes, better methods of life, and is the great incentive to labor.
While the absence of trees make these things impossible, discouraging any
attempts at the betterment of human conditions. Thus idleness is begot and
national decadence follows in the natural course. :
142 PRACTICAL ARBORLCOLE ORE

Compare the monstrous business of European countries, where vast quan-
tities of fuel are required to move trains, steamers and manufactories, with the
Koreans’ method of taking home the winter fuel on the backs of a few oxen,
or carried by men; the scrubby brush being gathered to burn in the rude
ovens beneath the mud floors.

There may be coal mines beneath Korea as extensive as those of any
other country, but the inhabitants have not made serious efforts to discover
and appropriate the coal. So idleness and national degeneracy have pre-
vented it from being utilized, if it should exist.

The grinding mill, where two women are preparing the grain for house-
hold use, is characteristic of the country where no advance has been made for
centuries, while other nations have forged ahead in the march of progress.

The supreme efforts of nine men are required to manipulate one common
shovel. This is a common scene in Korea. Yet, one ambitious laborer from
any of the countries of Europe will perform double the service of these nine,
and do it with perfect ease.

The water gate, at Seoul, will give a very fair impression of the poverty
of the country in forests—a few pines are the only trees in view. But, then,
we have some few localities in the United States of America which were
formerly heavily timbered, but which can now boast of no more trees than
this Korean picture shows. It is possibly true that ‘‘coming events cast their
shadows before.”

What connection, we are again asked, have these illustrations with the
forests?

The country without forests must obtain its revenue from other sources;
and if these be lacking, there can be no revenue except at the expense of the
national honor and individual humiliation. The amount of a nation’s revenue
determines its standing among nations and its general prosperity. The pros-
perity of a nation governs the employment and wages of its people, and upon
this depends their happiness. The country without forests, not having the
means of employment for its inhabitants, necessarily drags them downward;
first, into idleness, then to satisfaction with what nature, unaided, provides,
making no effort toward improvement. and a life of degradation and poverty
results.

Willows, pine trees, birch, beech, maple and cedar are mentioned as
occurring in natural forests in a small way, which goes to show that the
country was formerly well wooded. The same careless indifference which
characterizes Americans with regard to the forests and trees has been very
pronounced in Korea during the years gone by, with the result that the better
forests were long ago destroyed.

The tropics, it will be said by critics, show vast forests, and vet with indo-
lent and unprogressive natives. But equatorial regions, although nature
supplies them with rank vegetation, presents other conditions which have
agreater control. The torrid climate overcomes all other influences. de-
stroying man’s energy. Yet, Korea is in a temperate region, identical in
climate with that of Japan. But Japan preserves her forests, and takes the best care
PRACTICAL ARBORTC OLIUR & 143

of them, fully appreciating their immense value and importance. Japan has
many extensive manutactories and a remunerative trade with other nations,
and thus Japan is enabled to stand with equality before the nations of the
world.

Now that Japan has the suzerainty over this Korean kingdom gives
promise of an improvement in the forest conditions, for Japan is one of the
foremost nations in their knowledge of forestry and the practical application
of the forester’s art; and this, in time, will bring about the conditions which
result from a larger extension of the forest regions of the countrv. We know

 

 

 

THE WATER GATE, SEOUL, KOREA.

that trees will grow rapidly in Korea, when planted. A missionary at Pyeng
Yang, to whom we sent various forest tree seeds last year, writes that his
Catalpa speciosa grew four feet in height the first season, from seed. A much
larger quantity of seed was again sent this season. If there is a lesson in this

bit of history from the Far East, let the American people apply it before it
is too late.
144 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

THE CONTROL OF WIND BY FOREST BELTS.

“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth.”—John i: 8.

Stagnation is death. Water is purified by pouring over rocks in mountain
streams, and by flowing rapidly in rivers. The ocean is always in motion
upon its surface, while numerous currents flow throughout its entire extent.
The atmosphere takes up the poisonous gases from eyery source and by con-
stant motion maintains its purity.

Even if it were desirable to turn back the current of the Mississippi and
stop its onward flow, or to command the wind to be still, one would be as
impossible as the other; but the current of the great river is controlled by a
system of levees, and made to flow in a regular channel, and just as well can
the force of the wind be regulated, and its damaging effects eliminated or
greatly modified if we will but make the effort.

There is not a season which passes but we have numerous reports of great
damage done by wind; uprooting isolated trees, breaking branches from those
of more brittle nature, shaking the fruit from orchard trees, scorching farm
crops by the hot breath of the sirocco in midsummer, freezing flocks of sheep
and herds of cattle upon the ranges in winter, blockading roads and railway
systems by snow drifts, carrying away large structures at times and tearing
buildings in twain in exposed localities.

These occurrehces are usually upon the prairies or plains and in regions
where the forests have been removed and but few trees remain, which being
unsupported by surrounding forests, give way before unusual blasts.

While I am aware that storms frequently uproot trees which lie in their
paths, in certain forest locations, I am also acquainted with the conditions
existing in Mississippi and other states, especially in the South, where there
are thick forests having evidences of storms, with wide swaths of fallen timber
which were cleared by former “old hurricanes,” as they are locally called.

In these localities a shallow soil of sand is underlaid with a hard pan of
stiff clay, through which the pine roots fail to penetrate. the tap roots curling
about like a corkscrew on reaching the impenetrable hard pan. Few strong
lateral roots are formed to support the trees and the wind having great lever-
age, they are upturned by comparatively slight wind storms.

Yet the fact still remains that the most devastating storms and those of
greatest frequency have their pathway in treeless regions, which also are
without mountain protection.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 145

Siroccos, hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones and wind currents of every
character have laws governing their movements, and such storms may be con-
trolled or modified to great extent by proper efforts upon the part of people
who reside in the locations where they prevail, by an extensive planting of
belts and groups of trees of suitable character.

The laws governing the flow of water in streams are well understood by
engineers and countervailing forces are often employed to modify their
influence; but it remains for us to devise and apply methods which will have
a similar effect upon the wind, the laws governing which being in many
respects identical with those which control the movement of water.

There are a few powerful forces which set the atmosphere in motion and
give direction and velocity to wind currents.

Heat, expanding the atmosphere in some localities, causes it to rise.

Cooler air flowing in to prevent a vacuum.

Natural obstructions, such as mountain ranges or forests, which deflect
the currents from a direct course.

An eddy or reverse current, moving in a circle in opposite direction to the
main current, on the lee of anv obstacle.

Gravity, pressing the strata of air to the surface.

 

 

DOUBLE LINE OF SNOW FENCES ON RIO GRANDE WESTERN RAILWAY, UTAH.

The principle of the eddy is shown in the railway cut and is taken advan-
tage of by engineers in northern localities who erect fences a short dis-
tance from the track in direction of prevailing snow storms. Without these
countervailing obstacles the snow would fill the cuts and cause endless delays
of traffic.

On the lee of these fences the snow is accumulated instead of filling the
cuts. Often two or more lines of fences are maintained, the more thoroughly
to protect the track within the cut.
146 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Combinations of these various forces guide the currents of wind with
varying direction and force according to predominating influences. At times
a gentle zephyr, again the terrible tornado. Where uncontrolled as upon
the ocean, a ship may lie becalmed for weeks, making no progress, and after-
wards be carried to destruction by monster waves lashed into mountains by
the typhoon.

The same principle explains the snow drifts upon a farm or on the road-
way in prairie countries. <A plain board fence and frequently a four wire
fence simply causes the wind to form an eddy which deposits a drift of snow
to such depth as to blockade the highway. It is often necessary to open the
fields for the public to travel until the roads are cleared of snow.

Builders of windmills understand that a high building or clump of trees,
a hill or any obstruction near the wheel will prevent its successful operation
when the direction of the wind is in line with such obstacle, although operat-
ing perfectly while the direction is transverse to such lines. Here the eddy
or whirling removes the pressure from the wheel and also causes the vane to
vacillate.

In the Ohio River, opposite the boyhood home of the author, is an im-
mense sand bar, caused by a projecting ledge of rocks from the limestone hills
of the Kentucky shore. In former years this bar extended entirely across the
river, both above and below the town of Rising Sun, very shallow water cov-
ering that portion called the channel, and steamboats were grounded on this
bar with frequency. Engineers have constructed two dams projecting from
the Indiana shore and one from the Kentucky side, in such manner as to con-
fine the current so that the force of the stream deepens the channel, in order
that boats may navigate more safely.

Exactly the same principle governs the wind currents. AA canyon in the
mountains diverts the wind, directs its course, and at times increases its
velocity. A range of high mountains or sharp hills deflect it upwards, while
belts of trees perform the same service.

Locomotive engineers inform me that in time of strong head or side
winds these have a decided influence upon the train, retarding its progress,
and when a belt of timber intervenes the strain upon the engine is relieved
and the train shoots ahead with increased velocity.

The whirlpool phenomenon in the Mississippi River, at Grand Gulf, Miss.,
which fifty years ago was noted as a most extraordinary instance of this
reverse current and which gave the name to the then important locality, “Grand
Gulf,” will be recognized by old river men, who knew the place in ante-
bellum times.

The river at that time occupied the great bend, which, since the “cut-off”
and change in the river bed, has become an inland slough and island. The
Big Black River empties into the Mississippi at this point, while a hard clay
point projected from the Louisiana shore. The combination of forces during
periods of high water caused this vast pool to whirl violently. Flat boats
were often caught in this eddy, and it was with great difficulty thev were
gotten out into the regular channel. The author, in his bovhood, has been in
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 147

this grand gulf in a skiff, and remembers the efforts he was obliged to put
forth to pull his craft out of the whirling waters. This is upon the same
principle which we are endeavoring to show wherein the obstacles placed in
the pathway of the wind will and do cause the same circular motion in the
atmosphere as is seen in the moving waters.

The whirlpool, or gulf, as it was termed, was described in 1811 in “The
Navigator,” a periodical published in Pittsburg

5

It was noted on the map of
a reconnoissance made in 1821, which is very nearly the same position as my
memory recalls when I rowed through it during the fifties. When the “cut-off”
was made, the Mississippi changing its course, this phenomenon was destroyed
and its former location is now an island of sand.

 

WHIRLPOOL PHENOMENON

THE AFRICAN SIRCCCO

originates in Egypt. Beginning on the Libyan desert, the heated current
flows northwest; crossing the Mediterranean it reaches Malta, Sicily and Italy,
traversing twelve to fifteen hundred miles of treeless, mountainless region,
over desert and sea, having no obstruction until it reaches the Apennines,
where it is deflected upward and mingled with the cold upper strata.

THE AMERICAN SIROCCO

is caused by the prevailing winds from southwest to northeast during July
and August, passing over a vast tract of superheated sand and sandy soil,
beginning in Mexico, traversing Texas, Indian Territory, Oklahoma, Kansas
and Nebraska, reaching part of Iowa and Missouri. A region of plains with-
out mountains, high hills or forests to break its continuity, the atmosphere
takes up additional heat as it passes in succession over miles of hot and arid ,
sands—until its breath withers all vegetation with which it comes in contact. j
Both man and beast suffer as well, the over-heated air being terribly oppres:
148 PIRAaACLiGHi stRBORT CULT URE

sive. This condition can be changed by the systematic planting of trees in
belts to break the continuity of the currents and prevent such an accumula-
tion of heat by the surface currents. At each successive obstruction the
whirls or counter currents would mingle the cold air of the upper strata with
the hot surface current, equalizing the temperature by reducing the heat at
the surface.

In all the region traversed by these siroccos, as well as the entire prairie
country, the scant timber lies in the low vallevs, the high rolling prairies
having no wood, while the trees in the valley are all below the average surface.
Were this reversed, and the trees placed upon the highest lands, the effect
would be very different from what it now is, as the cold and hot currents
would be equalized by the obstructions.

Opponents will say that hot air always rises directly and does not pass
horizontally along the surface.

But water traverses a thousand miles of underground strata, enters the
porous sandstone at the Great Falls of the Missouri and reappears in the
valley of the James, in Dakota, rising two hundred feet above the surface.
Years of actual experiences, with the facts before us, it is self-evident that
this hot surface current does traverse the region named each season, and
these truths are well known to every resident of the territory described. The
pressure of the overlying atmosphere, which is colder than the sirocco, so
long as there are no mountains, forests or obstruction to divert the sirocco,
hold the hot current close to the surface.

The force of the wind at the surface of the earth is what concerns us,
and not its velocity at points of greater elevation, hence we may consider
how best to increase the height of the current.

Sage brush deflects the wind from one to six feet, and prevents the sand
motions, enabling seeds of grasses and trees to germinate; wild plum and
similar bushes raise it to a height of six to fifteen feet. An osage hedge not
cut back controls the currents to a height of twenty to thirty feet, while
a belt of Catalpa speciosa, properly grown, will influence the wind to a height
of from fifty to one hundred feet. Eucalyptus, a hundred and fifty feet. But
these belts must be at frequent intervals to accomplish the desired result.

To construct levees, dams and engineering works for the improvement
of navigable rivers, requires the authority and control of the government,
and aid of each state benefited. And this work, which would ameliorate the
condition of millions of our people, cannot be accomplished without the co-
operation of the national government, each state interested, and whole communities
of land owners. It will require patriotism and a high order of statesmanship
among legislators to prepare and enact laws releasing from taxation the
lands occupied by timber, and which will not be productive of an income for
the owner for several years, but it is worthy the effort.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 149

EROSION.

Nothing remains stationary in nature. Changes are constantly occurring.
Worlds move constantly in their orbits through the heavens. The earth ever
continues to tear down the wondrous monuments of past epochs, and to erect
new geological formations. One great force of nature upheaves the land at
one place, depressing it elsewhere, and in these operations mountain chains
are elevated, volcanoes, earthquakes, seismic exhibitions are but partial effects
of this enormous force. Another element is at work tearing down the moun-
tains, leveling the hills and sweeping down to lower levels the looser portions
of the surface, from the mountain plain and valley. This power is erosion.

Alternate freezing and thawing of the water on the higher mountains
rend asunder the granite rocks, and hurl them far down the valleys; torrents
of water roll these fragments along the mountain streams, grinding them
into powder, which is borne by the currents to the ocean. This same power,
flowing water, washes the soil from ten thousand farms, and mingles it with
the debris from granite peaks, strewing it about the deltas of all great rivers.

It is this erosion, by flowing waters, that so constantly channels out the
farms on rolling lands, and removes the richest portions of fertile fields of
every thriftless farmer. The tendency to clear away all forest growths from
every steep hillside, to bare the banks of every stream, for the purpose of
obtaining a few crops while the land is new and the soil fertile, is destructive
of farm lands and a very injurious practice.

Such lands can be cultivated but a few years, when they are abandoned
as worn out soils.

The roots of trees hold the soil from washing while in forest, but as the
trees are removed the roots decay, and the ground being loosened by the
plow, is soon washed into the streams.

While such lands remain covered with trees, the annual deposit of leaves
continues to enrich the soil, and, gradually carried to the lower fields, renew
their fertility, but with removal of these hillside forests the torrents come
with unimpeded velocity, to destroy the lower fields as well as those upon
the hillside.

The Ohio Valley is but one instance where half a century ago there
existed the richest land on the continent, but erosion has left the clay and
rocks, with fields unfertile and difficult to till.

Prior to the Civil War period the Ohio and Mississippi rivers were the
great channels of commerce between the North and the South. Many
thousands of tons of farm produce were annually shipped by flat boats to the
150 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

sugar and cotton regions of the South. The lands were “new,” full of vege-
table mould, productive and profitable to cultivate. Erosion has removed
the rich soil and deposited it in the Gulf of Mexico. The flat boats are gone,
not because the railroads have entered their field of commerce, for no railway
could compete with water transportation, especially by the cheap method of
flat boating. It is simply that the farms are not so productive as formerly,
the soil has been eroded, its fertility gone.

The red clay lands of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and the hill region
of the South generally, are instances of erosion. The adhesiveness of the clay
is lessened by decomposition of the soil, and each rain carries away the bind-
ing materials of the clay, and when loosened it is soon washed into deep
gullies and becomes unfit for cultivation.

Such lands should be planted with timber. The natural growths of pine,
which comes in so generously, should be protected, for these forests will in
time overcome the tendency to erode.

The bad lands of Montana and Dakota are other illustrations where the
alkali is dissolved from the soil and carried away by the melting snows; the
earth remaining is of a light, porous, sandy character and erodes very rapidly.
Here the depressions are from one hundred to several hundred feet deep,
broken into ridges and steep gullies; some of these elevations being of a
harder character remain in masses of innumerable shapes. Beds of lignite
occurring throughout these bad lands, and at times taking fire, have given
rise to conjecture that these beds having burned out, the land has sunken but the
simple fact is erosion has done all this work.

California has numerous demonstrations of this power of erosion. Where
dense forests existed less than a quarter of a century ago, they having been
cleared away, the soil has entirely disappeared and bare granite rocks remain,
Forever worthless to man is much of these eroded mountain tracts.

The mountain lands in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina,
and, in fact, all steep inclines, once cleared of the timber, and plowed, will
produce but a few crops, when the fertile loam disappears by erosion, and
usually such lands are necessarily abandoned after ten or a dozen crops have
been grown.

While there is such an abundance of rich prairie soil and fertile valleys, suit-
able for cultivation, it is extremely unwise to clear away the forest growths
on mountain sides. At best a precarious existence can be eked out by toil-
some cultivation of such fields, while as forest they serve the purpose of
supplying necessary timber, aid in making the streams permanent, and check
severe erosion.

The remedy lies in re-afforestating the steep hillsides, and many fields
which are not so steep. In replanting the margins of streams with forest
trees and in planting trees wherever the land is inclined to ‘‘wash"—so that
the roots may catch and retain the vegetation and the soil which is washed
down from above-——cease plowing the steeper lands. Get these tracts in grass
and pasture if not willing to plant again in trees. You cannot stop erosion,
but you may reduce it greatly by proper care.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE I51
IN KENTUCKY’S MOUNTAIN.

Our article upon erosion may well be illustrated by the photographs
taken at the head waters of Licking River in Kentucky, and shown in our
engravings.

A dozen years ago these rough mountain slopes were covered with
timber, there being at that time some of the best white oak and chestnut oak
forests of the state located about Licking River, in Magoffin, Breathitt, Floyd
and Knott counties.

The debris from the trees, moss, and leaf accumulations, aided by the
living roots of the trees, held the soil upon the slopes, and, as the rains fell,
washing a portion of this decaying mould down upon the fields in the narrow
valleys, these were maintained in fertility. But the demand of commerce for
oak ties and lumber has been very great during these twelve years, and
the timber has been stripped from every mountain slope. Erosion has quickly
removed the virgin soil, and hard, stiff clay remains, while the steep fields
cultivated in corn and tobacco are fast being cut into gullies and will soon be
worthless for any purpose whatever.

I rode horseback over these mountains, at times traversing the plowed
fields which are so steep that it was not possible to descend directly, but must
be taken at an angle diagonally with the corn rows.

Our picture shows the steepness of these fields, yet the mountaineers
manage to plow the precipitous slopes by curving around the mountains, and
raise a few bushels of corn, scarce enough to pay for the labor.

Such lands could be made very productive for all time to come, if planted
at once with quick-growing timber trees.

There can be but a few years of cultivation until these mountains will be
gullied and washed so as to be forever worthless, but once securely planted
with locust, ash, oak, etc., the erosion would be checked and the lands con-
stantly improved by the decay of leaves and twigs.

It is extremely laborious, this plowing, sowing and harvesting grains
from such rough localities, while in forest, after the trees are planted, there
is but slight labor in maintaining it.

Were an Iowa man or a farmer from Illinois or other level or rolling
region to undertake plowing these precipices, neither himself nor his team
could work for an hour. It requires the hardy mountaineer, who has been
raised upon these elevated regions, to perform this work, and he must be
satisfied with a minimum of wages, and be content with the roughest fare and
less enjoyments than his brother who lives in an agricultural country.

The geological formation is sandstone, the grinding away of which makes
all the farms along this valley of sandy loam.

At one time there was much poplar along the valley and on every stream
tributary to Licking. Owing to the floating qualities of the yellow poplar,
or tulip tree, the logs were cut first, and by their aid some oak was also floated

to mill.
The raft seen in the river bed is composed of squared walnut logs,
152 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

destined for shipment to Europe. There are but very few walnut trees left in
this section of Kentucky.

Oak lumber has become so scarce that inspectors accept anything offered,
even if but a shell of good timber remains around a badly decayed log.

At each railway station may be seen stacks of oak ties which have been
hauled from great distances across the mountains over steep, rocky roads,
quite deep with mud, as a rule, which are waiting the inspector before ship-
ping them northward.

'

 

PRECIPITOUS FIELDS OF A CUMBERLAND MOUNTAIN FARM.

Probably twenty northern railways have agents here buying what ties
can be obtained.

Kentucky has had a harvest of timber in these mountains, but it is almost
concluded. What will the harvest be in these abrupt precipitous slopes a few
years hence?

The state cannot afford to have too large an area of its territory bared
and eroded, and abandoned as not being worth the taxes. Yet it is fast
coming to that point. Only the coal underlying, and the oil in places, to pro-
duce an income.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 153

It were far better for the legislature to make provision for the re-affores-
tation of these tracts, and thus continue for an indefinite period the productive
capacity of the mountains.

No matter how much coal or oil lies below the surface, trees will grow
and produce valuable property, and all will be needed in the mines, for
timbers, on the farms, upon the railways, and for the manufactures of the
country.

 

 

 

THE HOME OF A MOUNTAINEER, HEAD WATERS OF LICKING RIVER.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

wn
ab

PETRIFIED FORESTS OF AMERICA AND THE LESSON THEY
TEACH.

By John P. Brown, Secretary of International Society of Arboriculture.
Address to the Farmer’s National Congress, Sioux Falls, S. D.

Within the arid and semi-arid belt west of the 99th meridian, west longi-
tude, are numerous monuments recording a climatic condition far different
from that which now exists—forests in stone, evidences of a soil and moisture
capable of producing growths in vegetation equal to our most favored regions.

 

THE NOTABLE PETRIFIED BRIDGE, FIRST FOREST.

These petrified trees are found in large numbers throughout all the portions
of the United States in which at present the rainfall is the least and the vege-
tation is the most scant.

Duplicates of the sequoias, equalling them in size—cedars of mammoth
proportion akin to those on the higher mountains of Washington—have been
found in the Rocky Mountains where no living trees of like character are
now known.

The petrified forests of Arizona are so well known because of the very
beautiful ornaments made from the cut sections. Many tons cf these trees
have been sent to Europe, where better facilities for cutting and polishing
are had. The material reduced to a coarse powder is also used as emery and
corundum for grinding metals.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 155
FOSSIL FORESTS OF COLORADO.

I visited the petrified forests of Florisant, Teller County, Colorado, in
August, 1900. They are situated two miles from the station of the Colorado
Midland Railroad, in a valley a mile or so in diameter which seems at a
former period to have been a lake. The petrifactions consist entirely of
stumps, there were no logs, and are upon the higher slopes surrounding the
valley. The character of the wood is well preserved in the stone, the bark,
knots and wood are very perfect, showing the trees to have been some form
of a cedar; they much resemble thuja gigantea of Washington. (In 1884

 

 

 

 

PETRIFIED FORESTS

I measured a thuja gigantea near Mount Baker which was sixty-five feet in
circumference and 265 feet in height.) There have been great numbers of
these fossilized stumps, but all save one have been carried away by col-
lectors, only scattered clippings remain where they were broken up for
removal. I carefully measured the one remaining stump and counted the
annual growths. It was at the time forty-five feet six inches girth, but much
had been broken off and removed; originally it was eighteen feet in diameter
and nine feet high. Five saws are fastened in the stone where vandals en-
deavored to saw it into sections for removal. There are seven and one-half
yearly growths to an inch radius, the tree having required 1,620 years to
156 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

grow. Young trees showed a more rapid increase. Twenty miles southeast
of Denver is another cedar stump the same size as this, while twenty-two
miles south of Denver on the Colorado and Southern Railway is a log of
mammoth size. This is on Cherry Creek near the old Santa Fe trail. Rev.
M. Hamilton, a collector of fossils, first discovered its character in 1866. It
was in three sections, broken in falling. It has been mostly removed, blasted
with dynamite and carried away. My informant, Mr. W. N. Byers, of Den-
ver, described it as being when he first saw it in 1868, 90 to 93 feet long and
from 20 to 22 feet in diameter, partly imbedded in the earth.

There are many other wood petrifactions in Colorado, at Boulder, about
Golden, and some at Middle Park, which are from three to five feet in
diameter.

 

 

ARIZONA FOREST

Near Sims, Morton County, North Dakota, on the Northern Pacific
Railway, are quite extensive petrifactions.

At Fossil Station, Uinta County, Wyoming, on Ham’s Fork of Green
River, are others. On Yakima River in eastern (arid) Washington and in
eastern (arid) Oregon are large numbers.

A party of California prospectors, while searching for minerals, reported
in 1860 an immense petrified tree in a defile in Northwestern Nevada, not far
from the Oregon line. This, according to their report, was larger than the
largest sequoia now living. Numerous other stumps and trees were seen
in the same vicinity. This is an extremely arid locality and but seldom
visited.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 157

WHY HAVE FORESTS DISAPPEARED IN COLORADO AND
OTHER SEMI-ARID STATES?

Neither science nor physics, as construed by modern philosophy, explains
the contrary conditions existing in the Orient to-day with that of B. C. 1000,
or even A. D. 100. No more do they interpret the causes of America’s arid
belt or its encroachment upon the fertile country.

Meteorology details the thermal changes of the atmosphere and their in-
fluences upon air currents, moisture and precipitation, but meteorology does
not explain why a country which once produced such massive trees should
now be so barren, or why a province that once had abundant rains should be
so arid.

Mathematics has no data upon which to predict a theorem and is thus
unable to enlighten us when this change occurred.

Geology makes mention of fossils and petrifactions which are found in
various parts of the earth, and in different geological periods. It presumes

 

IN PETRIFIED FORESTS

that indefinite ages have elapsed since certain changes occurred, but geology
does not explain why these trees once thrived in a region which will produce
them no more.

Botany gives the distribution of plants upon the globe, relates with minute-
ness those plants which exist in an arid climate, yet botany has never at-
tempted to explain why the sequoia grows upon the highest Sierras and
nowhere else in the world, while undoubtedly it did thrive in the Rocky
Mountains in former times.

There is no rule of science which can satisfactorily account for the
change which has taken place in climate since these trees grew. Nor yet
how long since the change occurred.

Speculation fails to elucidate the problem and only tells us that the
Sierra Nevada Mountains squeeze the moisture out of the passing clouds
before they reach the desert. Was it always so? Was this natural law in
force when the mighty cedars and sequoias were growing in the Rocky Moun-
tains?
158 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

In the Orient, so long as the forests remained upon the higher elevations,
the rain belt extended inland more than one hundred miles, but as the
mountains were cleared of their trees, the desert encroached upon the fer-
tile lands, gradually but surely, until all the land became arid.

So the rainless plains of the United States have obtruded their aridity by
slow degrees, as extensive forests were destroyed by fires, by ice and by man,
until the Pacific has been reached throughout the greater part of California.

The logical conclusion must be that forest covered elevations controlled
the distribution of moisture through the atmosphere and abundant rains pre-
vailed; but with the removal of these bodies of timber their influence was
lost and aridity was the consequence.

When we reflect upon the vast area and density of American forests
which existed only a century ago, and the terrible destruction of wooded
lands by forest fires as well as by the ax and see the extreme carelessness

 

 

 

 

IN PETRIFIED FOREST

of Americans in setting fires and permitting them to destroy these forests
with no effort toward prevention by either state or National Government
and consider that the greater destruction of forests have occurred in the
Occident during the nineteenth century than in the Orient throughout the
thirty centuries preceding, we well may contemplate upon the future of this
land as more rapid climatic changes shall occur from this excessive denuda-
tion. It is of great importance that this nation should make earnest efforts
to check such wastefulness and commence a thorough system of afforestation
throughout the entire country.

The soils of all the semi-arid and arid lands contain every element of
fertility, only wanting water to make them as productive as the most favored
lands of the earth. To support the population which America will have
but a few decades hence, every effort should be made by state and nation
to promote an increased rainfall in localities where moisture is insufficient.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 159
OUR DUTY TO PLANT TREES.

We of the Occident have received from the Creator “a goodly land,a
land flowing with milk and honey,” and have been most extravagantly waste-
ful of our heritage. It is full time we were caring for the future of this land,
if we possess true patriotism, not that which bubbles over upon Fourth of
July and election days, but the patriotism which seeks the best development
and long continuance of this free American Republic. There is a duty for
every citizen, a duty for each State and an imperative duty devolving upon the
General Government.

It should be the patriotic duty of every farmer and ranchman who has
no timber to plant several acres—one-tenth his acreage is not too much.

 

 

ARIZONA FOREST THE CANNON

THE DUTY OF THE GOVERNMENT.

The Government should withdraw from sale all timber land remaining,
selling from time to time a portion of the trees, but never permitting it to be
entirely cleared. A systematic fire protection should be maintained, not
only on reservations but throughout all timbered regions. All duties should
be removed from wood, manufactured or unmanufactured, entering the coun-
try from abroad. Especially should this be the case with wood pulp, so large
a quantity of which is daily consumed and which is so rapidly denuding
American forests. Every encouragement should be given to forest preserva-
tion.

Restrictive legislation should be enacted by every timbered State to pre-
vent the entire denudation of non-agricultural lands.

Bounties and reduction of taxes should be offered by individual States
upon lands planted and maintained in forests.
160 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Prairie States should encourage the planting of heavy and frequent tim-
ber belts, running east and west, to overcome the effects of siroccos or hot
winds which annually are so destructive throughout the Missouri Valley
States. In this work Congress should be asked to extend Government assist-
ance.

It would be money well expended were the States to distribute seeds
of forest trees. Since the failure of that important timber culture act can be
wholly attributed to the neglect of the Government to provide trees and
seeds suitable for growth upon prairie and plain, the only available trees
being what the pioneers could find on the river bars, cottonwood and
box elder—both totally unsuited to such changed location—it is full time that

 

 

A FALLEN TREE IN PETRIFIED FOREST, ARIZONA:

the Government and States should offer practical encouragement for the
planting of trees and perpetuation of these forests, for the railways to show
their confidence by making extensive plantations and for the farmers of the
nation to awaken from their indifference and plant trees as a profitable farm
crop.

If you love your country prove it by planting trees for its adornment
and for the benefit of your fellow men.

The petrified forest, pictures of which are shown herewith, is in Western
Arizona, between 6 and 12 miles southwest from Adamana, and 18 to 24 miles
southeast of Holbrook. These two towns are on the main line of the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

The locality in question is covered by petrifactions of wood that retain
the shape of the trunks and branches of trees lying like fallen timber on the
ground. The retention of the original form is so exact in many cases that it
is no misnomer to call it a forest, though the trees are no longer standing.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 161

Much injury has been done the remains of the forest by persons in search
of specimens who have carried away large quantities of material. Unless this
is stopped the time will soon come when so little will remain that the locality
will be deprived of all its interest, and one of the rarest illustrations of nature's
work under peculiar conditions will be destroyed.

Protection would be given a large part, if not all, of the forest by in-
cluding it within the limits of a park to be maintained by the National Gov-
ernment. A few guards would suffice to prevent further destruction, and but
little expense would be involved in constructing whatever improvements
in the form of roads, trails and bridges might be needed.

The house committee on public lands having reported favorably on a bill
to set apart the lands embraced in Arizona’s petrified forest as a park, it is
probable that the measure will become a law. It will be received with ap-
proval wherever there is any knowledge of the wonderful formation included
within the forest.

 
162 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

EVIDENCES OF CLIMATIC CHANGES.

The United States, with an area of 2,968,700 square miles exclusive of
distant possessions, has 1,720,000 square miles of arid plains and_ treeless
prairie, almost 60 per cent of our territory. r

The great interior elevated plateau and mountain region where rain sel-
dom falls is increasing in aridity with no prospect of improvement under ex-
isting circumstances. And yet all this now arid territory was once the home
of magnificent forests, with a climate as moist as that which our Atlantic and
Gulf States now enjoy.

There are no people of all the world who are more patriotic than Ameri-
cans, and if we can once realize the vast import of leaving to future gener-
ations a land arid, desolate, unproductive, infertile—the life blood wrung out
by greedy, avaricious efforts of the present generation; or a country fertile,
watered by natural streams, a land capable of maintaining the dense popu-
lation which will very soon inhabit it—then will patriotism rise to that su-
preme character which shall demand that proper efforts be made to secure the
best results.

EVIDENCES OF FOREST INFLUENCES IN THE PAST.

I shall endeavor to point out some of the evidences of forest influences
in the past and draw inferences from these lessons which may lead us to an
appreciation of our responsibilities as a people, that the agricultural condition
may be improved. The span of human life is so brief, and the most careful
observations so incomplete, during any single generation, they are not con-
vincing when applied to regulations governing the elements. Yet the laws
which control and influence cloud movement, evaporation and precipitation
by forests are as positive as are those of gravitation or tidal motion, both the
latter of which are fully understood. But we have in Holy Writ a history
covering many centuries which would be indisputable even were it not cor-
roborated by contemporaneous writers, and this is convincing as to forest
influence.

IN CANAAN.

When the angel of the Lord appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire out
of the midst of a bush, a covenant was made that He would bring the Israelites
out of Egypt “unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” The promise of
the Lord was repeated upon various occasions and after thorough preparation
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 163

this compact was renewed with Moses in Horeb in these words: “For the
Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of
fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills. A land of wheat,
and barley, and vines, and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of oil, olive and
honey. A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt
not lack anything in it.”—Deut. VIII 7, 8, 9.

From the Caspian Sea, extending westward through Asia Minor, is a
range of mountains which branches, one portion, the Taurus, belting the Med-
iterranean on the north, the other branch, the Lebanon Mountains, parallel-
ing the eastern shore of that sea to the Leontes River. Southward this be-
comes an irregular range extending to the Red Sea.

THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS WERE COVERED WITH DENSE
FORESTS.

At the time of Kings David and Solomon these higher mountains were
covered with dense forests of mighty trees. The entire country, for a width
of one hundred miles, is quite broken—high ridges, deep gulches, with roll-
ing hills sloping toward the Jordan Valley. From the Taurus Mountains the
Euphrates and Tigris flow southeasterly to the Persian Gulf, while between
these streams and Palestine lies the Arabian Desert. Canaan, as appor-
tioned to the tribes of Israel, extended 350 miles north and south; Syria, with
the Lebanon Mountains lying to the northward, a total length of 500 miles,
covered with primeval forest. While the mountain tops were clothed with
forest coverings, feeding and enriching the lower valleys, retaining the mois-
ture which fell, and by their presence attracting the clouds of rain, this re-
gion remained fertile, capable of providing food in abundance for great multi-
tudes of people who occupied it for many centuries; but when the mountains
became bared the rains gradually failed, severe droughts occurred, the soil
ceased to be productive and eventually the entire region was depopulated, it
becoming so barren as to be uninhabitable.

THE POPULATION OF CANAAN.

“Behold ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.”"—Deut.
I-10.

For 900 years, prior to the entrance of the Israelites, Canaan had been in-
habited by the degenerate sons of Noah, who had become a very numerous
people.

“The people are greater and better than we, the cities are great and
walled up to heaven.”’—Deut. 1-28. Num. NIII-28.

When the Tsraelites took possession they also continued to increase
ereatly. When David ordered the enumeration of the people Joab found the
number to be 1,570,000 that drew the sword.—1 Chron. XXI-5.

This is equivalent to a population of more than six million souls. In
addition to which the coast provinces, with large maritime cities, Tyre, Sidon,
164 PRACTICA. @URBORUMQUWIET UIE

and many others, not included in David's realm, together with the large cities
and numerous people in the Lebanon Valley, brought the population of
Canaan up to ten millions.

From both profane and sacred history we are reminded of the vast mul-
titudes who peopled this country, and of the temples and works of art which
they constructed. Solomon employed 153,000 laborers for twenty years in
erecting his various religious and state buildings. At the same time he main-
tained a standing army numbering half a million men; forty thousand stalls
of horses were provided for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen. While
as compared with David's reign, his was one of peace, yet that was secured
by a strong exhibition of power.

Thus “Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his own vine and
fig tree."—1 Kings I[V-2s5.

David had thoroughly organized the army, and subdued the neighboring
nation, but the power of Israel reached its zenith during Solomon's reign; all
nations from Mediterranean to Euphrates acknowledged his sovereignty.

To support a population so dense required an exceptionally fertile so‘l,
intense cultivation with a regular and abundant rainfall. The land, culti-
vated as in gardens, produced wheat, barley and all manner of fruits; the hill-
sides were terraced and planted with grapes, pomegranates, olives and figs,
horticulture being one of the arts which were thoroughly understood and
practiced by the children of Israel.

The abundant agricultural resources of the kingdom may be better real-
ized as we read that 320,000 bushels of grain were annually sent to pay the
Sidonians, who were making lumber for the Israelites, while a million gallons
each of wine and oil were also sent for the same purpose, year by year, for
twenty years.—Chron. II-1o.

A LUMBERING NATION.

“Hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; for thou knowest that there is not
among us any that have skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.”

The Sidonians occupied the coast from Mt. Carmel northward some hun-
dred and fifty miles, the mountains of Lebanon being within their territory.
They were extensively engaged in cutting and hewing timber, building ships
and exporting lumber. This was a sea-faring people whose trade extended
to the farthermost coasts of western Africa and southern Europe as well as
to the cities of the Mediterranean. They navigated the Nile in trade with the
Egyptians. Timber was their chief export, for in the region of these African
ports to which they sailed forests were unknown, while the skill of the Sido-
nians was especially directed to woodecraft.

Fortunately for the Orient the methods of the Sidonians, lumbering solely
with the ax, gave some opportunity for forest renewals, and centuries were
required to devastate the mountains of Canaan and accomplish their aridity.

When King Solomon found it necessary to procure a navy, it was the
Sidonians who constructed it in Ezion-geber, on the Red Sea, and manned it
for the trade with Ophir in the Indian Ocean.—1 Kings TX-206.
 

 

 

 

 

 

THE TIMBER LINE ON PIKE’S PEAK, COLORADO. VIEW FROM ELEVATION NEAR
NORA: TeAgsIs
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 167

The temple was called by Solomon ‘‘The house of the forest of Lebanon,”
because it was chiefly constructed of cedar. Darius, also, in rebuilding the
temple, sent to the Sidonians for cedar trees from Lebanon. [zra I1l-7. The
fame of the Sidonians as timber dealers had thus continued six centuries.

So long as the mountains retained their forest covering, and forest influ-
ences prevailed, the clouds were attracted, rains were frequent, and percolat-
ing through the soft soil burst out in numerous springs to water the fields
below, while the soil remained fertile, producing food in abundance. As a
rich agricutural region, the large population well fed, were strong in spirit
and fully able to protect themselves from incursions of neighboring tribes.
We may readily trace the gradual change which took place in climatic condi-
tions as the forests were removed from the mountain slopes all along the
Mediterranean coast as well as the Libanus and Taurus Mountains, resulting
in agricultural disturbances, droughts, famines, pestilence and ultimately in total
barrenness, from cessation of rainfall. Then the dispersion of its people became
a necessity. As the lands increased in aridity, the soil refused its harvest.
Judah and Israel were diminished in numbers, impaired in spirit and were
easily subdued by one after another of the nations which had long desired
this historic land.

HISTORIC DROUGHTS.

Ten hundred and twenty-one B. C., there was a famine in the days of
David, three years, year after year —-I] Saml. XXI-r.

Nine hundred and ten years B. C., Menander describes a disastrous fam-
ine throughout Judea.

More than a year had passed without rain or dew. This was the same
drought in which Elijah was fed by the ravens, and when the brook Cherith
had become dry, increased the supply of the widow’s meal.

Five hundred and eighty-eight years B. C., another famine occurred, and
with it pestilence, which greatly reduced the population and power of the
nation, so that when the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem the stronghold fell, and
the people were carried away into captivity.

While the immediate reason for the fall of Jerusalem may have been on
account of the wars and dissensions among the Jewish tribes; and while
the idolatry of the rulers and populace is given in scripture as the occasion
for their punishment, yet the real cause was the decline of agriculture through
the loss of forest influence, impairing the stamina of the inhabitants and
resulting in national decadence.

What is frequently considered miraculous in the Almighty’s direction of
affairs is in reality His adoption of natural laws to achieve desired results.

The Persians coming into power B. C., 444, Darius restored Jerusalem,
and rebuilt the temple, but the country was overrun by various tribal bands,
agricultural pursuits having been abandoned, and the Jews were ever after
under foreign dominion.

Josephus mentions that when Pompey pitched his camp at Jericho, he
found paim and balsam trees, this fact being of sufficient importance to be
made of record, since trees had become so scarce in the land.
168 PRACT EG Ave. AUR BORD CU LP CORRE

Under the procurators, Tiberus Alexander and Cuspius ladus, A. D. 65
to 75, there was a drought continuing several years, and many people died
from starvation. Queen Helena, who sympathized with the Jews, sent into
Egypt and brought large quantities of corn for the suffering multitudes in
Jerusalem, and also procured a cargo of dried figs from Cyprus.

During the thirteenth year of Herod’s reign, B. ©. 24 years, very great
calamities came upon the country; there were perpetual droughts, and for that
reason the ground was barren, and did not bring forth the same quantity of
fruits, after which want of food caused pestilential disorders. This drought
lasted several vears, corn being brought from Egypt to supply their food.

Another famine occurred during the fifth, sixth and seventh years of
Claudius, A. D. 54. This drought was foretold by Agabus, Acts XI-28.

RESULTS OF THE CLIMATIC CHANGE.

These historic mentions of famine enable us to see the result in the now
rapidly changing climate of the country about Palestine, portions of which,
however, still remained fruitful during the first century of the Christian Era.
Flavius Josephus, A. D. 75, says of Galilee: ‘For the Galileans are inured
to war from their infancy, and have always been very numerous, for their
soil is universally rich and fruitful, and full of the plantations of trees of all
sorts, inasmuch that it invites the most slothful to take pains in its cultiva-
vation by its fruitfulness; accordingly, it is all cultivated by its inhabitants
and no part of it lies idle. Moreover, the cities lie here very thick, and the
very many villages there and here are everywhere so full of people, by the
richness of their soil, that the very least of them contain about fifteen thou-
sand inhabitants.”

“But for Perea, the greater part of it is desert and rough: vet hath it a
moist soil and produces all kinds of fruits and its plains are planted with trees
of all sorts, while yet the olive tree, the vine and the palm tree areechiefly culti-
vated there. It is also sufficiently watered with torrents which issue out of the
mountains, and with springs that never fail to run, even when the torrents
fail them, as they do in dog days.”

“Now, as to Samaria, it is entirely of the same nature with Judea: for
both countries are made up of hills and valleys, and are moist enough for
agriculture, and are very fruitful. They have abundance of trees, and are
full of autumnal fruit, both that which grows wild, and that which is the effect
of cultivation. They are not naturally watered by many rivers: but derive
their chief moisture from rain, of which they have no want. By reason of the
excellent grass they have, their cattle vield more milk than do those in
other places; and what is the greatest sign of excellency and of abundance,
they each of them are very full of people.”

Having this description by contemporary writers during the first century,
let us contrast writers of the present day as to what Palestine now is.

Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage says from his visit in 1889: “While Palestine of
to-day is generally uninviting as a land sown with dragons’ teeth, choking
out like tares the fruitfulness of the soil, until it presents that hard appear-
PRACTICAL. ARBORTCULDURE 16g

ance of a country mildewed, decayed, desolated, yet many evidences remain
to attest its former magnificence, if not fertility. Out in the barren hills
where rocks pile up in confusion, covered with wild vines, a haunt for the
scorpion, lizard and fox, there will be found ruins of stately edifices, monu-
ments graved with the records of mighty events, columns of marble that once
gleamed in the corridors of splendid temples, images and statues which cen-
turies ago stood in grand halls, great courts and sparkling throne rooms.”

Dean Stanley says: “Tor miles and miles there is no appearance of pres-
ent life or habitation, except the occasional goat herd on the hillside, or gath-
ering of women at the wells. Yet there is hardly a hilltop of the many within
sight which is not covered with the vestiges of some fortress or city of former
ages.”

The brooks of Palestine are but wadys where once flowed considerable
streams.

REGIONS IN THE UNITED STATES APPROACHING
BARRENNESS.

The United States has numerous instances where we are approaching
the same condition of barrenness that is found in Palestine.

The hills along the Ohio Valley within the memory of thousands of citi-
zens were heavily timbered, affording protection and fertility to numerous
lower fields. They were rich with the mold of a thousand years’ accumula-
tion, and for a time were extremely fertile; wheat, corn, potatoes, timothy hay
and other farm crops were grown upon their rich, fresh soils for many years.
How are they now? Rocks of loose limestone thickly cover many of the hill-
side fields, while others embedded in the hard stiff clay torment the husband-
men who must plow their surface. Clay forms the land from which all vege-
table mold has been eroded by torrents of rain. Strict economy and constant
labor are required to eke out a living from these once famous, fertile wooded
hills.

There are similar instances in California where the greed of man, and a
want of intelligent laws upon the subject, have removed the magnificent for-
ests, leaving them bare of vegetation, and the soil soon washed away has left
the primitive rocks, upon which never more will anything grow. They are
valueless to the Nation, the State or the individual, a barren waste. In the
great Rocky Mountain region where less than fifty years ago there were
splendid forests, now not a hundredth part of the trees remain. Criminal
carelessness, wanton wastefulness, forest fires without State or National pro-
tection, and spoilation, have reduced these forests and threaten their speedy
extermination.

How long will America continue to feed the world from her now inex-
haustive granaries, after her forests are destroyed and climatic changes such
as have devastated the lands of the Orient shall have completed their work
in the Occident?

The world has had distinguished philosophers whose names will be chron-
icled with high honor so long as history and civilization exist, who adopted
170 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

theories and evolved hypotheses, based upon the knowledge possessed during
their age of the world, which in the light of later discoveries have proven
false, and in many cases ridiculous, notably before the laws of gravitation
were known, and while the earth was yet flat, and rested upon impossible
animals. Yet they were quite as firm in their belief as some of our present
philosophers who, because they cannot understand, assert that forests have
no effect upon climate. Yet forest masses do concentrate moisture already in
the atmosphere and cause its precipitation upon the earth.

An illustration of forest influence upon cloud distribution is found in the
Danish Island of St. Croix, one of the lesser Antilles, which group of islands
form a regular crescent from Porto Rico southward to Venezuela, and all
are wooded except St. Croix, from which the forests have been removed. This
island les twenty miles south of St. Thomas, and without the regular cres-
cent of the group. The clouds follow the trend of the forest-covered islands
and rains are frequent, but St. Croix suffers severely from drought, as the
clouds are attracted from it—yet in this tropic region the evaporation from
the Caribbean Sea is very great, fully as much at St. Croix as at St. Thomas,
but twenty miles away.

It is also well known to farmers that summer showers so necessary for
agricultural prosperity follow the course of timber margined streams.

In the Orient, so long as the forests remained upon the higher elevations.
the rain belt extended inland more than one hundred miles, but as the
mountains were cleared of their trees, the desert encroached upon the fertile
lands, gradually but surely, until all the land became arid.

So the rainless plains of the United States have obtruded their aridity by
slow degrees, as extensive forests were destroved by fires, by ice and by man.
until the Pacific has been reached throughout the greater part of California.

The logical conclusion must be that forest covered elevations controlled
the distribution of moisture through the atmosphere and abundant rains pre-
vailed; but with the removal of these bodies of timber their influence was lost
and aridity was the consequence.
PRACTICAL ARBORIGCULTURE 171

CONTROL OF SHIFTING SANDS.

Having discussed the problem of snowdrifts, and explained the action of
winds and the natural laws which govern the deposit of snow in drifts, with
especial reference to railway cuts in northern latitudes, we reproduced a
picture, showing the double lines of fences on Soldiers Summit, along the
line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, in Utah.

In these instances the practice of erecting and maintaining snow guards
or fences becomes a serious expense to railways, because of the tem-
porary character of wooden fences, their speedy decay, and the ef-
fects of strong winds; the summer sun being as destructive as the
winter's storms. We recommended the use of living hedges in place
of the boards, and gave the red cedar as one of the best trees for this purpose.
The Juniperus virginiana, or cedar, with its various modifications, which char-
acterize the tree when grown in different localities and under greatly varying
conditions of soil, climate and moisture or aridity, meets all the requirements
of a plant for this purpose. In Maine, and on the Iludson River, its habit
is to form a tall, slender tree, not unlike Lombardy poplar in shape: while in
the mountains of Tennessee, it builds a mammoth trunk, with scragegy,
spreading branches. In the Garden of the Gods, at the foot of Pike’s Peak, in
Colorado, its foliage partakes of the character of the desert sage brush, dif-
fering but slightly from the sage in its color. Again, in the arid plains and
high altitudes of New Mexico, it makes a slow growth, with thick, bunchy
foliage, being one of the very few American trees which survive this extreme
aridity. Wherever birds deposit the seed of the juniper, after eating the aro-
matic berries which are produced in great profusion, the cedar grows,—quite
cosmopolitan in its habit.

The cedar is of slow growth under arid conditions, and requires but little
pruning to maintain a low-growing hedge, dense enough to break the force
of a wind storm,—strong-rooted and powerful to withstand any gales.

Once planted, the hedge becomes a permanent fixture, ending forever the
expense of snow guards, and in almost any locality.

Quite a different problem confronts the Oregon Rail and Navigation Com-
pany along the Columbia River, above The Dalles. The debris brought down
from the mountains by the flood tide of the river consists of a very finely divided
light sand. This is deposited along the margin of the stream as the water goes
down, there being some forty feet difference between high and low water in
the Columbia. The warm sunshine of summer, together with warm breezes,
evaporate the moisture from this deposit, and the winds bear it in shore, coy-
172 PRAGITCAL AR BORIECOLT ERE

ering the railway tracks and filling the cuts with sand. Temporary expedients
have been resorted to; that of placing boards on edge, at various angles, to
deflect the wind and cause it to shoot the sand across the tracks. As with the
snow guards, this method of fences (in case of sand they are but two feet
high, while for snow they are five feet high) is quite expensive, and requires
frequent removals as the sand fills about the board.

It occurred to the company to plant the common willow, which grows
along the shore, in lines along the track, for the purpose of catching and re-
taining the sand.

With snow, an accumulation made in winter melts and disappears the
coming season. Not so with sand, but it remains where it is deposited, in-
creasing in depth, until removed by the wind or with the steam shovel.

This is an arid country and few trees will thrive, and the plant which will
perform the service required must be of rapid growth, able to withstand the
overflowing of the stream and the subsequent dryness which follows the reces-
sion of the waters. Willows of many varieties will fulfill the first condition,
but only a few will survive the dry seasons which follow. Probably the
Golden willow would be better suited for the purpose. This is Salix alba,
var., which thrives under both moist and dry conditions. It makes a high
tree, and would, therefore, be far superior to the bushy growths along the
Columbia. The Golden willow grows readily from cuttings, although for this
location they would have to be rooted in a nursery, or bed, where moisture
abounds, after which they would grow in this sand. As the sand is deposited
by the wind, slowly covering the bushes, the tree will continue its upward
growth, keeping above the surface, continually forming new roots as the
sand rises about the trunk. There are instances where shifting sands have
buried a willow gradually until thirty feet of the trunk was beneath the sur-
face, yet the green branches and leaves extend above the sand.

When once a barrier of sand has been formed along the bank of the river,
and the surface covered with verdure of living trees, the sand motion will cease.

There are many places where this problem of checking the sand move-
ment confronts a large community; that at San Francisco, at Golden Gate
Park, being prominent. Cape Cod, Mass., and Michigan City, Ind., are other
instances. The folly of scattering pine and other seeds of slow-growing trees
has been fully demonstrated. Before the seed can germinate and establish a
root system, a majority will have been covered deeply with sand.

About the south end of Lake Michigan, in Illinois and Indiana, are sand
hills which were but a few years ago covered with oak and maple trees. These
hills were, in centuries past, formed by the wind blowing the sand from the
lake shore. Gradually they became covered with trees through natural meth-
ods, and the shifting of the sands was checked.

Certainly this occupied much time, as nature is deliberate in all her works.

It is sheerest folly and a waste of time and labor to scatter seeds of any
kind upon these moving sands, as they may be covered deeply long before
they have time to germinate. But after securing a stable surface by such
plants as yucca, beach grasses, and trees which grow quickly, then pine and
more important tree growths may be secured.
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YUCCA GLAUCA OF THE PLAINS.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 175

PLANTING SAND DUNES.

The intimate relation of apparently insignificant objects with those of great
inagnitude is often passed unobserved. The Yucca is neither a forest tree nor
even a shrub, simply an herb. Yet we may find great forests successfully grown
under the kindly shelter and protection afforded by this humble plant.

There are two prominent forms of the Yucca, although others are weil known.
The Adams thread and needle of the gardens throughout the eastern portion of
America, Yucca fillimentosa, and the western variety, Yucca glauca, which we
illustrate, a dweller of the arid deserts and lower mountains of the mid-continent.

Both sorts have very large, fleshy roots, which penetrate the soil to consider-
able depth for the purpose of collecting and storing water for a long period of
drouth.

On the mesas of Colorado, in graveliy locations, the Yucca is almost the only
herb which can survive the prolonged drouths of this region.

On account of the strong, deep roots, and stored energy of this plant, it is
enabled to push upward through a heavy covering of sand, and for this reason
the Yucca would be a desirable plant to use upon the vast sand dunes of sea and
lake coast to fix the sands which are constantly moved by heavy winds in unpro-
tected localities.

The list of trees and plants which will grow under the prevailing conditions
of ocean and lake shores, where constant winds build these mountains of sand and
roll them along inland, is a very short one, since the sand buries seeds and small
plants too deep for them to push through.

The first object to be accomplished is the elevation of the wind current a few
inches above the surface so that it cannot pick up the grains of sand. Beach
grasses of several varieties are commonly used for this purpose. But these will,
in time, be covered up unless larger shrubs and trees can be started into growth
and supported for at least one season, and these grown quite thickly, say 8 by 8 feet.

It is probable that the western Yucca will accomplish this object, perhaps in
combination with the beach grass, better than by the grass alone.

Unlimited quantities of the seeds may be secured on the western mesas. This
should be grown in nurseries a vear and transplanted in the sands either 4 by 4
feet or 8 by 8 feet, with grass intermediate. :

At the same time one or two year trees should be planted among the herbace-
ous plants at the rate of 500 to 700 per acre.

The Yucca is abundant in western Kansas and Nebraska, and if advantage
was taken of its presence to plant hardy trees and shrubs, either the small plants
176 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

or in some cases the seed, it would be possible at small cost to afforest much
of this plains region—but common sense must be used in the selection of plants
suited to such conditions.

Young trees which strike root quickly, and grow rapidly, should be set among
the Yuecas at such distance as will ensure a permanent forest growth. Aiter
a few years, oak and other more valuable trees may be established by seeding.
Various pines are used in such locations, but as soil is made with the gradual
admixture of leaves, decaying roots and twigs with the sand, white pine and nu-
merous trees of value will be secured by supplying the seed.

THE RED CEDAR FOR SNOW GUARDS.

We gave an illustration of snow fences for protecting railway cuts from
snow drifts, and explained how the wind was thrown into whirls and caused to de-
posit the snow upon the lee of such obstructions. The height of the obstacle gov-
erns the distance from its base at which the snow will be deposited. The great
expense of maintaining wooden fences for this purpose would suggest some other
and more durable substitute than boards.

A living hedge, which could be kept at a regular height, and which could be
successfully grown in arid locations and high altitudes, as well as in moist regions,
would be a desirable acquisition.

Some of the cretageus thorns may well be used in some moister locations, such
as in Central Nebraska, and eastward to New England. The dwarf oak might
be utilized in portions of the Rocky Mountains.

Probably the best plant for this purpose for almost all situations is the red
cedar, or juniper, planted in hedges at proper distance from the track.

Some score of years ago the Burlington road attempted to control the snow
by planting deciduous trees. This was all right for a while, but as the trees in-
creased in height the snow was thrown into the cuts, causing much additional
trouble in clearing the tracks.

The cedar is a kindly plant, easily transplanted, grows almost everywhere,
and may be pruned into any desirable shape, being easily kept at the height of a
fence or hedge.

I do not consider that there is more than one variety of the tree now under
consideration, Juntperous Firginiana, or red cedar, yet there are many forms,
changed probably by locality. In Maine and New England the trees assume an
upright, slender habit, some of them being like a Lombardy poplar in form. Sim-
‘larly, many on the Hudson river are very erect.

In the mountains and craigs of Tennessee and Southern Kentucky the cedar
makes a much larger tree—is spreading, irregular and much branched. On the
slopes of the Rockies it shows very great age, yet is dwarfed, spreading, with short
trunk.

In Kansas and Nebraska, in better soils, it grows thriftily, and differs from
both Tennessee and eastern shapes, being rounded and regular.

In the Garden of the Gods it takes on a silvery color, as do many Colorado
conifers.

Nursery-grown evergreens, with compact roots, may be readily transplanted,
SLLUSNHOVSSVW ‘AAISUTIAM ‘SNNOT TOSIONVA OLNE GQUNOYd AVAAO qa

 

 

 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULT URE 179

but those grown wild extend their roots to great distances and they cannot be
saved. The sap of evergreens is resinous, and, when once dried, cannot again be
moistened, the sap becoming hardened so it cannot flow. Never allow them to
remain exposed to air or sun.

Trees 18 to 24 inches high are proper size. In order to show how readily the
cedar may be pruned into all imaginable forms, we have engraved the Italian gar-
aen of the late Mr. H. H. Hunnewell, at Wellesley, Mass.

This magnificent specimen of landscape architecture has been mostly if not
entirely formed by continuous pruning with a definite object in view, of the juniper
or cedar growing so abundantly in the vicinity.

There are several other evergreens which may be used for snow guards, such
as the American Arbor Vitae, which is a tree of northern regions. In fact, any
plant which will grow on rather barren lands without cultivation, and which will
bear shearing to dwarf its growth, may be used for this purpose. Still, as much
of the necessity for snow protection in cuts is within the semi-arid belt, there is no
evergreen quite so suitable as some form of the red cedar.
180 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

FOREST PROBLEMS OF FLORIDA.

Demand of the World for Timber and How It Can be Met for Years.

Address at Board of Trade Meeting by the Editor of Arboriculture.

(Florida Times-Union, March 5, 1895.)

Probably there :s no locality in North America which is better adapted for the
growth of forest trees, especially the deeper-rooted specimens, than are the sandy
lands of the State of Florida. Soil, climate, abundant moisture and all conditions
affecting wood growth are here found in that perfection, than which no other
region surpasses. Nature has been very bountiful in her gifts of forests to this
region, and would without assistance reproduce these forests, making them per-
petual, increasing their size and beauty, as from their own action the soil should
be so enriched as to provide the necessary increased nourishment.

But man alone stands in nature’s way, and with fire, the ax and boxing tools,
says trees no longer shall grow.

With no other use for these barren sandy areas, man says that nature is
wrong; that the Almighty has made a mistake in creating the forests, and that
they must no longer cumber the ground.

In no other community upon the American continent is a campaign of educa-
tion in regard to forests and forest influences more necessary than here in the
peninsular State. And what organization, or from what source, can this influence
better emanate than the Board of Trade of vour leading city, aided by similar or-
ganizations throughout the State, and the press, which exerts so powerful an in-
fluence for good when directed in proper channels.

FORESTS AFFECT FROSTS.

For many years Florida maintained the reputation of being the best and surest
orange producing region in the world. In the early days a heavy belt of pine
timber covered the land. Here and there a small opening was cut and groves of
citrus fruits were planted and nursed into a profitable bearing condition. The
forest stood as a bulwark between the orange groves and vegetable farms of this
region and the north winds and the inroads of frost. But gradually the pine was
removed, the forest influences destroved, and frost has succeeded frost with rap-
idity and severity.

We are asked by the doubter how forests can influence frost ? how they affect
rainfall? how they temper the winds? and how they can control the tornado?
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 181

Many questions are easier asked than answered. Yet the three thousand
or more years of written history are crowded with records wherein nations have
heen degraded and dispersed after the silent action of forests had ceased, their
uifluences having been lost with their destruction. The most powerful forces of
nature are silent forces, as witness the unexplained and unexplainable electric cur-
rent. Controlled by man, it moves his machinery, transports his messages deep
under the sea or over distant mountains, and carries his voice across a continent.
Controlled by nature, it guides the air currents laden with moisture, which is de-
posited upon the earth with systematic regularity, while uncontrolled it vents its
fury upon the oak or any object which intervenes in its pathway.

Witness the power of gravitation, moving the heavenly bodies with precision
in their courses, or bringing the apple to the ground. Recall the influence of the
moon upon the tides. Yet not the least is the wonderful influence of the trees,
acting through electrical energies upon all the powers of nature.

These questions have been discussed in ARBoRICULTURE with frequency, and
are available to any who wish to pursue the subject.

IMPROVING SOIL CONDITIONS.

One of the most important problems is the improvement of the soil of the
State,

A mountain range is slowly broken down by the frosts, washed far down
the stream by the force of flowing waters, finely pulverized by the continuous
grinding in its long passage to the sea, and is there deposited in the still waters,
where it remains until by some of earth’s upheavals it is raised above the surface
and washed by ocean waves. Under certain conditions this pulverized material
may become stone again, while under other conditions it may remain as sand.
Still it is not soil. To form a soil there must be incorporated with it large quan-
tities of humus or vegetable material, and as this decays it becomes a fertile, plant-
producing earth.

Nature's every efforts are to produce plant life in the greatest profusion.
First, the simple forms of vegetation are distributed, the seeds in myriads being
strewn by the winds. Then, as these decay, higher forms of plant life succeed,
until eventually the highest types of forest trees are produced.

Forests are important factors in converting this dead, inert material, pulver-
ized granite, quartz, lime and sand stones, as they came from yon mountain range
through these various channels to their present location, into suitable food for the
nourishment of living plants. The roots of trees strike deep into the soil and
subsoil, and dying, leave therein the carbon, nitrogen, potash and other elements
of which they are composed, which aid in this soil-making process. The atmos-
phere and water are carried down into the earth, following the many roots, bear-
ing such elements as are contained in air and water, and thus both chemically and
rnechanically is this process aided,

The annual deposit of leaves, decaying branches, woody materials and annual
weeds and grasses, incorporated with this sand, all add to the soil’s fertility.

Forest trees are capable of reaching and assimilating those elements which
are required for their support as they are dissolved by moisture, at various depths
182 PRAGTIGAL -ARBORICULTL OE

below the surface, while annual crops, cereals, grasses, tubers, etc., must have a
soil already fertile upon the surface. Hence the trees are essential to prepare the
soil and make it fertile before these surface-feeding plants can make successful
growth.

MANUFACTURES. .

Another problem is, how to continue and increase the manufacturing indus-
tries of the State. These. to a large degree, are now confined to the lumbering
and milling interests. It is well known that a very large sum of money is brought
into and expended in the State from the sale of lumber products. It is claimed
in Oregon that $7 is paid to the labor of that State for every thousand feet of lum-
ber sold. It is probably not any less here. The great wealth of modern nations
lies in their manufactures. The aim of the great nations of earth is to protect to
the utmost the trade of their manufactures, and in this their armies and navies
and their consular departments are employed. This is also true of the various
manufacturing localities of this country, whose interests are guarded with zealous
care by this nation.

The wood in the forests, possessing but trifling value, and unappreciated in its
locality, is, by manufacture, the use of capital and employment of labor, wrought
into the articles required and made available for the uses of man. This is pro-
ductive of an income for every individual employed, and returns an interest upon
the capital invested, besides affording a regular revenue for the support of the
State.

At the rate of cutting and the small increase in young trees, it can be but a
few years until this line of manufactures must cease entirely for want of timber.
Less than twenty vears will see the end, not only in Florida, but throughout the
South. The destruction by fires of the young timber is rapidly bringing about this
condition of affairs.

Take away the materials by the destruction of the forests, and manufactures
must cease. Labor in enforced idleness produces no income, supports no families,
pays no merchants’ bills.

Without the forests and manufactures, transportation derives no benefit. while
the State must devise other means of producing a revenue, which, of necessity,
must be greatly reduced.

Reverse the case, increase the forest area and wealth, the result will be a re-
turn to the manufacturing of lumber and all the articles of which wood forms the
base. Labor will have continuous employment, which will insure prompt payment
to the merchants, who supply families with all their necessities, and the wheels of
progress will again move steadily forward.

NAVAL STORES.

Paint and varnish are greatly in demand. The amount consumed is enor-
mous. The call for turpentine and resin is continuous. How will the call be
answered a very few years hence?

The little appreciation of the pine forests and the increasing demand for naval
stores make the temptation irresistible to box every pine tree, however small.
PRACGCTICHE ARBORTCOLEURE 183

No one can deny but this process, with young trees of six to ten inches diame-
ter, enurely checks the growth and forever destroys all possibility of realizing
lumber from such trees. Not only this, but it hastens the close of the naval stores’
trade in the United States. The owners of pine lands may well consider what their
income will be when the trees have been destroyed and the business of turpentining
has ceased in the State.

RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION.

In clearing away the pine forests tributary to railway lines there has been a
very remunerative business in the transportation of forest products, and of sup-
ples for lumber camps. Probably upon an average two thousand tons of lumber
products have been transported from each square mile of clearing.

Besides this, the naval stores, all machinery for numerous manufacturing
plants, together with food and other supplies for those engaged in the labor at-
tached to this business, have been transported over some line.

Passenger traffic has also been increased by this industry. All this has been
productive of a revenue for every railway line traversing the forest belt.

The time is fast approaching when this income must cease. The pine lands
once cleared, are to a large extent unsuited for agricultural crops and equally un-
available for grazing, except to a limited extent.

The great farm industries of the North will not thrive to a large extent on
much of these sandy loams. It becomes a serious question to the companies which
have invested large sums in the development of Southern railways to know what 1s
to be the revenue after the pine forests shall have ceased to be productive of profit-
able income.

FLORIDA SUITED FOR TIMBER.

All of Florida’s areas are specially suited for timber production, deep-rooted
trees obtaining their moisture and nutriment from the deeper strata, which are not
affected by the heat or dryness, as are surface-feeding plants.

It is fair to presume that the forests which have produced so large a revenue
in the past, if perpetuated, may become again a source of revenue. It is important,
therefore, that greater encouragement be given to the protection of the young

forests.

TEE CATALP A, TREE.

There is one tree which, when once planted, forms a permanent forest. As
soon as a tree is cut down another springs up to take its place, growing from the
old stump. This tree also possesses the quality of great durability, its wood re-
sisting decay as no other timber will do.

Tt produces wood with great rapidity, exceeding other trees in that regard.
In future vears it will supply twenty-seven thousand tons of valuable timber for
transportation from each square mile of forest, which may be continued indef-
nitely, as in periods of twelve to sixteen vears it is reproduced.
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It is not only for the sleepers, lumber,
posts, poles, timbers required by a road
to keep it in repair, maintain track, build
ears and erect buildings—all these are
important—but to supply a traffic which
will afford a permanent income year by
year is a most important consideration
for railroads.

It is thus highly important that all rail-
way companies shall aid and assist in this
great work of forest perpetuation, and en-
courage those who are making efforts to-
ward this end, as the International So-
ciety of Arboriculture is doing.

BOREST FIRES,

It has been the common practice in
Florida to burn over the wood lands each
year, in order to secure a clear grazing
tract for cattle. This has been continued
for the eighty-five vears that Florida has
been a part of this nation. Thirty thou-
sand. square miles, or more than twenty
million acres, on each acre of which a ton
of valuable fertilizing materials have
grown, have been wasted in these burn-
ings each vear. At a low estimate of S2
per ton, there has been an annual loss to
the State of $40,000,000 or in the eighty-
five years past a loss of $3,400,000,000.

If this statement is questioned, I have
but to refer you to vour fertile hummock
lands and the muck lands of the Ever-
glades, which are merely an accumulation
of these very materials incorporated with
the identical sands, but from the moisture
present in the lower levels they were pro-
tected from fires, while the drver lands
were burned. The annual loss of timber
and standing trees greatly augments the
aggregate of the fire losses, while the de-
struction of the young forest trees, except
in protected places, has prevented a re-
production of the forests.

Stringent legislation is necessary to
prevent a total loss of the timber, which
is of so great value to the State.
 

 

 

 

 

MISSOURI

LOUIS,

TREES IN SHAW’S GARDEN, ST.

CYPRESS
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 187
VAST DEMAND FOR TIMBER.

As the forests are reduced in area and density each year, so the demand in-
creases from those portions of the country from which the wood has been re-
moved. All the Eastern and Northern States are now calling upon the South and
the Pacithe Northwest for lumber. This will increase as the South gradually
ceases to be productive of wood.

Africa is demanding vast quantities of timber for her mines and railways.
The Cape to Cairo Railway will require thirty million ties and three hundred
thousand telegraph poles. Russia even sends to Florida for lumber. Other Euro-
pean nations must have lumber from America so long as it can be supplied. Will
we make an effort to retain the trade?

One recent number of ArbortcULTURE was devoted to the subject of the
Everglades of Florida. I can only reassert now what | said in that article: It is
the ideal place for the Catalpa speciosa, and if it were solidly planted with these
trees Florida could supply the entire railway system of the United States with
cross-ties forever.

THE STATES REVENUE:

The farm lands of the Northern States are listed for taxation at from $40 to
$60 per acre, and range in value as high as $100, while those of Florida may pos-
sibly average $1 per acre. The revenue for the States of the North being very
greatly in excess of those in the South. Can this be remedied? Can the sandy
soils of Florida be made to produce an income for their owners and a revenue for
the Commonwealth approximating those of more northern States? Were I an
Indians citizen merely, these questions might be resented as impertinent; but in
my capacity as representative of an international organization, which has a mem-
bership in Florida of one hundred of your best citizens, and from the interest
which I have shown in vour community, they cannot be so considered, especially
when I assert that both the income for the land owner and the revenue to your
government may even exceed that of any locality elsewhere if proper efforts are
made to produce what the world demands far more vehemently than it does cotton,
and that is lumber. Lumber of the right land, from trees which will grow during
the ordinary lifetime of a young man, will bring a value to the lands much greater
than the highest priced farm lands of North America.

Labor will have an additional field of industry, capital an additional invest-
ment opportunity, manufactures a supply of raw material, while farmers, with
better soils and larger crops, may vie with their brothers of the North in the grow-
ing of food products.

Surrounded again with belts of timber and numerous groves and forests, the
gardener and fruit grower may take heart and know that the frosts will not de-
stroy his vegetables and fruits. While the merchant may rest assured his business
will not be suspended on account of crop losses.
188 PRAGCLICAL AKBORICULTURE

THE CYPRESS OF COMMERCE.

(Tarodium distichun.)

 

RAPID DISAPPEARANCE OF THIS SOUTHERN TREE

Timber, lumber and trees are variously designated, the nomenclature of lum-
vermen differing frequently from that of the botanist; for instance, Liriodendron
tulipifera as called by the botanist would sound strange to the builder who wishes
to purchase a bill of yellow poplar lumber, while the nurseryman responds to the
demand for tulip trees, which more nearly suits his ideas of the same tree.

Just so the botanist classifies the bald evpress of the woodsman as Twrodina
distichum, while the lumberman merely says cypress, and by this name it goes in
commerce.

This valuable lumber tree occupies the swamps of Louisiana, extends into
Florida and other Southern States where swamp lands exist, reaching northward
into Southern Indiana and Illinois.

The trees grow in water, often several feet in depth, apparently delighted with
their environments, and seldom are they found in nature upon drv ground. But,
mark vou, the cypress sends up from its roots those great conical excrescenses,
called cypress knees, which reach out of the water into the atmosphere for a breath
of fresh air to mingle wth its sap; it must breathe air, and this it cannot do be-
neath the water.

Planted upon high, dry land, these knees, being unnecessary, are never
formed. It is a popular fallacy which supposes the cypress to be only a swamp
tree. There are no swamps in Shaw's Garden, St. Louis, or in Spring Grove Cem-
tery, Cincinnati, nor in many other places throughout the North where the evpress
is growing thriftily and with better results than in wet locations. It simply adapts
itself to swampy conditions under compulsion as but few trees can do. Still the
evpress merchant knows that to find his timber he must search for it in the marshes.

The name bald evpress given it from the broad, spreading angular branches at
extreme top of the trees, reaching out over the tops of all its fellows of the
swamp, its trunk being bare of limbs throughout its length until these spreading
arms are reached.

Tn youth, and in the open, the form of the tree is symmetrically conical and
formal, but in thick forest all these lower branches are eliminated. and having
reached the limit of its upward height, and age creeps on, its baldness becomes
apparent.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 186

The cypress is one of the most picturesque trees of the Southern States, as
well as being of great economic importance. In summer its foliage has the ap-
pearance of being an evergreen, but it drops its leaves with the advent of colder
wintry weather, and then its bare outstretched arms, draped with long pendant
clusters of gray Spanish moss, give it the look of a dead tree with weird aspect,
while nearly all other trees surrounding are clothed with green.

Like the pines, hemlock, spruce and firs, it is a coniferous tree; the cones arc
small, and the seed, which is produced in greatest profusion, is quite small. Under
tavorable conditions most of this seed would germinate and produce trees, al-

 

nh ‘ad
Daren :
rc abt high

 

 

LOUISIANA SWAMP

though in nature by far the greater quantity of seed falls among the grass, in the
water, or upon hard ground, and perishes.

It is not being reproduced in forest in sufficient numbers to restore the loss
from clearing.

Like the sequoias of California, giant arborvitae or cedar of Washington, and
the silk cotton tree of Africa, the cypress forms a very broad base, tapering
rapidly for a few feet, after which the trunk maintains a regular size to great
height.
190 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

In Florida there are numerous “cypress ponds,” which contain water during
the wet seasons, owing to the presence of an impervious “hard pan” stratum of
dense clay, or of stone. The cypress roots cannot penetrate this stratum and are
dwarfed, while in Louisiana and elsewhere in the permanent swamps, with deep,
alluvial soil beneath, the trees grow to immense size.

Being in the swamps, the trees are removed with great difficulty, the negro
workmen standing in the water all day while chopping and making ties, which
are floated or towed through intricate channels to the railway or higher land.
These workmen are short-lived, their lives being entirely spent in the miasmatic
swamps.

 

 

 

CYPRESS IN ALABAMA
PRACTICAL: ARBORVCULEORE 191

Good, sound cypress timber is of great value on account of its durability, re-
sistance to decay, and for the ease with which it may be wrought. The wood is
soft, of straight grain, easily split into ties, and is capable of being dressed into
very good lumber.

The wood is subject to a dry rot or decay after the trees have attained to their
maturity ; the great majority of logs now being cut are thus quite defective.

One class of decay takes the form of longitudinal holes, not continuous, how-
ever, which give the wood an appearance of having been perforated by boring
\orms, as is the case where the teredo has burrowed.

This is simply one of nature’s inflexible laws. All trees have a period of
growth, and after this is completed another period of repose, which may be called
its durability; then begins decay, and finally it disappears in dust, upon which
other successive vegetation feeds.

Such old timber should be cut and used before too far decayed, as it can never
be of greater value than when maturity has been reached.

This rule is applicable to all classes of lumber trees.

Of many train loads of cypress logs which I have examined, scarce one per-
tect log was fourid. Some were hollow, some rotted on one side, with some good
wood remaining, while all were seriously defective.

And of the cross-ties examined, of which I examined many thousands, a large
inajority were “pecked” with dry rot or in part decayed; few were of perfect
soundness.

The cypress is of extremely slow growth, and after the present supply shall
have become exhausted the tree will have ceased to exist as far as economic forests
are concerned. There are comparatively few young trees, and these will not ma-
ture for several centuries, while the young saplings are being cut for fence posts
where available.

One cypress tree section which I examined at New Orleans showed the fol-
lowing record:

Diameter of tree, fifty-four inches.

Age, six hundred vears.

At 18 years diameter was 4% inches
At 50 vears diameter was 714 inches

At 100 years diameter was 13 inches
At 150 years diameter was 19% inches
_At 200 vears diameter was 2 inches
At 250 vears diameter was 29 inches
At 300 years diameter was 33 inches
At 350 vears diameter was 351% inches
At 400 years diameter was 40 inches
At 450 vears diameter was 431% inches
At 500 years diameter was 46!
At 550 vears diameter was 50%
At 600 years diameter was 54 inches
Average increase one inch in ten years. Another section gave thirty-two years
as the radial growth of one inch, requiring one hundred and ninety-two vears to
reach one foot diameter. A four-foot tree was seven hundred and sixty-eight vears

inches

twN WN

tN

inches
12 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

of age. This is not encouraging to the planter of trees for the purpose of
lumbering. Still, some means should be devised to perpetuate this tree in southern
swamps. There is still considerable cypress remaining in these swamps, which,
on account of the difficulty of getting it out, will furnish a supply for several vears,
but probably one or at most two decades will end the business.

Preparation should be made to meet the emergency when it occurs, for the
years of both yellow pine and cypress are numbered, and the limit is but a brief
period away.

It would be impracticable to re-establish the cypress in the dense swamps,
because of the extremely slow growth as well as the difficulty of transplanting the
trees in the water. And until in future years the swamps shall be drained and
reclaimed, this vast area of worse than worthless territory will continue to breed
mosquitoes and malaria, to the detriment of health and unproductive of any
adequate revenue.

The attention of capitalists and engineers should be directed to this reclama-
tion of swamp lands which is by no means an impossible project or without the
merit of large profit.

As a rule the timber growths of the swamp regions, except for the cypress,
ere of very slight value, although they could be greatly improved by destroying
those of lesser value and encouragement of a more important growth. This would
be a considerable expense, and could only be accomplished by large corporations,
and with State or government assistance.

Where it is impractical to thoroughly drain the swamp regions, an improve-
ment may be effected by planting willows and other growths which emit roots
readily from cuttings, and many of these are of greater value than existing swamp
trees.

Willows reduce the malarial gases and thereby improve health conditions.
They evaporate vast quantities of water through their leaves and absorb carbonic
acid gas from the atmosphere, thus drying up the moisture and purifying the air.
Some of the willows are valuable for a number of uses. Charcoal for powder is
best made from willow. Salicylic acid is a product of willow bark, and is very
largely used in pharmacy. Artificial limbs are preferably made from willow, which
combines great strength with lightness.

Catalpa also grows from cuttings. Fence posts set in spring, with bark on,
will quickly grow into trees, as every farmer in the catalpa slashes knows.

Both these trees are capable of growth under swamp conditions, and either
would be an improvement over past occupants of the swamp regions of the South.

The revenue of a State or community depends upon the income of its inhabit-
ants; plainly this will be a minimum so long as the swamp region remains as at
present; but through their reclamation by drainage or the planting of a better class
of trees and forest growths both the State and its inhabitants will be benefited, the
people by having additional labor in manufactures. So that as an economic
proposition a State can afford to give encouragement to all such enterprises as
give promise of relief.

The method of logging the cypress is by means of steam skidders, as with
other timber trees; a drum carries a wire rope of perhaps a quarter of a mile
length; one end of this cable is drawn into the swamp and there attached to a log,
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 1923

a

or perhaps more than one, power is applied to the drum, and the log is dragged]
through the water and mud, and loaded upon the cars of the tramway. At times
a cone is placed on the log to guide it past obstructions. Where the swamp adjoins
a river, as the Alabama, the drum and power are located on a boat, called a
pull-boat, the logs being rafted and towed to mills.

 

 

 

 

CYPRESS IN ALABAMA
194 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

PENNSYLVANIA FORESTRY.

[At the recent meeting of the Forest Congress, in Washington City, a paper
was read by the Engineer of Maintenance of Way of the Pennsylvania Railway
East of Pittsburg, which in part we append. ]

“During the past year the Pennsylvania Railroad Company has had the sub-
ject considered and a report made by a committee of our Transportation Associa-
tion, and I will draw from this report some data for my remarks of to-day.

“The number of cross-ties in use on the railroads of the United States is
estimated to be about 620,000,000; the number used annually for repairs and for
extensions of track is estimated to be from 90,000,000 to 110,000,000 requiring, we
may say, the entire product of 200,000 acres of woodland annually.

“Each year the timber from which these are manufactured is farther from the
base of transportation; many of the former sources of supply have already
been entirely exhausted. Our Pennsylvania railroads now look chiefly to inland
Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky for our white oak ties, and the long-leaf
yellow pine of the Southern States will soon disappear; probably another decade
may nearly close these sources of supply.

“The annual consumption of ties on the Pennsylvania Railroad system east
of Pittsburg and Erie, for repairs only, is about 3,000,000, the latter being about
the average quantity used every year for repairs in the past ten years. To this
should be added, say, 500,000 used annually for new work.

“It is evident, therefore, that, at the present rate of consumption the available
supply of the present timbers used, especially white oak and yellow pine, will be
exhausted to a serious degree before many years, and the time is now ripe for the
railroads to consider the question of what course they are to pursue in the
future.

“Under these conditions there are obviously two courses:

“First—The reduction of the amount consumed, which can be done by the
substitution of other material for wood, and by the use of preservative methods
for prolonging the life of ties, and which, by increasing its durability, will diminish
the annual requirements for renewals, and,

“Second—By the adoption of forestry methods, having for its purposes the
proper care and management of the forests still remaining, and the cultivation
of new tree plantations.

“Tt is to the latter to which I will chiefly confine my remarks in connection
with this all-important subject.

“The necessity or advisability of a railroad taking an active part in forestry
 

 

 

AVENUE OF CATALPA SPECIOSA, GROWN FROM FENCE POSTS.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULT URE 197

operations, looking especially towards its future supply of cross-ties for its own
use, is comparatively a new idea.

“As long as tweiuty-four or twenty-hve years ago, on the Pennsylvania lines
west of Pittsburg, attention was already given to the subject, and a number of
catalpa trees were planted along the right of way of one of its lines, but the results
obtained were unsatisfactory.

“More recently the cultivation of the yellow locust as a tie lumber has been
brought to our attention, and the cultivation of this tree to a limited extent, for the
purposes named, has been undertaken.

“In order to supply our entire needs for the year, namely, 3,000,000 for repair
and 500,000 for new work, and adding thereto 10 per cent for the immediate
future increase, making the total annual requirements 3,850,000 ties, we figure
that three ties to a tree would require about 1,300,000 trees each year to produce
the 3,850,000 ties (figuring that it will require thirty years for a yellow locust to
mature), would require a continuous growth of 39,000,000 trees, 1,300,000 to be
planted each year, which, if planted each year, and if planted ten feet apart, or
about 400 trees to the acre, would entail the continuous use of 97,500 acres, or 152
square miles of ground, for the purpose.”

This tree is Robinia pseudacacia, commonly called in the West black, and in
the East yellow locust, a valuable timber for fence posts, being durable and having
creat density. The grain is straight and the wood is readily split into fence posts.
This characteristic makes it objectionable for cross-ties, as it is liable to be split in
driving in the spikes. The wood is so hard that it must be bored before spikes can
be driven.

Four hundred trees on an acre is a far greater number than any soil in
Pennsylvania will support when they attain full size in thirty years, and make
three ties per tree, and yet the company has planted largely at six feet apart, or
1,210 trees per acre, seven times too many. ;

In this connection we will add that the Louisville and Nashville Railway, in
addition to planting 150,000 Catalpa speciosa in six separate plantations for the
purpose of growing cross-ties, have planted 385,000 locust trees, from which fence
posts will be produced. The item of fencing is one of great cost to railways.
To supply double lines of fence for the L. & N. system of 3,820 miles requires
2,444,800 posts, which must be renewed about every eight years. Thus, 350,000
posts will be required annually, or 500 acres of forest.

The locust plantings are upon the rough lands in Kentucky, through which
a portion of the L. & N. system passes. The catalpa plantations, which are being
largely extended, are upon a better class of farm lands in Illinois and Kentucky,
and upon the sandy soils of Florida and Alabama.

The Engineer is probably correct in his estimate of thirty years for locust to
mature, and during this long period other wood will have to be procured.

His estimate of the area of land required to supply the road with 3,850,000
ties annually, which he places at 152 square miles, is based upon 400 trees per
acre. This area may be doubled, as 200 trees per acre is as many as can grow to
sufficient size. It will, therefore, take 304 square miles to furnish the wood.

We place the Engineer’s statement regarding catalpa in italics.
198 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

The unfortunate mistake of the Pennsylvania Railway Company in planting
200,000 bignonioides and hybrid catalpa trees in Indiana, twenty years ago, in a
dense sod along the track, in totally neglecting these trees for twenty years, and
permitting them to be mutilated by telegraph linemen, any one of which causes
would prove fatal to the success of the experiment, is made the basis of a covert
attack upon the Catalpa speciosa, and from the prominence of the paper, is cal-
culated to do great harm by discouraging the planting of these trees by others.

 

 

 

#& GROUP OF CATALPA SPECIOSA TREES 100 FEET HIGH

The hundred thousand people from every portion of the world who saw the
catalpa exhibit at the St. Louis Exposition, saw many ties which had been in
constant service in several great railway tracks for thirty-two vears, ten vears of
which were under heavy traffic, supporting ninety-pound rails, and vet without
tie-plates.

The rapidity of growth of Catalpa speciosa has been abundantly proven. We
instance one tree, which was planted in a dooryard at Cambridge City, Indiana, in
 

 

 

AVENUE OF CATALPA SPECIOSA, GIBSON COUNTY, INDIANA
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 201

1887, having grown in eighteen years. The tree was purchased to make a part
of the catalpa exhibit, which was so admired. At the height of thirty feet it
measured fourteen inches, and at the stump nineteen inches diameter.

This tree would have made seven cross-ties, four from the first cut, two from
the second, and one from the third cut. Numerous other trees could be shown
giving equally good results. We note one other tree bought in Southern Indiana
and shown in our exhibit. It was sixty feet to the first limb, at which point it was
sixteen inches diameter, being twenty-eight inches thickness at the stump. It was
forty years old. This tree would have made thirty-three standard cross-ties 7x8
inches and 8% feet long. First cut, seven ties. Second cut, five ties. Third cut,
four ties. Fourth cut, four ties. Fifth cut, four ties. Sixth cut, three ties.
Seventh cut, two ties. From the top, four ties.

It is needless to add that 1,210 trees of this size could not be produced on one
acre of Pennsylvania soil, nor even 400 such trees.

With 170 trees per acre, and averaging five ties per tree, one square mile will
supply 544,000 sleepers in eighteen years, which, with tie-plates, will last one-third
of a century.

Seven square miles of good land will supply the Pennsylvania Railway east of
Pittsburg with ties for one vear’s renewals, and seventy square miles will furnish
timber for a complete renewal.

After the first cutting the catalpa forest will produce a second crop in fifteen
years, as the strong root system remains unimpaired after cutting down the trees
and forces a rapid growth, producing the second forest crop fifteen vears before it
is needed.

By a system of yearly renewals covering ten years, the 620,000,000 sleepers
in the railways of the United States can be replaced with catalpa from a forest
covering less than six hundred square miles in one-third of a century from time of
planting, the first crop being removed in eighteen years, and the second fifteen
vears later.

Thus one county of twenty townships would amply suffice.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

LS)
°
to

AFTER THE OAK, WHAT?

A Word with Manufacturers.

The present fashionable wood with which to manufacture house finishing,
furniture, etc. is white oak, quarter sawed.

In the cheaper grades of work, much plain sawed white oak is used, and red
oak comes into use in greatly increasing quantities as prices advance from the
unprecedented demand for oak lumber, necessitating economy in grade of timber.

The oldest furniture in existence, dating back into the middle ages, was made
of oak, and the aim of designers now is to imitate these old masters in house
furnishings.

Various methods are employed to dye, stain, and finish the articles made
to-day, so as to give the appearance of great age and to pattern from the old Dutch
and English workmen.

There is fashion in furniture just as there is in clothes, in dress and in archi-
tecture. To offer for sale an article made in the highest style of art, of the most
costly and handsome woods in existence, and made by the best methods known
to the manufacturer, if the same is not in the fashion of the day, would result in
serious loss to the firm who planned and built such unfashionable and hence
unprofitable articles. To-day quarter sawed oak has the run, with a moderate
quantity of mahogany for wealthy buyers.

What makes the fashion? Just the same answer as may be made to the query,
Who makes the fashion in dress? It is not the individual buyer or the small
order ; but the great manufacturers of the world control this matter, and make the
styles, which are patterned after by all small and great factories throughout the
country.

Among the higher salaried men employed in furniture works are the artists
who design new patterns and plan the modes of finishing the products. But as we
proceed we will see that the available supply of raw materials guides the man-
ufacturers in their choice of wood.

Not only is there fashion in furniture, but also in carriages, wagons, automo-
biles and all manner of vehicles. There are prevailing styles in architecture, as
well. The builder of 1904 would hardly copy after the French Mansard, nor yet
from the steep-sloped gothic roof of a few years past, although he may go back
several hundred years and reproduce the Italian villas, the old English cottage or
the Moorish architecture of the middle ages with perfect propriety. There is
fashion also in the period from whence styles may be reproduced, “Old things are
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 203

become new,” but they must be very, very old to satisfy the critical eye of the
modern connoisseur. : :

But beyond the forms or plans which the designer or architect prepares,
there is a far more important matter, the abundance of the materials from which
articles are to be constructed.

Walnut and cherry are no longer fashionable, because they are not obtainable
in quantities sufficient to supply the world’s demands. In the United States, fifty
years ago the wild black cherry, which was then quite abundant, became a very
desirable wood from which house furniture, office furnishings, stairways, panels,
newels and all inside work was made. Engineers and draughtsmen preferred
cherry for instruments, as it was quite free from changes, retaining its form
indefinitely. Cherry is a beautiful, plain, unfigured wood, taking a high polish,
durable when protected from moisture, easily worked, and an ideal material for
all cabinet designs.

But the demand soon exhausted the supply of cherry. And while this is a
tree which grows rapidly and could easily be reproduced in forests, there has been
no one to urge this matter of extending our forests of economic woods, and so it
has been neglected.

Then came the black walnut, which was for many years the principal wood
for furniture. As it became scarce, and the beautiful curled and figured veneers
were in demand, thousands of dollars were expended in digging the stumps and
old roots of walnut trees cut for lumber years before; these were transported
long distances, over rough mountain roads, to railways where they could be moved
to the veneer factories. The stump of a single tree, after being cut into veneers,
has been sold for fabulous sums.

Walnut, like the cherry, became so scarce that manufacturers were compelled
to seek other wood which should take the place of walnut. To-day almost the
entire production is exported to Europe.

Birch has been largely used but never a favorite. Maple, especially the bird’s
eve and the curly forms, has been a favorite with many. Tupelo, or sour gum,
and also sweet gum, which in Europe is called satinwood, has received much
attention,while beech and sycamore are still used in some articles, as desks, for
‘nside finish.

Finally oak was chosen, since to all appearances the supply was inexhaustible.
‘n lumber cut from a large white oak tree the medullary rays, when quarter
sawed, give a striking appearance which in moderation is in good taste and very
attractive, but the “loud” appearance of some quartered oak furniture is far from
being a pattern which will stand the test of time.

To quarter saw an oak log causes great waste, which makes it very expensive,
since there are many very narrow boards and beveled edges which must be
dressed away.

Sut the supply of oak in America is fast drawing to an end. Every nook
and corner of the near-by states has been scanned by lumbermen, and the oak
and other trees which were sound have become converted into lumber.

Five years ago in an extended tour through the mountains of Kentucky and
dt aunessee, the writer saw great forests of white, red and chestnut oak, into which
railways and timber roads were being rapidly pushed. All the great railways of
204 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

the northern and eastern states had agents scouring these regions for cross-ties ;
the Standard Oil Company had penetrated the most inaccessible portions of the
country and secured the cream of the white oak for cooperage. Upon every stream
large enough to float timber, timbermen were at work getting out logs and trees
ior market.

A month ago, in another trip over the same mountain country, going by rail as
far as possible and with a hundred mile horseback ride beyond the railway ter-
minus, no forests, as such, were found. The valuable timber had been removed.
the inferior trees were being hauled to the railway and rivers, while thousands
ot logs which three years ago would not have been looked at the second time, were
waiting for water to float them out. Many logs were hollow, others badly decayed,
knotty logs and anything which would give even a little fair lumber.

Beech, inferior oaks, and trees of slight value were all that remained. The
present white oak region of the United States is quite limited in extent, for a
country which consumes and exports such a vast quantity of lumber.

The president of a great railway system which but a few years since owned
and controlled millions of acres of fine oak timbered land, recently wrote the
author :

“Our vast tracts of timber lands are almost entirely sold, and we are making
no efforts to advertise them.”

Personally we are familiar with this formerly timbered section and know this
to be the case.

Just how long the oak will last as a lumber supply, cannot be estimated by
any one, but the most sanguine persons cannot fix a date bevond twenty years
hence, with a greater probability of a practical exhaustion in half that time.

White oak is very slow of growth and cannot be reproduced in a size suitable
for quarter sawing in less than a century ; much that is being cut has been standing
one hundred and fifty years. Red oak grows faster, but is not so handsome in
grain and finish, nor so varied in its utility, while no one, not even the govern-
ment, is planting either.

A member of Congress recently remarked, “The government does not plant
trees,” which is truth in a nutshell. The government investigates.

Land owners who have oak and other timbers do not protect the young trees,
and hence at the very best, if the government should at once adopt a true forestry
policy and have millions of trees planted, there would still be a gap of almost a
century between the time of an exhausted forest from natural productions and the
coming crop from artificial plantations.

So the question again arises, After the oak, what?

Some years ago a noted forestry expert of Massachusetts predicted that in two
decades the supply of white pine timber in the United States would be exhausted.
But Professor Sargent did not take into consideration an important factor in the
case. As white pine increased in value from shortage in supply, the lumber men
and builders began to use larger quantities of hard woods, birch, maple, and oak.
where pine had been formerly used. Yellow pine from the South came into
market, as the price justified long transportation, and hemlock was accepted in
lieu of pine for general farm stuffs. And thus the limit of pine was extended, a
small quantity still being in market at high prices. This prediction has been
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

to
Oo
un

quoted in ridicule by every antagonist of forestry, as showing the vast resources of
this country in timber.

But Sargent was nearer right chan any of his critics, and it would have been
well had the lumber men and government heeded his warning forty years ago.

In wagon work both hickory and oak are noticeably higher in price from
tacreased difficulties in procuring supplies; of what will they be made a dozen
vears hence?

MAHOGANY.

Tropical America, Australia, the West Indies, Africa, India and the newer
American possessions produce mahogany. There are many species of forest
growths which are called mahogany, each differing in marked degree from others,
yet in the world’s markets bearing this general name. In reality the various species
of trees, and in different localities, which find their way to market as mahogany,
are as different, botanically, as oak from pine or hickory.

All of this wood comes from tropic regions, the trees being susceptible to
frost; the jungles whence it is derived growing with vines, tropic underbrush,
myriads of valueless trees and plants, with here and there a desirable tree;
together with the swamps and mountains of hot countries, the unreliable and
unskilled labor of such regions; the difficult and tedious methods of transportation
io the coast, and expensive shipping to our shores from long distances, conspire to
make mahogany a costly timber which must be used with economy in the man-
wfactures.

There is very little furniture made of solid mahogany, the great majority of
work finished in these foreign woods being thin veneer, glued upon poplar or other
lower priced native timber. So that in event of falling back upon imported woods
as a fashionable finishing material there must vet be provided an equal quantity of
toundation wood, as has heretofore been used, in addition to the imported veneers.

What will it be? Where shall it come from?

It is well that many articles may be constructed of metals which have hereto-
fore been made from trees, and these will increase in number as the necessity
arises, yet how many articles in common use cannot be made from metals with any
degree of satisfaction.

When the oak has passed away, of what will they be made? True, the
inferior woods will remain for some time, but under no circumstances beyond
thirty years as forests, unless immediate steps are taken to renew the supply.

How-many thousands of workmen now employed in the factories using wood,
will be obliged to change their occupation when the oak and other forests give
out?

How vast the capital now employed in wood manufacture must be withdraw
and reinvested in other lines of business during the first quarter of the present
century?

Who can tell?

Does this concern the ordinary business man? The banker? The merchant?
The manufacturer? Does it concern the transportation companies of America?
Most assuredly it does, and it is full time the problem was given due consideration.
206 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

ADDRESS BEFORE THE MONTGOMERY (ALA.) COMMERCIAL
AND INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION, MAY 9, 1905.

To the Commercial and Industrial Association:

GENTLEMEN :—In response to your Secretary’s invitation, I have the pleasure
of meeting with you this evening.

In common with several Southern States which formerly possessed large
areas of yellow pine forests, Alabama now faces a condition of rapid forest denud-
ation, with no prospect of a continuance of the pine growth, while a very con-
siderable portion of your territory is unsuited for agricultural purposes or for
grazing.

With the removal of the forests and the loss of income from the sale of its
products, the loss to the labor which has been engaged in its removal, the gradual
cessation of the manufacturing industries, as well as the transportation to other
localities, there will soon be a diminution of the revenues of your State and locality.
How to avoid the consequences attending such rapid destruction of your forest
wealth must concern every patriotic citizen of Alabama and the entire South.
it is not my intention to reflect upon any class of citizens or industry, but methods
may be fairly criticised and improvements suggested.

The lands of a locality are of value for what they will produce. This may be
some kinds of minerals, certain agricultural crops, or grasses suited for grazing,
or possibly for the production of timber. Whatever may be their greatest benefit
for man’s use should be the purpose to which they are devoted.

The rich lands of many Northern States, once covered with forests, could
not have become what they now are, nor could States, cities, homes, manufactures
and business have been created without first sacrificing the forests. But they are
now gone, and all these regions are demanding lumber which you are expected
to supply.

Alabama possesses much land which is not suited for agriculture: the blue
crass of Kentucky pastures will not thrive, and the lands are not of value for
grazing upon a large scale. There is a limit to the area which may be profitably
devoted to fruit, and that must be in close proximity to the lines of transportation.
The vine, except in a few locations, does not offer encouragement for extensive
wine production. Truck farming, while profitable and as yet only in its incipiency,
will not offer a solution for the use to which your thirty-three million acres may be
devoted.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 207

Two thousand watermelons, filling a train of twenty-five cars, have been pro-
duced upon one acre of Alabama soil. It is evident that markets could not be
found nor transportation facilities afforded for so vast a quantity of market
vegetables and fruits as might be produced in the State.

You appeal to cotton, but already, as has been clearly demonstrated, this
staple is overproduced. In fact, the area which may be profitably devoted to cot-
ton is much smaller than that now in use.

3eyond the necessities of your citizens for home consumption, you can not be
expected to produce Indian corn; yet this cereal should be far more extensively
grown than ever before.

After considering every crop which may be grown and marketed, there will
still remain twenty million acres which is better adapted for the production of
timber than for any other purpose.

Wood is now one of the world’s most important staples, and the principal one
which is continuously decreasing in supply. The world is your market for lum-
ber. The world demands all the railway cross-ties, telegraph poles, furniture,
building and ship timber which can be produced, while with the growing scarcity
prices are advancing rapidly. :

Who will be wise enough to provide for the coming emergency? Will Ala-
bama make an effort to check the unnecessary and extravagant wastefulness which
has characterized the American people? What will be the State’s revenue from
several million acres of pine lands which are being cleared by the lumbermen of
every available stick of timber, and by the turpentine operators, who are murder-
ing the baby pines in almost every locality ?

In every State there are antagonistic interests which must be harmonized if
the best interests of the State are to be subserved, and all true, broad-minded citi-
zens will recognize the rights and interests of others and sacrifice somewhat of his
own in view of the public good.

The owners of forest lands should aim to make them produce a perpetual
income, which can only be accomplished by saving the trees of inferior size, pro-
tecting the young growths, and removing only such as are of marketable char-
acter.

To enable this program to be carried out by the land owners, your Legisla-
tures should enact such laws for the prevention of forest fires and the encourage-
ment of forest perpetuation.

There is no doubt but fires have caused the destruction of the young seedlings,
and if the timber possesses any importance to your State, if the forests promise
a revenue for the commonwealth or for the citizens in the future, every possible
effort should be made to check the fires and preserve the seedlings, which are the
beginning of forests.

There is no practice so destructive of the South’s forests as the present
method of turpentine boxing. No sane man will deny that the boxing of pine
saplings, four to nine inches diameter, checks their growth and prevents their

o>

maturing into lumber. For the sake of a trifling income the importance of a forest
208 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

is sacrificed. This should be prohibited by law with severe penalties, except where
it is the honest intent to clear the land for agriculture.

THE RIGHTS OF A STATE.

The American nation was founded upon the principle of the right of a ma-
jority to rule, and it has long been held that the rights of the public, or a majority,
are paramount to those of an individual or a minority.

The State guarantees to all her citizens the peaceful occupation of their
homes, the privilege of public worship, the transportation of productions over
public highways, and authorizes transportation companies to build railways. For
the convenience of the public, courts are maintained to insure the public peace
and for the preservation of personal rights: the press and the people are allowed
free speech; elections are held and the majority choose their legislators. In
return the State demands of every citizen his share of taxes for support of the
government, and that he shall obey the laws as created by the legislative authority
which he has helped to choose.

If private property is required for highway purposes, the State takes posses-
sion of it. When a railway is to be built, no individual may stand in the way
because of his title deeds. Here the rights of the public are supreme.

Every nation claims the right to possess itself of property required for forti-
fications or for military purposes.

The childless citizen pays taxes to educate the children of his neighbors, and
all through the customs of State and nation the rights of the community is held
beyond those of the individual.

Whatever will promote the best interests of the entire community, now or in
the future, should govern all citizens at all times. And that which promises to
seriously injure the interests of the State at preserit or in future may be prevented
by legislation.

If it be determined by the state that its territory shall be made a permanent
source of income by the retention of the forests in order that the manufacturing
industries may not be destroyed, that its naval stores trade may not be driven away.
and that the future citizens of the State, who are to occupy the land, enact the
laws and maintain the organization during the vears to come, shall have the bene-
fits of the forests and enjoy them, then the State clearly possesses the power and
right to demand of its citizens that they refrain from unnecessary destruction of
the forest property, which is the wealth of the commonwealth.

All the countries of Europe have adopted this principle of forest conserva-
tion and perpetuation; why should America not act as wisely?
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 209

CATALPA SPECIOSA FOR THE GULF STATES.

When it is considered that but a century ago there did not exist a single tree
of Catalpa speciosa, except within the circumscribed area centering about the
mouth of the Wabash river, and limited to the low overflowed lands of that re-
gion, confined to a small portion of a few counties in Indiana, Illinois and south-
east Missouri, it is marvelous that the tree has become so perfectly at home in
almost every portion of the United States and Mexico and even in portions of
Canada.

It is wonderful to what a range of localities it has adapted itself, what a va-
riety of soils it accepts and what changes of temperature the tree can survive,
whether the trees are surrounded by water as in the slashes of the Wabash or in
the arid deserts of Utah and the western plains.

But the greatest measure of success is found in the far southern Gulf States,
where the period of growth is almost continuous.

In the alluvial soils of the Mississippi valley, where abundant moisture
and protracted summer heat combine to stimulate the rapid formation of cell
growth, the Catalpa has increased two inches diameter growth per annum, at
New Orleans and other Southern points.

It has been objected that possibly this rapid growth may not make as sub-
stantial timber as trees which grow. more slowly. This argument does not hold,
for the rapidity of increase is merely the greater number of cells added in a given
period, each cell being the same as other cells. My attention was called to some
boards in a lot of Catalpa lumber that were much harder and stronger than oth-
ers; examination showed that the softer and weaker boards were those which
had grown very slowly, the more rapid growing trees, showing in the lumber
as having a great annual increase, proved to be the hardest and strongest wood.

Equalizers made from thrifty voung saplings have outlasted two sets of oak
in same service. This is upon the same principle that second growth hickory is
strong, elastic and possesses life, while old, slow growth wood is of far less value.
Tt is evident, therefore, that the more rapidly Catalpa can be brought to maturity
or merchantable use, the better the quality of the wood will be. This effectually
disposes of the theory advocated by the United States Forestry Bureau, of ex-
tremely close planting, as it is by suppression of growth, through overcrowding,
that the weak. soft wood is formed.

TREE GROWTH IN SANDY SOILS.

A very large portion of the United States has a surface soil of almost pure
sand. The Great Plains region, vast in extent, covering much of the country west
210 PRACTICHL ARBORICULTURE

 

yj A of 99 deg. west longitude, is com-
posed of decomposed rocks which
formed the great mountain ranges,
| and is almost entirely sand.

In this arid belt the tree growth is
very slight except along the margin
of water courses, and is confined to
the families of trees which possess
vigorous roots capable of penetrat-
ing deeply into the sub-soil of the
plains, or rock crevices of the moun-
tains.

Under irrigation this sand pro
duces excellent tree growth, mois-
ture being the only requisite to in-
sure this result.

Now the sandy soils of Florida
and other Gulf States are just as cap-
able of producing wood growth as
are the sands of the plains of the
west. But the same requisite ot ~ig-
orous, deeply penetrating tap voor
ystem exists, in order that a proper
hold upon the soi may be secured
and an ample nutrition as is pos-
sessed by the Pinus ponderosa ot
the plains.

wm

The pecan has a strong, penetrat
ing tap root, and it thrives in Flo:
ida sand. The standard pear has
a similar strong root system which
finds moisture in the deeper sub-
soil no matter how diy the surface
sand may seem to be.

 

The Cutalpa specioss has 9 combr
nation or deep, vigorous, fleshy roots
and other surface feeding roots, but
upon the deeper tap roots are the
main dependence.

 

A sand may, from absence of hu-

 

mus or vegetable mould, be unable

A CATALPA TREI
WORLIYS FALR: ILELGHT, 100 FEET,
DIAMETER, 20 TNCITES crops. or, from prolonged drowehts in

5 OENUTBITED AT OTHE to produce profitable grasses or farm
summer these crops may be total or partial failures, but deep below the
strata so affected there is ample moisture and nourishment for deep feed-
ing trees.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 211

That Florida sands have produced magnificent pine trees is well attested, and
that other deep rooted trees will thrive is also as evident.

Water, artificially applied, has enabled the Catalpa to become large and
valuable trees in Utah, Colorado and other sand plain regions, arid in character,
Lut the abundant natural rainfall of Florida has produced the same results in vari-
ous localities, and will continue to do so.

In the dryest months of summer one has only to remove a few inches of
surface sand to find abundant moisture in the underlying strata. Trees do not
require wet soil, with standing water, although some trees will survive, even under
these conditions, but soil that is moist is necessary. Too much water is worse
than an insufficiency.

The frequent loosening of the surface with harrow or light cultivation, breaks
up the capillary attraction which brings the moisture to the surface, where it is
evaporated into the atmosphere. The frequent stirring retains this moisture in
the soil for plants.

Excellent wood growth in fruit trees has been secured during many vears
past. upon the high, rolling sand hills near Denver, Colorado, the clevation being
5.500 feet above sea, and where rain seldom falls nor is irrigation practiced, but
a constant harrowing of the surface enables the trees to find ample moisture.

During the first three years after planting Catalpa, or other forest trees,
this surface cultivation should be frequent, but after that the shade of the foliage
and accumulation of leaves upon the surface, will keep down objectionable plant
growths, while the roots will have become strong enough to maintain a vigorous
growth.

 

 

 

 

 

A MANZINETE IN FLOWER, CALIFORNIA
212 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

A great lack of humus and the consequent poverty of the soil has resulted
from the very bad practice of burning the annual grasses, pine leaves and other
plants to enable stock to obtain fresh grass in springtime. The result is the al-
most universal destruction of farm possibilities and the loss of millions of dollars
to the State. Even the constant application of commercial fertilizers does not
enable the soil to produce such crops as would be secured had this practice not
been pursued.

THE CUT OVER LANDS.

The sandy lands of Florida and other Southern States, much of which has
heretofore been held in little esteem, may become most valuable and remunera-
tive by planting with trees suited to the locality, for the production of high-gradc
lumber.

The pine, while supplying naval stores from its sap for a few years, is, as a
rule, of low commercial value, comparatively, it being limited to the lower grades
of lumber. When used for cross-ties it is of short duration, not exceeding five
years in track.

The Catalpa, on the contrary, possesses the quality of great durability, ties
having remained in constant use in railway track for thirty-two years, while for
fence posts the wood has lasted eighty years.

Besides, lumber made from Catalpa is capable of receiving a remarkably fine
finish, being useful for furniture, inside finish for residences and offices. Every
portion of a freight or passenger car, for which wood is used, may be constructed
of Catalpa lumber.

The value, therefore, is of the highest, rating with the high-grade finishing
woods.

OCEAN PILING

will demand on all Gulf ports, vast numbers of tall, straight trees which have
great durability, as suitable timber for this purpose is becoming very scarce in the
United States. The Catalpa speciosa is well suited for such timbers, and in the
Gulf region trees may be grown in from twelve to fifteen years to supply this
want.

It is not certainly known how well the Catalpa will resist the destructive
work of the teredo which is very abundant in southern waters, but as a logical
deduction, the chemical substances present: in all Catalpa wood, leaves and sap,
making it obnoxious to all insect life, it is believed will be efficacious in preventing
these worms from entering the wood. So far as is known there is but one insect
which attacks the Catalpa, this being the Catalpa Sphinx, a very large caterpillar,
similar to the worm which devours the tobacco leaf.

This fact is highly important, since in all forest and fruit trees, throughout
the world, there are innumerable insect enemies: in some trees more than a hun-
dred injurious insects infest the foliage, wood and roots of the trees. Experi-
ments are now being made at Pensacola, to determine the resistance of Catalpa
wood to the attack of the teredo, and within a vear this facet will have been deter-
mined. Should the wood be exempt. as it is hoped that it may be, the immense
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 213

expense now incurred, in the chemical treatment of piles with creosote, will be
avoided in future and piles be supplied from timber grown near at hand.

After two vears exposure in the waters of Pensacola Bay, beneath the
Coal Docks of the Louisville & Nashville Railway, the officials report that so
far the Catalpa timber has not been injured in the least by the teredo.

TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE POLES

will always be in demand, and indications are for material advance in prices.
It is not unreasonable to anticipate good results from planting Catalpa for these
specific uses, and if properly managed trees may be grown in a few years which
will make first-class poles for either or both purposes.

The increasing mileage of electric lines of railway and transmission lines for
electric power can but create a further demand for supporting poles, which it
will be necessary to provide for. Large numbers of telegraph poles are now
transported from Idaho and Washington, to points three thousand miles distant,
since the Michigan supply of white cedar has so greatly diminished. The demand
from Northern States, requiring transportation for a much less distance, will fur-
nish a market for Southern poles, while the durability of Catalpa makes this wood
specially desirable for such expensive timbers as are required in this service.

WATER TRANSPORTATION.

The proximity to shipping ports on the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean
give to the Southern points great advantages over lands situated farther in the
interior, as Shipments can be made to Mexico, and to European ports, while South
Africa and South America, all practically treeless, require such timbers in very
large quantities, and if all the waste lands of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and
Florida were retained as forest or planted systematically, in forest, they could
not supply the demand for timber from points easily reached by rail and vessel,
hence there need be no fear for a market or of an over supply of forest products.

WOOD PULP AND PAPER.

New England, Canada and the extreme Northern States are now producing
the principal bulk of wood pulp and paper, because in the North spruce timber
and the poplars abound, and they are not so common, South. The question of
supply of woods suitable for paper is already seriously agitating the great paper
manufacturers.

Experiments are being made with Catalpa wood for the production of pulp,
by one of the largest mills in the world, from timber sent by this society for that
purpose. Little doubt exists that it is well suited for the best book paper, since
the fiber is longer than that of other woods which are now being used. Should
this experiment prove successful a new opening will be offered for the disposi-
tion of the waste portions of trees, or for growing timber for this specific use.

The rate of increase for Catalpa in the South is four times greater than that
of timber trees in Maine, Michigan, New York and other pulp manufacturing lo-
calities : the financial returns, therefore, must be far in excess of that from timber
214 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

grown in northern localities. So far, all the trees used in manufacture of pulp,
are of natural growth, no extensive artificial plantations having as yet been made,
but undoubtedly forests of rapid growing trees, planted systematically and man-
aged in a rational manner, will be good financial investments.

It is by no means impossible, under these conditions, to attract great paper
industries toward the points where suitable wood may be most profitably grown,
and thus improve local conditions in the South.

IMPROVEMENT OF SOIL CONDITIONS.

To secure a satisfactory growth of annual farm crops, which always have
surface feeding roots, a certain quantity of humus, or decayed vegetable mould is
essential, and the greater the proportion of this material which rnay be incorpo-
rated in the soil, the more productive does the land become. The hummock lands
of Florida, the Delta lands of Mississippi, and the alluvial tracts in Louisiana
are productive because of the large proportion, sometimes amounting to the entire
soil to great depth of humus in the composition. These are simply an accumula-
tion of plant roots, decaying foliage and those annual growths which have be-
come mingled with the sand, and are usually lower levels, the moisture preventing
fires from destroying them. Any decaying vegetation will, in time, promote this
condition.

In the Northern States clover, rye, buckwheat and blue grass sod are plowed
under to increase soil fertility. In the South, cow peas and various leguminous
plants are grown for the same purpose. Wherever there are falling leaves from
a forest, if not destroyed by burning, the same condition is maintained. Burning
the annual growths removes all nitrogenous and carbonaceous matter, leaving
cnly a modicum of potash. The mechanical mixture of leaf mould is not secured
where fires are of frequent occurrence.

It is most important, therefore, that fire protection be secured, if the soil is
to be improved.

Forests of deciduous trees rapidly improve soil fertility, far more so than
do the pines. The creation of great forests of Catalpa, or other deciduous trees,
would in a short time entirely change the upland sand areas into highly valuable
farm lands which will be productive of revenue to the State as well as to the
cwners of the land.

The author does not advocate the preservation of these trees, but the forests
should be perpetuated. We do not find fault with lumbermen who are furnish-
ing the world with much needed boards and timbers for the commercial trade
and the arts; we do deprecate the waste, however, and would urge a more ‘ra-
tional system of forest perpetuation.

We hold that our children should have some trees from which to make lum-
ber and sell ties, telegraph poles and other very necessary articles.

We visited one saw mill recently, which saws one thousand trees into lumber
every twenty-four hours, cutting from these trees three hundred thousand feet of

 

lumber daily—ninety million feet each year—and clearing twelve thousand acres
of timber. Yet, this was but one mill of the many which are cutting up the pine

trees at a rapid rate every day.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULLTURE 215

What is to be done with this vast area of agricultural land after the pine
has gone? Of course some of the lands are suited for agricultural crops, yet there
is much that is not so considered, although it may have a low value for pasturage.

We are attempting in these pages to show that at least one valuable tree may
be profitably grown upon any of these cut over lands, and cause them to become
more remunerative in that way than they have ever been before or than they can
be if put to any other use.

ALABAMA FOR THE CATALPA.

The warm, sandy soil of Southern Alabama, with a plentiful rainfall and al-
most perpetual growing season, makes this an attractive location for growing the
Catalpa speciosa. Along many of the streams throughout the State are to be
tound large numbers of the Catalpa bignonioides, or Southern form of the Catalpa,
which indicates a soil and climatic condition which is well suited to this family of
trees; and while the Southern tree is of smaller stature and of inconsiderable im-
portance, vet its presence assures us that conditions are favorable for this peculiar
timber growth.

In each locality of Alabama where these forests are being planted there have
been removed quite recently yellow pine trees of very large size. Soil which has
produced such pine timber will undoubtedly produce as good trees of other spe-
cies, provided they are adapted to the conditions of climate similar to that re-
quired by the pine.

In the vicinity of Mobile, Alabama, there are being made several targe plan-
tations of Catalpa speciosa. The one in Baldwin County, planted by Captain J.
\. Carney last spring, has made excellent progress and demonstrated the adapta-
bility of Alabama's rolling, sandy clay loam lands for the cultivation of Catalpa
speciosa. The trees which were planted here in April have made strong, large
roots four feet in length in October, six months’ growing season.

The several plantations being made by Mr. Wilber J. Andrews, of Chicago,
who owns twenty thousand acres in Mobile County, much of which is to be
planted with Catalpa, as a commercial investment, will undoubtedly prove a suc-
cess not only in growth of timber, but as a financial investment as well.

Then, the tract of 1,040 acres purchased by the Louisville and Nashville
Railway Company, and planted with Catalpa speciosa trees for the production of
cross ties, has been mentioned before.

Thus in the southern portion of Alabama, within a radius of thirty miles
from Mobile, there have now been planted upwards of one million trees for tim-
ber purposes. Every shade of soil within this belt is thus being tested, and a
movement inaugurated, with ample capital in each case, to guarantee a thorough
trial of this Indiana tree, which bids fair to revolutionize the whole timber indus-
trv of the South. With the development of this industry there will open to the
South a use for large areas of her lands for which they were peculiarly adapted,
and which will be productive of a larger revenue than could be realized from
these lands by any other method.
 

216 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

 

 

 

TO THE RAILWAY MANAGER.

You are a busy man; very much depends upon your judgment in the man-
agement of your company’s affairs. Details multiply! Correspondence pours
in as rapidly as you can clear your table. The piles of letters disposed of to-
day are followed by others to-morrow.

If, when vou are crossing the tracks of some railway, and are on danger-
ous ground, you hear the tinkling of an electric bell which gives the warning
sound of an approaching train, and see before you the notice,

STOP! LOOK! LISTEN!

There is no doubt but vou will at once heed the warning of the safety signal and
move with caution until you are clear of impending danger.

The stockholders of vour company have placed you in this responsible posi-
tion. You are expected to look to their interests in all that pertains to the man-
agement of the road, to secure its safety and eventually return to them the great-
est possible income for their investment.

STOP

long enough from the dictation of letters and routine affairs of your office
to consider what your road is going to do for cross-ties a very few years hence;
of what they will be made: where they will be 6btained; what will be their cost;
how long will they last, and what will be the expense to your company for re-
newals.

LOOK

far ahead and see the forests disappearing from every portion of the land, and
no adequate effort being made to perpetuate the supply of timber for general con-
sumption as well as for your company’s use.

See the vast export of all kinds of lumber and timber, and the demands
made upon American forests by European and African railways for cross-ties
and lumber. Estimate, if you will, the vastness of the requirements for electric
lines as well as for steam railways.

LISTEN
to the warning given in time and prepare for the inevitable result which must
come within a few vears. The train is rapidly approaching—it is nearer than
you suppose—which brings the last timbers of American forests. Will you heed
the signal ?
We are pointing out a remedy which will make a perpetual supply of timber
and ties possible.

 
PRACTICHL ARBORICULTURE 217

THE HARDY AMERICAN FOREST TREE.

In 1808 the first edition of our booklet “The Catalpa Speciosa,”” was
printed, the 1,000 copies being soon exhausted. A second edition of 5,000
copies followed, and the demand inereasing, a third and fourth edition were

 

 

 

 

THE LAST OF THE MAMMOTH CATALPA SPECIOSA TREES. STOOD NEAR OLNEY, ILLI-
NOIS, AND WAS CUT IN 1900. IT WAS 101% FEET HIGH, WITH A GIRTH OF 18 FEET
218 PRACTICAL, ARB ORL ULE PUI

issued. Altogether 50,000 copies were sent out, while it has been printed in
various daily papers, in whole or in part, so that many thousands of copies
have been circulated.

Inquiries for the booklet have been received from Rome, Berlin, London
and many portions of Europe and from Australia and New Zealand, besides
the demand from America. After revising and adding much new matter the
subject was continued in the magazine ARBORICULTURE in 1903, sixty thousand
copies being distributed, and now the many thousands of inquiries from all
parts of the world demand a tenth edition and I am now adding to the text
much new matter with numerous half tone engravings and all obtainable
information in regard to this most valuable, economic tree, making it as com-
plete as possible to this date.

THE CATALPA SPECIOSA.

There is such a close resemblance between the various forms of Catalpa,
both those of Asiatic origin and the American trees, that a close study of the
variations has not been made until quite recently.

The fact that the two principal forms indigenous to the United States
are so similar in many of their characteristics, and the hybrids are so numer-
ous, make it a difficult matter even for experts to determine precisely where to
place them botanically, except when they are in flower.

It is not strange, therefore, that early botanists failed to discover and
describe Catalpa speciosa.

In 1818, Thomas Nuttall had heard that there were two varieties of
catalpa, but he had never seen speciosa. The southern form, Catalpa bignon-
oides, has a great range, being found upon the hills as well as river bottoms
throughout most of our southern states, while Catalpa speciosa was confined
to a very limited tract along the overflowed lands of the lower Wabash
river, apparently distributed solely by the backwaters up the nearby creeks,
and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, as far as New Madrid, Mo. In
Southeastern Missouri the two forms meet, both being found growing  to-
gether with many hybrids. The beauty of the flowers has alone prevented
the extermination of the Catalpa speciosa. Its extremely valuable character
was known to the earliest settlers of the Northwest Territory and to the
Indians before, and as the tree does not easily propagate in nature, and the
demand was great for durable timber, the original forests were practically
destroyed. Gen. Wm. H. Harrison and a few other enterprising pioneers car-
ried the seeds and trees to distant points for ornament and shade. Some of
these stocked the home of General Harrison, near Cincinnati, and the sur-
rounding country. From these early plantings others have been distributed
through the United States, until specimens of the Catalpa are found in every
state, as well as Canada and Mexico. Probably the greatest number of large
trees in the United States are about Cincinnati, Ohio: North Bend. Ohio,
the home of General Harrison, being but 19 miles distant. This was also the
home of Dr. John A. Warder, whose interest in the Catalpa was very great,

and who described and named the large growing variety Catalpa speciosa in 1853.
 

 

 

 

 

CATALDA SPECIOSA IN BLOOM, RIVERSIDE, CHICAGO, TLL.
PRAG ET CAL ARB ORTE OE LF CARE 221

TO RAILWAY DIRECTORS, STOCKHOLDERS AND OFFICERS.

‘The object of this paper is to present, in a concise form, some of the
problems in reference to Railway Cross-ties: \What material shall be used?
The probable cost, and where shall they be obtained?

Good white oak has become too valuable to justify its use for ties.
(Note.—There are 45 feet, b. m., in a medium tie, which for furniture lumber
is worth $2.70, five times the price of cross-ties.) Only the larger limbs,
defective portions and small trees are made into ties. The average life may
be estimated at seven years.

Tamarack (American larch), white cedar, chestnut, pine and redwood
are used near the localities where they grow. The characteristics of each
are well known to engineers of maintenance of way.

Each year the price is advancing as the forests decrease in extent, while
railways not favorably located experience increased difficulty in obtaining a
supply.

METAL “TIES
have been devised in countless numbers; some have been used upon European
lines with apparent success, but they are costly, from $2 to $4 each, reaching
about $9,000 per mile, as against $1,500 for white oak.

Were all American railways as straight as those of Europe, with their
minimum grades, and as substantially constructed, metal ties would not
be objectionable, save for their expense: but none of these conditions exist.

Given a mountain railway with abrupt curves, often reversed, with the
outer rail elevated, a heavy freight train with half a mile length, an engine
at each end or a double header: What engineer can compute the complex
forces exerted against the rails in many directions as successive portions of
the train are forcibly thrown from side to side? (Wooden ties are elastic;
every spike is held in place by a cushion of wood fibers, every strain and blow
being reduced by their elasticity.) How will it be with too pound steel rails,
rigidly bolted to inflexible metal ties, with these forces pounding continually ?

Accidents from broken rails and fastenings must reduce profits materi-
ally; and when they occur the slow process of unscrewing nuts, replacing
rails, ties and bolts can only result in tedious delays and great expense.

It would seem, therefore, that wood is far preferable to anything else so
far devised for cross-ties; but wood is rapidly disappearing and trees must
be grown for supplying this need. The rapid disappearance of the .\meri-
can forests, the advancing prices of lumber, with increased dithculties experi-
enced in securing a supply for commercial uses, as well as the struggle among
competing railways to secure enough cross-ties for the maintenance of a safe
track, bring prominently to every consumer of wood the question: JVhat shall
we do for timber in the future?

It has been the custom to take the oak, a tree which is slow to develop,
as a standard by which to measure every forest growth, and thus impatient
Americans are discouraged from forest planting. However, in the Catalpa
we have a tree combining many of the qualities of oak, besides possessing
several features of great value unknown to the quercus family, and, withal,
222 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

coming quickly to maturity, producing merchantable sawing timber and sev-
eral cross-ties in from fifteen to twenty years.

The Indian tribes who dwelt in the valley of the Wabash, or traversed
this region, sought such trees as could be easily wrought with their rude im-
plements, and those which were most enduring, from which to fashion their
canoes, and the Catalpa was their favorite wood.

Usually those woods which are dense, and slow to mature, have great
durability, while the quick growing trees with softer wood soon perish. The
reverse is the case with Catalpa, its chemical constituents being permanent
antiseptics preserve the fibers from decay.

The early white settlers in the valley of the Wabash were instructed as to the
valuable qualities of the Catalpa and they made use of it in constructing their
houses, boats and stockade forts, which have endured through more than a
century.

General William H. Harrison often spoke of the Catalpa and urged its
cultivation, since he had known of its many valuable qualities during his resi-
dence at Vincennes. He had seen this wood sound and bright more than
a century after it had been placed in the stockades, and he used Catalpa for
posts in his fence ninety years ago, some of which are still standing.

The author procured one of these posts for the New Orleans Exposition
in 1885; it was sound and good for many years’ additional service.

On the line of the Evansville & Terre Haute Railway I found a large
number of Catalpa posts which were set fully half a century ago, and are
still in use.

Evidences of the durability of Catalpa wood are numerous as well as con-
vincing.

The earthquake at New Madrid, Missouri, in 18r1, threw down many
Catalpa trees and others were killed, but left standing. These were sound
and well preserved a few years since—as mentioned by Mr. Barney in his book.

 

WHY CATALPA IS DURABLE.

Trees have the capability of appropriating from the soil such pigments
as will give them color, flavor or other peculiarities. Upon the same soil
one tree will take up such materials as will produce a red apple, another
green, another yellow. The butternut stores up a valuable dve, ete. The
Catalpa takes those antiseptic substances which, in concentrated form, resist
the microbes of decay. These are built into the fiber wood, and when once
dry are incapable of solution in water. Millions of dollars are expended in
chemical treatment of wood to increase its durability. These chemicals, in
solution, are forced into the cells of the wood, and for a long period ward
off the fungi which cause rot or decay, but, in time, the elements dissolve
and wash out these artificial materials. leaving the wood unprotected.

Catalpa is permanently protected because nature has enabled the tree to
make these antiseptics a part of the wood itself. Scientists have expended
much time in attempting to explain why some Catalpa trees are decaved while
still living. It is simply that when the san is flowing freely, the antiseptic
materials are greatly diluted, and, if a hmb has died and remains attached
 

 

 

 

NATURAL GROWTH OF CATALPA SPECIOSA IN OPEN FIELD
PRACTICAL ARBORICULT URE 225

to the tree, the dead wood shrinks away from the living wood built around
it, admitting water and air, and with them the germs of decay which success-
fully attack the wood at such time.

A chisel, broad and sharp, upon a long handle, removes branches close to
the trunk, smoothly; they soon callous and heal over, thus preventing the
decay mentioned.

ANALYSIS OF CATALPA WOOD BY J. N. HURTY, M.D., PH.D., ANALYTICAL CHEMIST.

Sample furnished by J. P. Brown. Indianapolis, April 2, 1900.
Per cent.
IOUS EGY fee rcs s oeicys aaa reyspsneeta dati ncaa Ua aeA SAE say idk cy (ellen ately ayant esis we Ot 13.97
EN SUN Hs skein scene g te Ses, BAR 4.80 eh peli cianesed ly Sil ee aot arnanae deasaci yy seman aan adenha es Malameenepntr a as 0.72

Petroleum ether extract
(This extract was of a light yellow color and very faint fat odor. It was free
from glucosides, alkaloids, free organic acids and chlorophyll.)
CHER Ex bhaC ti, ibe td ean rod ranean ete roe eee of Pai wane ey ehcneat arin) mun na Ga mee ata A Rey 0.36
(The ether extract had a light brown color, resinous appearance and slight
aromatic odor. It contained no chlorophyll, alkaloids, glucosides or or-
ganic acids. It seemed a resin.)

 

PICO MOL Rent ralGty a een teat iat eens Do ttcteet ea Cah tga oft) Rieae ley Shan te ad Oa rathecthees a abcd bars 4.06
(This extract had a dark brown color, woody odor. It contained a glucoside,
no alkaloids, no tannin. Contained resinous matter.)
Velie tt ac bara Ct, wears sean gate accurate tae ence Bue eh UL nd pO chan ea gn REA canes ing enc 3.67
(This extract was of dark brown, almost black color, faint aromatic odor.)
FErS Tin, CEU OSEr HELGA leone Sat sadn e tess aus detied die cot hades eeniouaetud Weer auetonn araceteeare heathens 76.87
100.00
Remarks.—It is probable that the fat and the resinous matters are the preservative
in Catalpa wood. J. N. HURTY.

MANAGEMENT OF CATALPA PLANTATIONS.
TWO ADVERSE THEORIES.

Almost every artificial forest plantation in America has been made upon
the old theory that side branches of trees must be eliminated by close plant-
ing; that forest conditions must be maintained by the dense shade of many
trees. Such is the theory adopted by the United States Forestry Bureau in
all its bulletins.

The majority of such plantings have been at 4x4 feet distant with but com-
paratively little thinning.

\We now have in consideration the Catalpa tree which, when once estab-
lished, is a remarkably strong, vigorous, growing tree. At 4x4 feet distance,
or 16 square feet surface for each tree, the roots will occupy all the ground
in two years after planting.

In four years there will be a struggle for existence among the roots and
a corresponding decrease in vitality and power to produce an efficient top.

Forest conditions are thus maintained at the expense of wood growth.
Every plantation so made has been a failure and always must be.

The theory adopted by the author is directly opposed to this.

A strong root system must be developed and ample room given the trees,
so that the vital part of the tree, and which is never seen, being beneath the
ground, shall have room to expand and gather strength for the support of the
tree.

In the native forests of Catalpa the trees are tall, straight, with few
branches along the trunk.

In proof of which we present scores of photographs of Catalpa speciosa
growing in every part of the country.
226 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

 

 

ONE OF THE CATALPA TREES ENIIBITED
AT THE WORLD'S FAIR, ST. LOUIS,
HETMGHT, 10 FEET

 

 

This is nature’s method of repro-
ducing a forest of catalpa: When a
tree ts felled, a shoot from the stump,
having the force of the entire root sys-
tem, quickly springs up into a tall,
strong branchless stem, in a few vears
becoming a full-grown tree.

Following after nature’s method,
we recommend the development of a
strong root system, regardless of the
irregular growth of the top during
two or three vears, after which the
stem may be cut off at or near the
ground while the tree is dormant.

The upright stem results: all sur-
plus shoots that start should be re-
moved, leaving but one, the strongest.

The distance I4xI4 feet seems to
be the most satisfactory for a perma-
nent plantation—222 trees per acre.
But in order to occupy the ground,
prevent injury by winds and properly
shade the ground, four times as
many trees are planted, or 7x7 feet,
being 888 trees to the acre.

As soon as these have attained a
suitable size, in seven to ten vears,
the temporary trees are removed and
used for fence posts, mine timbers
and other uses.

The rapidity of growth will de-
pend upon the character of soil,
length of season, cultivation given
during the first three years, and
moisture obtainable.

Shade and forest conditions, so
called, secured at the expense of root
vitality, wil not compensate for loss
of vigor and absence of good culti-
vation during the first three years.
After first year cultivation should be
very shallow with harrow.

Branches of catalpa are very persist-
ent. They do not fall away when dead,

but remain as dead pins. Each annual growth of new wood encloses them until,
as the tree becomes mature, these dry sticks lead from the heart of the tree to its
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 227

circumference. Shrinking away from the surrounding wood a cavity is formed,
into which air and water find their way and carry the germs of decay.

The catalpa must be hand pruned if one’s bank account is to be benefited.

The best instrument for this purpose is a three-inch sharp chisel upon the end
of a long pole. An upright thrust, or a slight blow with a mallet, removes the limb
close to the tree. This soon becomes calloused over and covered with new wood.

No branch along the trunk should exceed two inches in diameter before re-
moval.

On prairies and for large plantations it is well to insert extra trees between
the rows at intervals to break the force of the wind. Thus, four rows
around the outer belt and as may be necessary in the body of the forest,
probably each quarter mile.

A tree grown in the streets of Connersville, Ind., was given the writer.
It was made into a desk. This was exhibited in the State Llouse at Indian-
apolis for two months, being pronounced the handsomest desk in the state.

It is now used in office of the author.

The tree grew in twenty-five years, becoming twenty-two inches in diam-
eter and having 250 feet b. m. lumber.

The late E. E. Barney, the veteran car builder of Dayton, Ohio, who was
one of the best judges of timber in America, took a very great interest in the
catalpa, having published an exhaustive pamphlet, which is now quite rare,
giving the results of his investigations, experiments and correspondence, upon
the subject.

Many railway officials in early days experimented with catalpa trees, the
testimony of several being quoted in this booklet. Mr. Barney spent several
thousand dollars in painstaking research and demonstrated the value of this
wood to railway interests.

The late Robert Douglas of Waukegan, Il., also expended a large sum
in similar investigations and was thoroughly imbued with the importance of
the catalpa to commerce.

URGING UPON THE GOVERNMENT AND CORPORATIONS THE
PLAN OF EXTENSIVE PLANTATIONS OF CATALPA.

The late Dr. John A. Warder made the subject one of deep study, advo-
cated the growing of this timber and planted many catalpa trees.

Mr. H. H. Hunnewell, a wealthy gentleman of Wellesley, Mass., planted
a square mile of catalpa timber near Farlington, Kan., Robert Douglas & Son
contracting to furnish and plant the trees — 2,000 per acre — or one and a
quarter million trees. The planting began in 1879, Mr. Hunnewell at that
time being 65 vears of age.

Unfortunately this experiment has been almost a failure on account of
entire want of attention. After twenty-seven years the trees are but little
larger than they were when six years old—as Mr. Robert Douglas’ report
shows, 2,000 trees per acre cannot develop.

THE FARLINGTON KANSAS TRACT.

At the same time the same parties planted another square mile for the
Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf Railway, of which corporation Mr. Hunne-
228 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

well was a director. It was treated in same manner, and also planted 4x4 feet.
The St. Louis & San Francisco Railway is now possessor of the property. Dur-
ing 1904 the entire tract was cleared, making the trees into fence posts. Mr.
H. P. Jacques, the purchasing agent, informed me that he had sold one hun-
dred thousand dollars worth of posts from the tract.

Undoubtedly as a fence post proposition it was a success, financially. Yet
it should have produced half a million dollars in cross-ties and lumber had it
received rational treatment.

In a state of nature, where time is no object, a thousand years as but a
day, a long struggle takes place between the stronger and weaker trees, both
robbing the others; eventually a sufficient number succeed by destroying the
remainder.

Where dollars are the object and time of great importance, as in an arti-
ficiai forest, these surplus trees should be destroyed after the object of close
planting has been attained, namely, an upright trunk free from side branches
to a great height. Otherwise the moisture and nutriment required by the
permanent trees will be divided and none receive enough. From a report
made by Mr. Douglas in 1885 many of the trees, six years old, measured 18
inches girth. While from sheer neglect and overcrowding there has been a
serious loss in subsequent years.

I have personally measured a large number of catalpa trees in Kansas,
Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, District of Columbia.
Utah, California and Indiana, taking trees of known age, and they have aver-
aged one inch diameter increase for each year after planting.

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company planted on its line between Richmond
and Indianapolis a large number of catalpa trees, part of which were speciosa
and others, bignonoides, or southern form. These were allowed to grow at
random in a blue grass sod. They have been cut back often to prevent inter-
ference with telegraph wires, and a majority are worthless, from neglect. Yet
I measured several that were 48 inches girth after 16 years growth.

If these trees could be cut down, allowing one shoot to grow from the
stump, they would in five years produce valuable, straight, thrifty trees of
which the company would be proud.

One tree in Manifee County, Ky., planted in 1840, has a spread of 80 feet
diameter, the trunk being 15 feet circumference. The lady who planted this
tree is still living nearby.

A writer speaking of the value of catalpa ties and lumber, says: ‘“Not-
withstanding it makes a durable tie, the wood is entirely too valuable for that
purpose, as the lumber—go feet b. m. in a tie, is worth $2.00 to $3.00. In fact
there is no lumber grown in the United States that is more valuable. It
takes a finish equal to San Domingo mahogany.”

Several catalpa cross-ties were placed in the C. C. C. & St. L., Cairo
division, in 1879, one of which was taken out last summer (1899), having been
in constant use for twenty years.

Mr. J. W. Cowper, engineer maintenance of way, officially reports of this
tie as follows: “This catalpa tie, taken out of the track three miles north
 

 

 

 

CATALPA SPECIOSA

SCENE.

FOREST
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 231

of Harrisburg, was put there in 1879, in mud ballast. The wood is perfectly
solid, showing very little signs of decay. * * * With tie plates and good
ballast, those ties would, I think, without doubt last fully thirty to thirty-five
years.”

Mr. Cowper furnished the author with a half of this tie, who had part
of it sawed into boards and a frame made and finished to determine its value
as a furniture wood.

In appearance it resembles white walnut, Juglans cinerea, also similar in
texture. It is as easily wrought as white pine; the polish which it receives
places the catalpa upon a plane with walnut, cherry and our finest cabinet
woods.

Suel Foster, Muscatine, Iowa, cut a tree of his own planting, at 20 years
from the seed; it measured 21 inches across the stump.

STRENGTH OF THE CATALPA.

It has been customary for farmers where this tree abounds to use the
young poles for repairing agricultural implements, where strength, combined
with lightness and durability, was desirable. Plow beams, single and double
trees, handles of various tools have been made, continuing long in use, where
oak had been broken.

I saw a three-horse evener in Kansas, made from a four-inch catalpa pole,
which was being used for the third season, serving the purpose admirably.
Two eveners of oak had been previously broken in the same service—proving
the practical utility of the catalpa.

The immensity of the demands for timber by railroads may be realized
from the following figures:

There are in use to-day 780,000,000 cross-ties; annually required for re-
newals, 112,000,000 cross-ties; expended annually for ties, $60,000,000; num-
ber required during the next two decades, 3,000,000,000 cross-ties.

Where shall they be obtained? Of what will they be made? What will
be their cost? These are pertinent questions but are capable of intelligent
solution.

The catalpa tree will make the ties, in sixteen years growing to a size
that will make five cross-ties, which will last for thirty-five years.

Transportation of ties for long distances now constitutes a large portion
of the cost. This may be eliminated by growing them where they are to be
used.

One year old trees are always used in forest planting, and these may be
had at from $10 to $25 per 1,000 trees.

Directions for planting catalpa: The utmost care should be observed in
obtaining the hardy western Catalpa speciosa. Unless it is specially desirable
to start with the seed, by all means purchase one-year plants.

In growing plants the seed should be drilled in nursery rows about 25
or 30 per foot, with rows 4 feet apart, covered very lightly, kept clean from
grass and weeds, and transplanted the first year. There are 10,000 seeds to a
pound.
232 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Thorough cultivation is essential. In the autumn when the wood has
ripened they are taken up, tied in bunches of 100 and heeled in for the winter.
In spring, with the ground well prepared, furrow out deeply rows seven feet
apart, and plant trees seven feet in the rows, the intermediate spaces being
cultivated in potatoes, corn, or some non-vining vegetable. Neither weeds nor
grass should be permitted to grow, a sod of grass will quickly ruin the catalpa.
The trees will thus form tall upright trunks, with few side branches. After
the fifth year the shade and falling leaves will protect the tree, without further
cultivation; it may be sooner. By the eighth year all trees should be removed
except the permanent stand, not closer than 14x14 feet, in order to give room
for the roots and each its share of moisture. This will give 222 permanent
trees per acre.

The cost of planting will vary according to local conditions. The land
should be such as would produce a fair crop of corn.

ESTIMATE PER ACRE.

Valuecotiland Say «26 bath ae ood oe et eee $20.00
Preparing “the sland): yoann pues he oka end oeeete 5.00
SSO EES! YR TERE said h okie Nain n bele hint ated nel erates 8.00
Labor. plantins and <cultivating e.y5 seeks yoee.4e Hees 5.00
Interest and- taxes, eight years: fussed gece ates 12.00

$50.00

At eight years three-fourths the trees should be removed.

Each tree removed will supply two first-class posts worth Io cents each.

The value of the land having been greatly improved, and a permanent
income assured from the continued growths (as the trees are quickly renewed
from the stumps) equal to a capital investment of $1,000 at 8 per cent interest.

Cost will vary with location and management.

EXTRACT FROM MR. BARNEY’S PAMPHLET, PUBLISHED 1876.

Communication to the Railway Age by James M. Bucklin, C. E., an en-
gineer on the Miami Canal in 1826: “The importance of the catalpa has for a,
long time impressed itself so strongly on my mind that I have repeatedly, for
the last forty years, urged upon railroad companies the great advantage to be
derived by them from the propagation of these trees in large bodies. * * *
The Board of Public Works of Illinois in 1835 ordered me to select lands for
that purpose on the routes of the various railroads in process of construction,
but the system was not carried out.

“The employment of so durable a material would prove as beneficial as
the use of steel in point of economy in the maintenance of railroads, and
would dispense with the enormous cost of labor in constant replacement of wood.

“In 1828 while Captain Smith, U. S. A., and myself were exploring the
obstruction of the Wabash river, we unexpectedly discovered a lofty forest of
catalpa of large size at the mouth of White River, below Vincennes, Ind. In
PRACTICAL ARBOR CG OIRLT URE 233

1866 I found it in large bodies and of enormous height and size, three and four
feet in diameter, and fifty feet without a limb, near Poplar Bluff, Mo., on the
route of the Iron’ Mountain Railroad. Throughout that region the peculiar
value of the tree is well known for its durability and other qualities. Canoes
are made exclusively of catalpa, they never crack in seasoning, or rot. Henly,
the ferryman at Poplar Bluff, had a canoe, perfectly sound, three feet across
the gunwales, in use twelve years. The tree has been extirpated from the
great demand for posts all over the country.”

COMMUNICATION FROM A PROMINENT OFFICIAL OF THE IRON
MOUNTAIN RAILROAD—TO THE RAILWAY AGE—1876.

“The catalpa tree is well known and appreciated by our officials. It is
beyond question the most durable of all species growing in this country, ex-
cept, perhaps, the cedar. There are miles of fencing built years ago by the
company with catalpa posts, none other now being used. A limited supply of
ties and telegraph poles were secured.

“In 1871 William R. Arthur, superintendent of the Illinois Central Rail-
road, stated that the catalpa would make a tie that would last forever; that it
was easily cultivated, was of rapid growth, they would hold a spike as well ag
oak and would not split.

“The Farmers’ and Planters’ Encyclopedia says the rapid growth of the
catalpa in almost every situation and the adaption of its wood to fence posts
and other useful purposes, make it deserving the attention of farmers. The
wood, though light, is very compact, of fine texture, and susceptible of the
most brilliant polish, is fine straw color, producing a fine effect in cabinet
work and inside finish of houses.

“A railroad once tied with catalpa will find its annual expenses for repairs
diminished $200 per mile, a saving that would add ten per cent to the value

of the property.
“E, E. BARNEY.”

PROF. T. J. BURRILL, OF ILLINOIS INDUSTRIAL UNIVERSITY,
SAYS:

“While collecting specimens of the trees of Illinois, for the Centennial, I
found some boards sawed from a catalpa log two feet in diameter that was
known to have lain on the ground one hundred years. The wood is still sound
and susceptible of a fair polish.”

The theory held by eminent authorities of early times, that artificial plan-
tations of forest trees should be as close as 4x4 feet in order to induce upright
growth and to eliminate lower branches, has proved a failure everywhere.
The catalpa is so strong a grower, making enormous demands upon its roots
system which cannot develop and so dwarfs the tree.

Oriental gardeners grow oak trees in tiny flower pots, by a process of
starvation. American planters have been equally successful in producing
2,722 tiny fence posts by similar process, in two decades, upon an acre of land.

Nature, in the course of time, will kill off the weaker, and leave a proper
234 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

amount of space to the remainder, but capital invested in forests demands
quicker returns, and a more rational method must be employed in planting
if we expect financiers to invest money in growing trees.

In Kansas alone one million dollars has been lost through this erroneous
over-crowding of trees. There is not a forest in existence which has become
a success where planted 4x4 or even 6x6 feet, unless severely thinned within 8
or 10 years.

The Farlington, Kan., plantation of 1,200 acres, planted in 1879, should
at this time be producing cross-ties by the hundred thousands, yet its failure
is most complete. No ties could be produced in half a century without radi-
cal change in management. In 1885, when six years old, Mr. Douglas reported
that these trees were 18 to 21 feet high, 12 to 18 inches circumference. They
have not grown as much in the 15 years subsequently; very many are no
larger than in 1885. Neither water nor food can be secured to sustain a
growth.

On the contrary, thousands of catalpa trees in Topeka and throughout the
United States have attained to great height; and a diameter of one inch for each
year of growth, when given ample room.

Seven feet each way is proper distance, and after three years’ growth, with
strong roots secured, cut off the tree at the ground. A 12-foot straight
growth will result the first season, and good trunk will be assured. After seven or
eight years intermediate trees must be removed for posts, etc., leaving permanent
trees not less than 14 feet apart.

The cuts represent a four-year catalpa which I had dug, measuring every
root and branch. Soil, heavy clay. One root 12-inch girth extending 15 feet,
others 8 to 12 feet, Total length of roots, 1 to 4 inches diameter, was 11414
feet.

When our four-year tree requires 100 square feet of space, filling it with
rootlets, what root growth and consequent wood growth can be expected with
trees having only 16 feet space?

Good cultivation and the occasional use of the pruning knife are necessary
if financial returns are expected from forest planting.

CROSS-TIE RENEWALS.

The cost of railway cross-ties does not end with their purchase nor yet
with their transportation. Each year there must be dug out, removed and
destroyed by burning, one-sixth of all the ties in every railway; these must be
replaced with new ties. This is an enormous expenditure of labor and money
which would be greatly reduced by the use of catalpa ties—only one-thirtieth
of the ties would require renewal each year; one-sixth of the present expense.

TELEGRAPH POLES.

Railway companies and telegraph lines, as well as telephone companies,
will be interested within a few years in any relief from the enormous expense
of procuring new poles.

No tree offers the same inducements to planters for such poles as the
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 235

catalpa. In sixteen years better poles may be grown than are now used by
any corporation.

The white cedar, which is now used, has been from eighty to one hun-
dred years struggling for an existence, while red cedar is of still slower growth.
The expense of iron poles precludes the use of metal for long lines outside
the cities.

MINING TIMBERS.

The enormous quantity of wood used in supporting the roofs of mines in
the United States, which must be renewed frequently, demands the atten-
tion of mining engineers, investors and statesmen, as to what shall be used in
the near future.

Even now, many of the coal and other mines are transporting timbers
hundreds of miles. The durability of catalpa wood under similar situations,
and its rapid growth, commend it for this purpose. It has ample strength
and resists the germs of decay completely.

While metal may be desirable to replace wood in mining operations, yet
the cost of metal must be so great as to induce the planting of catalpa timber
for this use.

WHERE CATALPA SPECIOSA ORIGINATED.

As has often been told in ARBORICULTURE there are three prominent vari-
eties of Catalpa: Aempferti, from Japan, introduced into Europe and the
United States since 1852; bignonioides, a native of the Southern States, from
Virginia westward through Louisiana, and in all the territory south of the
Ohio River. Neither of these varieties has any economical value, yet both
have been broadly disseminated throughout the world, and to a very large
extent mistaken for the Catalpa of which we have had much to say.

Catalpa speciosa, up to the year 1818, was totally unknown in any portion
of the world except a restricted location along the immediate valley of the
Lower Wabash River and a few tributary streams. It occurred between north
latitude 27 degrees and latitude 38 degrees, 4o minutes, and between longitude
87 degrees, 30 minutes and 89 degrees west from Greenwich—only, however,
in small areas along these streams. A few sporadic groves were found where
the seed had floated a short distance down the Mississippi River.

But in Missouri Catalpa bignonoides is common, and here on the Miss-
issippi the two varieties occur, causing innumerable hybrids, with few of pure
speciosa.

WHERE THE CATALPA HAS BEEN PLANTED.

During the Nineteenth Century the Catalpa has been largely distributed.
In some instances it has been disseminated by enthusiasts who, having learned
the high value of the timber, have planted it in other localities. Others, ad-
miring the flowers, have planted Catalpa trees for ornament. By these experi-
ments we are now enabled to determine the range to which the Catalpa is
adapted.
236 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

There is no record in history of any tree which, originally confined to so
small an area, has an adaptability to so universal a range of soil, climate and
locality as Catalpa speciosa.

Seed sent to New Zealand by the International Society of Arboriculture
has produced many thousands of trees and attracted the attention of the
Dominion Government.

A limited number has been planted in Europe, but throughout America
we find the greatest quantities.

Almost invariably where Catalpa speciosa has been planted it has proven
successful, and as positively where Catalpa bignonoides and Catalpa kempferu
are found they are seriously disappointing. The almost criminal carelessness
of seedsmen and nurserymen in selling millions of these inferior varieties as
Catalpa speciosa is responsible for so large a number of scrub trees everywhere.

About Philadelphia Catalpa grows rapidly, although most of the trees
which I found were bignonoides hybrids.

The earliest plantings were made near Cincinnati, Ohio, at the old Har-
rison home, and from there numerous seedlings have been distributed. At the
home of that enthusiast, Dr. John A. Warder, are many very fine trees of
speciosa, and also the other forms. It was here I found bignonoides, kemp-
feri and speciosa, all in bloom at the same time, and a large number of hybrid
seedings also in bloom—pollen carried by bees.

In every county in Indiana and Illinois are found more or less trees, their
thrift and character showing the stock from whence obtained.

MICHIGAN.

At Grand Rapids, Detroit, Kalamazoo, and generally the south half of
the State. I have not yet visited the northern portion.

KANSAS.

The trees are abundant and successful without irrigation east of latitude
99 degrees west from Greenwich, and under irrigation throughout the western
portion.

NEBRASKA.

The same as for Kansas.

At Hutchinson, Mr. L. W. Yaggy has 500 acres in Catalpa, which he con-
siders a profitable investment. Most of the Catalpas of Hutchinson are of
Oriental and southern types, and their unthrifty condition is plainly apparent.
The origin of these trees, is traceable to the Iron Mountain plantings in South-
east Missouri. These seeds are being collected and they will probably find
their way into the markets.

Judge Martin has a very nice grove, which were planted with cuttings,
7x6 feet. These range from 30 to 48 inches girth and 30 feet high in twelve
years.

W.H. Underwood has several trees of ten years’ growth, which measure
from 31 to 45 inches in girth. Messrs. Underwood and Viles have 400 acres
nlanted with 300,000 trees Catalpa spectosa.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CATALPA SPECIOSA

ONE OF TOPEKA’S STREET TREES.
PRACTIGAL ARBORICULT URE 239

In Iowa there has been considerable progress in Catalpa planting.

In Nebraska there are quite large plantations at Lincoln, Omaha, Ne-
braska City, Brownville, Crete and elsewhere, in which the diameter increase,
one inch per annum, is maintained.

In Colorado and Utah, under irrigation, the Catalpa is remarkably suc-
cessful where the elevation does not exceed 6,000 feet. As a general rule, in
the Rocky Mountain region the broad leaf cottonwood disappears at about
6,000 feet, and the narrow leaf cottonwood takes its place, and where the cot-
tonwood monilifera will grow Cata/pa speciosa succeeds, requiring consider-
ably less water than the cottonwood.

At Denver there are a large number of excellent Catalpas. In Colorado
Springs are several very good trees. In the parks at Pueblo and at C.F. &
I. Co.’s Hospital are quite large specimens.

There is no place where the prospect is better for growing Catalpa than
Grand Junction, where numerous trees prove their success.

As good results have been attained at Provo, Utah, as in any portion of
the United States. Here are many tall, symmetrical trees, some of which are
illustrated.

The Rio Grande Western planted 65,000 trees at Provo in the spring of
1900. Unfortunately a large portion were bignonoides. The difference in
vigor is seen, where, under the same treatment, bignonoides are from 4 to 5
feet high and speciosa 12 to 16 feet and 8 inches girth.

CALIFORNIA.

About San Jose and the road leading to Stockton are several good trees.
Owing to a mistake of the California State University, bignonoides seed and
trees were distributed instead of speciosa. Much confusion has arisen thereby.
Speciosa seems to succeed well in California, while bignonioides, wanting
in vitality, makes a scrub growth, and is much diseased.

At the asylum at Stockton is a long row of bignonoides, which have been
supposed to be speciosa.

In the parks at Los Angeles the same thing occurs—not one speciosa.

In the lower valleys of New Mexico there are a number of good trees. It
will be a profitable undertaking for any who will thus supply mining timbers
to this region, where they are very scarce.

In the South, where bignonoides is indigenous, speciosa makes a splendid
showing. The long growing seasons, abundance of moisture and rich soil
cause it to make rapid growth, not infrequently two inches diameter increase
per annum.

CATALPA SPECIOSA IN THE SOUTH.
LOUISIANA.

There are several large trees of the Catalpa in and about New Orleans,
which have made the phenomenal growth of two inches diameter increase each
240 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

year. There are also some very good specimens of bignonoides at the Bar-
racks, New Orleans, but it has required very many years to produce the trees.

MISSISSIPPI.

Several large plantations of Catalpa speciosa are being made in this State,
but I have not found speciosa growing here as yet.

ALABAMA.

On the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, near Fairhope, is a fine grove of
Catalpa speciosa. All others which I have seen are of bignonioides, of which
there are many at Mobile and elsewhere.

The Louisville and Nashville Railway Company is planting one thou-
sand and forty acres with pure speciosa in Baldwin County. The land is roll-
ing soil, of sandy clay loam.

Captain J. A. Carney, at Carneys, thirty miles north of Mobile, has a fine
grove of speciosa, growing well.

Mr. Wilber J. Andrews, of Chicago, is planting some large tracts on the
line of the Louisville and Nashville Railway with Catalpa speciosa as an in-
vestment.

The soil, rainfall, temperature, all are favorable to the rapid and success-
ful growth of this tree throughout the central and southern part of Alabama.

FLORIDA.

There are many Catalpa speciosa trees in Florida, and in all cases the
growth is extremely rapid. At Pensacola I found trees but four years planted
which were six inches in diameter and twenty-eight feet high.

Fifty thousand trees have been planted at this point by the Louisville
and Nashville Railway Company. They are located two miles north of the
city, on a high sand ridge. Thirty feet depth of pure sand lies beneath the
tract, it being that depth to water. They were planted in the spring of 1903,
an unprecedented drought occurring, lasting the entire season. Yet they all
survived and made good root growth, and give promise of success.

At Jacksonville the Florida East Coast Railway has several thousand trees
growing. Here, in pure sand, I found a Catalpa tree only nine years old which
measures fifty-four inches girth at six feet above ground.

There have been many thousands of trees planted in various portions
of Florida, all of which have proven the adaptability of the sands of this State
for the production of Catalpa timber.

Some mistakes were made in the early plantings, the Southern, or big-
nonioides variety having been sent by Northern nurserymen in lieu of speci-
osa. These have proven failures.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

Both soil and climate of this State are suited to the growth of the Catalpa.

GEORGIA.

The above is also applicable to Georgia. I did not find speciosa in Charles-
ton or Savannah, but many specimens of bignonioides.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 241

There will be quite large plantations of Catalpa speciosa in all these
Southern States at once.

Virginia, the original home of Catalpa bignonoides, has much land well
adapted to the cultivation of the Catalpa speciosa, but all the trees which I
found in the State, as well as Washington City, were bignonioides and kemp-
fer. These were planted with the supposition that they were speciosa. This
mistake has caused great confusion among local botanists, who have been led
to believe and to teach that the Catalpa is an unworthy tree, mistaking bignonioides
for speciosa.

There are millions of acres of land in Virginia and Maryland capable of pro-
ducing the best of timber if the true variety of Catalpa shall be planted.

CATALPA TREES IN MASSACHUSETTS.

The superintendent of Elm Park, Worcester, twenty years ago purchased
1,000 trees, all supposed to be speciosa. These were in part planted in the park
and quite a number remain. So far as I can learn, all the Catalpa trees about
Worcester are from this same lot.

Of those in Elm Park I measured three which were 51, 58 and 68 inches in
girth, respectively, a number of others appearing to be the same relative size. They
are speciosa.

Some at Mr. O. B. Hadwin’s home are bignonoides, or hybrids of inferior
character ; besides, they have been greatly neglected.

AT PROVINCETOWN.

I find several, all doing well. There is one kempferii in Provincetown.
Captain Caleb Rich has a very fine specimen of Catalpa speciosa, eight years
old, which is 25 inches girth. It is on the sandy lands of which Cape Cod is
composed.

Captain Joseph Hatch has a small tree. Mrs. H. N. Rand has one eight
years old, 20 inches girth. These are on a high hill exposed to the severe
ocean blasts. Contrary to the general impression the large leaves are not
injured by the constant winds of the storm-beaten coast.

On the public grounds of Boston are several Catalpa trees—kempferii,
bignonoides and some hybrids. There are throughout the city several good trees
of Catalpa speciosa.

On the estate of the late Mr. H. H. Hunnewell at Wellesley is a fine row
of Catalpa trees, which have made their customary rapid growth. One large big-
nonoides is fifty years old; all seem to be hardy enough.

At the old witch .house, Salem, is a large, crooked bignonoides, while
across the way is a true speciosa of younger growth, planted on the street. It is an

upright, handsome tree.
AT SPRINGFIELD.

In the front yard of a correspondent are three trees growing from a stump
of original Catalpa planted thirty-five years ago, one being a foot in diameter.
242 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

They are bowing and crooked, branching six feet from the ground; not much
trunk to them. Seed was sent to me, which shows it to be bignonoides. I
advised cutting the whole tree down and preserving one shoot from the stump.

\Vhile the tree is worthless for beauty or economic use, yet the fact that
it has stood thirty-five years shows that even the more tender southern
Catalpa is hardy in Massachusetts.

The Southern Pacific system in Texas has planted 10,000 Catalpa trees in
various portions of that state to test the matter under varied conditions which
exist in so vast a state as Texas.

NEW YORK.
At Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Rochester and some other points.
IDAHO.

At Paquette and other places along the Oregon Short Line Railway. The
Catalpa succeeds in the valleys of Idaho.

OREGON.

At Portland there are numerous fine Catalpa speciosa trees, Salem and
other Western Oregon points, and in East Oregon, under irrigation.

STATE OF WASHINGTON.

In Tacoma and other portions of Western Washington there are success-
ful growths of Catalpa.

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

At 122 degrees west longitude and latitude north 49 degrees, 10 minutes,
on Frazier River, are excellent trees of Catalpa speciosa, healthy, hardy and
vigorous growers in this northern locality.

WISCONSIN.
In Milwaukee and Waukegan. Have not examined the northern portion.
ILLINOIS.
Every portion of the State.
IOWA.
Council Bluffs and generally throughout the State.
MINNESOTA.

I am informed by credible persons, who are familiar with the several vari-
eties, that in Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis, in protected locations, Catalpa
speciosa is doing very nicely. Still, I do not recommend large plantings in
Minnesota, but hope full experiments will be made.

The same advice will apply to North Dakota.
 

 

MHLNIM NI NODG

 

 

 

 

 

 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 245

IN NEW ENGLAND.

In White’s Park at Concord, N. H., are quite a number of fine young trees
in perfect health.

At Manchester there are many of quite large size, the true speciosa; some
are 16 inches in diameter. These were brought from Indiana.

At a point on the Maine Central Railway, in latitude 45, there is a fine
specimen of Catalpa speciosa some 14 inches in diameter. At Rockland, Me., I
found several small trees.

At Arnold’s Arboretum, Boston, are quite a number of Catalpa trees in
a very unfavorable and exposed situation, which are in healthy condition and
have made fairly good growth for their situation.

At the home of Mr. Arthur J. Marble, 36 Birch street, Worcester, Mass.,
is a Catalpa speciosa seventeen years old, which is 78 inches girth at the
ground, 68 inches girth at three feet height, and 72 inches girth at seven feet
from ground. This tree is grown for shade, being 4o feet high, with a spread
of branches 35 feet.

SOUTH DAKOTA.
There are many good trees of Catalpa speciosa in Sioux Falls.

GENEVA, NEB.

Measured Catalpa speciosa 48 inches girth, 16 inches diameter, I2 years
growth, 35 feet in height.

PUEBLO, COLO.

On the grounds of the C. F. & I Co.’s hospital are several Catalpa trees
12 inches and upward diameter; doing well.

Catalpa speciosa trees at Audubon Park, New Orleans, La., planted in
1890; now sixteen years growth; time of planting certified, which are 26 inches
diameter.

SOILS SUITED FOR CATALPA SPECIOSA.

This tree seems to adapt itself to almost every character of soil, growing
well in clay, sand, limestone soils, etc., but its roots find abundant nourishment in
sandy loam, and even in pure sand, and are able to penetrate such soils more
readily than stiff clays.

Experience has shown that soils of almost pure sand, although they may
be favorable for agricultural crops, are specially adapted for the Catalpa tree.

Where a stratum of impermeable hardpan exists beneath the surface soil,
it checks the roots for a short time, but the tap roots gradually penetrate this
hardpan.

Rough limestone hills with abrupt slopes are not suited for Catalpa cul-
ture. It is more profitable to plant in tracts which are capable of being culti-
vated.

Rolling lands, even in mountainous districts, which may be plowed, will
produce good timber growth.

Strongly alkaline soils can not be recommended; few trees will thrive in
246 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

such. Too much “saleratus” is not favorable to the health of the animal
stomach, nor yet for the sap of a tree.

Splitting hairs in soil examinations, pretending to determine what special
earths will produce a certain tree, savors of the witchcraft of the well digger,
whose forked stick invariably turns toward the water vein far beneath the
surface.

If in doubt about the adaptability of any soil for tree production, try a
moderate number, care for them properly, and observe the results of a sea-
son’s growth.

THE CATALPA FOR LUMBER.

A few individuals, some holding responsible government offices, predict
that our lumber supply will last forever. There is a concealed object in these
efforts to misrepresent the true situation and retard wholesome legislation fav-
orable to forest perpetuation. But every lumber consumer well knows that
the increased price in boards is caused by the rapid reduction of available
timber supply, and that at the rate of forest clearing now going on, the years
are numbered when it must become exhausted.

\Vhite oak trees, suitable for quarter sawing, must exceed 30 inches diam-
eter. Presuming the trees to be already started into growth, it will require
100 years for them to grow into profitable lumber. Red oak will mature in
somewhat less time, but it is not so valuable.

White pine in a natural forest requires from 80 to 150 years to produce
logs acceptable to lumbermen. Yellow poplar, on rich soil, and under favor-
able conditions, may attain a milling size in 50 or 75 years.

A cypress tree four feet in diameter has been growing since Columbus
landed in America.

The Catalpa, under fairly good conditions, in two decades will make a
tree 20 inches in diameter, containing 250 feet lumber b. m. The trunk having
but little sap wood is all available for lumber.

It compares with butternut in texture and appearance and is suitable for
any purpose for which walnut and butternut are suited. In color it is a hand-
some shade of brown. The somewhat open grain absorbs the finishers filling,
and its capable of being used for imitation of many woods, if desired, yet in
its natural state it is equal to any American wood.

In strength it is ample for most purposes. Specific gravity as given by
Prof. Charles S. Sargent, 0.4474. A cubic foot weighing 27.88 pounds abso-
lutely dry.

Mr. E. E. Barney, speaking of Catalpa for railway ties, says:

“Its durability is unquestionable; it is very elastic; and, contrary to what
most suppose, it is very tough. I subjected pieces one inch square to a break-
ing pressure twelve inches between supports.

“Catalpa broke under a pressure of 703 pounds; ash broke under a pressure
of 800 pounds: oak broke under a pressure of 7090 pounds: oak broke under a
pressure of 577 pounds; oak broke under a pressure of Ir41 pounds. Mean
809 pounds.
 

MOUNT OF THE HOLY CROSS, COLORADO. DENVER AND RIO GRANDE RAILWAY
PRACTICHL ARBORICULTURE 249

“The Catalpa deflected three times as much as the ash or oak before
breaking.
“Five thousand pounds pressure on blocks one inch square by three inches

long compressed :
“Oak, 10-16 inch: oak, 10-16 inch; oak, 8-16 inch; catalpa, 7-16 inch;

 

 

 

 

A GROUP OF CATALPA TREES 100 FEET HIGH

catalpa, 9-16 inch; catalpa, 7-16 inch; white pine, 5-16 inch; Norway pine,
6-16 inch; white walnut, 5-16 inch; yellow pine, 6-16 inch; black walnut, 10-16
inch; black walnut, 8-16 in; ash, 14-16 inch; ash, 6-16 inch.
250 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

“These samples were taken at random, and would indicate that Catalpa
will bear the pressure to which it is subjected when used as railroad ties. Two
Catalpa railroad ties were placed in the track near our office five years ago,
and twelve one year ago. All hold their spikes well and shown no signs of
mashing more than oak on each side of them, and over both of which heavily
loaded trains pass almost hourly. The roadmaster, who has watched them
with interest, says he has had no better ties on the line of his road.”

Timber lands which have been cut over and which are not of great value,
may profitably be planted with Catalpa timber, and thus prolong the lumber-
ing operations indefinitely.

The lumber is suited for inside finish for dwellings and all kinds of fur-
niture, especially the medium grades. As a base for veneering, it has a special
value, as it neither warps, swells nor shrinks with changes of weather, while
glue clings to it with tenacity.

BRIEF HISTORY OF RAILWAY PLANTING.

The high value of the Catalpa for railway uses was known to the earliest
railway engineers; its extreme durability as compared with other woods, for
cross-ties had been proven fifty years ago. Advanced thinkers among the rail-
way officials recognized at that time the approaching period when Catalpa
would be the timber which must be used in future.

The first railway in Indiana, from Madison and Jeffersonville to Indian-
apolis, was largely tied with red cedar. Many of these ties are still in use as
fence posts by farmers along the line. Some Catalpa was also used, but their
identity was lost in changes of management, and no trace of them now can be
found. These two woods were chosen because of their requiring less frequent
renewals. The Iron Mountain Road passing through the Catalpa region in
Southeastern Missouri, made use of all the Catalpa obtainable. Two hundred
acres near Charleston, Mo., were planted with Catalpa, about 1860. Changes
in officials, carelessness of the plantation managers, and worse, the planting of the
worthless kind of trees, combined to make them a failure. It was abandoned,
and used as a farm.

SPURLOUS SEED,

When the plantation was made, seed was bought in open market, a large
quantity having been Oriental seed, while much was bignonoides.

From this lot of trees a thousand pounds of seed were gathered, quarter
of a century ago, and distributed throughout the land. The vast number of
crooked, dwarf, and worthless trees of the United States may be traced to
this source, and this has given rise to the impression among many that all
Catalpa trees are of this character.

The Farlington plantation made by the K. C., Ft. S. & Gulf Ry. and Mr.
H. H. Hunnewell are mentioned on another page.

About 1883 the Pennsylvania Railway planted 200,000 Catalpa trees along
its line through Ohio and Indiana. This was done by General J. F. Miller, at
that time superintendent of the line; General Miller being promoted, the care
PRACTICAL ARBORICULT ORE 25

of the trees devolved upon others and they have been mutilated by telegraph
linemen—their value destroyed. Yet many of these trees are of size to bear
out the general rule, one inch diameter increase per annum.

The Evansville & Terre Haute Railway about the same time planted a
grove at Sullivan, Ind., and one near Decker Station. Also set many trees
along right-of-way. An examination of these prove them to be mostly the
bignonoides.

This seems strange since C. speciosa was abundant in the vicinity, but
this is explained by the large quantity of seed produced by low growing big-
nonoides, and the ease with which it may be collected, while C. speciosa pro-
duces very few pods, which are high in the tall forest tree and are gathered
only by great labor and at much greater cost.

The grove at Sullivan is 4x4 feet distant, not cultivated, and are now,
after twenty years, stunted and dwarfed and choked with briars and grass.
A few trees planted af the same time at the station grounds are fine large
trees, ten times larger than those in the grove. They have had ample room,
but no cultivation.

During the hfetime of M. A. Torrey, chief engineer Michigan Central,
that official took much interest in the Catalpa and several thousand were
planted. There was a good growth and proved the hardiness of the trees in
Michigan.

About thirty years ago the C., B. & Q. Railway made several experiments
in Western Nebraska. It seems that most of the trees were planted on the
right-of-way, particularly on the banks near heavy cuts, for the purpose of
snow protection. As the trees increased in height the snow was collected at a
greater distance than a four-foot fence would do, and the cuts were filled with
snow. In this regard, they were, of course, failures, but enough has been dem-
onstrated to prove the value of the Catalpa in \Western and Central Nebraska.

Account of the Santa Fe experiment is given on a separate page.

The C., C., C. & St. L. Railway, in 1898, planted 35,000 Catalpa trees on
one of their tracts of land near Brightwood, Ind., three miles from Indian-
apolis. These were planted in the autumn, and from carelessness of the ten-
ants, many were destroyed during the winter by being thrown out of the
ground by frost.

In the spring of 1899 others were planted—set 8x8 feet. These have
been allowed to grow at will; attempts have been made to cultivate them, but
it has been only partially done. The trees were cut off at the ground during
the winter and one shoot allowed to grow. The soil is of heavy black loam,
rather wet, except one portion 5 acres of a hard pan, in which no crop has ever
been successfully grown; on this portion the growth has been unsatisfactory,
but on the whole the experiment promises excellent results.

The Boston & Maine Railway, in Spring of 1901, planted several thousand
trees in the Merrimac Valley in Massachusetts. These have been very suc-
cessful so far. They now have about 40,000 trees.

The Boston & Albany road planted at the same time some 20,000 trees,
and a quantity of seed, which have grown well. They now have probably
40,000 trees near Westfield, Mass.
252 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

The Illinois Central Railway made careful investigations in regard to
prospects of obtaining cross-ties by planting Catalpa trees and decided to
make some experiments. A tract of 200 acres: at Harahan, La., eight miles
from New Orleans, was selected and 110,000 trees were planted in spring of
1902. They are now twenty-five feet in height. This location was an old
sugar and rice plantation. The trees were planted to correspond with the
peculiar method of laying out sugar land in this low alluvial country. The sugar
rows are seven feet apart, on ridges, deep furrows between the rows carry off
the water. The trees were planted on alternate ridges, being fourteen feet
apart, and seven feet distant between trees.

DECAY OF THE CATALPA.

Discarding all scientific explanations a little common sense will show
why a tree, the wood of which is so extremely durable, often decays while it
is growing. As shown by the chemical analysis of Catalpa wood, there are
antiseptic substances gathered from the soil and built into the tissues of the
wood which resist the action of those fungii which cause decay. While the
tree is full of sap and these resinous and oleaginous materials are greatly
diluted, they have not such resistive powers as when concentrated and have
dried or become fixed in the wood, as when so fixed they can only be dissolved
with alcohol or other powerful dilutent. Water will not dissolve them.

It is a peculiarity of the Catalpa that the dead branches remain on the
tree for many years, each annual growth enclosing them. Gradually these
branches admit air and moisture bearing germs of decay which attack the
diluted sap, and a rotten heart is the result. A wound made at the time of
flowing sap does not heal quickly, while in winter the same wound dries and
with next season’s growth it becomes covered with new wood.

Posts made from young timber, if cut while full of sap, decay sooner than
those cut after cessation of flow.

Well matured wood, thoroughly dried, and even young trees well sea-
soned are remarkably durable—in other words resist decay.

Catalpa speciosa trees in the forest show little symptoms of disease or decay.

SUMMARY OF THE CATALPA SITUATION.

From thirty years’ study of the Catalpa speciosa as an economic tree,
making a thorough examination of the various plantations of the United
States, investigating conditions under which this tree is growing in almost
every state, and thoroughly searching the remaining forests in which the
Catalpa is indigenous, my conclusions differ verv materially in many important
particulars from those expressed in the recent publication of the U. S. Forestry
Bureau.

(1) First in importance, and a point ignored in the authoritative Govern-
ment Report, is the absolute necessity of securing good and true seed of
Catalpa speciosa. Otherwise there can only be dismal failure.

(2) No trees succeed as well on poor soil as on that of good quality, and
it is economy to plant on land of fair fertility, if one has a choice of locality.

(3) With the best of soil, under the most favorable conditions of climate,
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PRACTIGHE ARBORTICULTURE 25

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and with the choicest trees obtainable, success will not be assured if a starva-
tion diet is forced upon the trees. That is, if more trees are crowded upon a
given area than can obtain moisture and nourishment.

(4) Experience has proven that the roots of each Catalpa speciosa tree
three years of age demands 16 square feet surface space.

At eight years, 64 square feet. At ten years, 100 square feet, and at
sixteen years, 200 square feet. With less space the trees will be dwarfed and
stunted for want of food and water.

It will require many years for the more vigorous to overcome and destroy
the weaker and secure sufficient space for successful vigorous growth.

Failure to appreciate this fact, and overcrowding the trees has caused
the loss of millions of dollars to forest planters.

Two thousand seven hundred trees per acre! What folly! Four feet square
on which to grow such trees as attain a diameter of seven feet, and height of one
hundred and fifty fect.

(5) Dense planting will not eliminate side branches. They must be
removed by pruning. Systematically performed, before the branches have
attained large size, this is an inexpensive operation.

(6) Having once established a strong vigorous root system, the Catalpa
will rapidly push up a straight stem with a few side branches.

(7) The intermixture of Oriental Catalpa and bignonoides, with C.
speciosa, produces numerous hybrids, all of which are inferior to the great
forest tree of the Wabash, in proportion to the influence of the parent stock.

(8) There are diseases peculiar to all trees; none are exempt; Catalpa
has less than most other species of timber and is easily controlled. To prevent
disease remove lower branches close to the trunk before they have attained
large size.

(9) There are less insect enemies which attack Catalpa than any known
tree.

(10) In exposed prairie regions a great advantage may be secured to the
young trees by planting belts of trees more closely to break the force of wind.

(11) The cost of a plantation is quadrupled where the 4x4 svstem pre-
vails, or 2,722 trees per acre, over the more reasonable plan of 7x7 feet, or
888 per acre. Upon this increased cost, interest must be considered and a
vastly greater capital employed, while there are no compensating advantages,
and the final income is greatly reduced from unthrifty trees.

(12) No greater mistake can be made than to plant a forest of mixed
varieties of trees for economic purposes. Whatever object is to be subserved,
whether fuel, fence posts, mine timbers, cross-ties or lumber, plant for that
special purpose, and that only, confining the forest to one species of tree,
which promises best results.
256 “PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

THE CATALPA TREE FOR CROSS-TIES.

The Pennsylvania Railway Company, while making investigations rela-
tive to the planting of forests for the production of cross-ties and lumber,
sent officials to examine the Catalpa exhibit of the International Society of
Arboriculture at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which was so complete
in its evidence and so convincing that the company has planted a forest of
Catalpa speciosa in Kosciusko county, Indiana.

Mr. Frank I. Brown, of Fort Wayne, Ind., the lumber agent of the
company, made the report, which we here append almost entire.

CATALPA TREES FOR RAILROAD CROSS-TIES.

This subject originated through a reference of Mr. Turner, third vice-
president, under the date of Nov. 20, 1902, calling attention to letter written
by Mr. J. P. Brown, editor of ARBorIcULTURE, and the question was referred to
the chairman of the Roadway and Ballast Committee for investigation and report.

INVESTIGATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

There are at least two distinct varieties of Catalpa trees indigenous to
the United States. We have also the Japanese variety, and many hybrids.
Bignonioides, the Southern variety, is the most common, growing naturally
in all of the Southern States and much cultivated as a lawn tree throughout
the North. Owing to its prevalence, the opinions of most of us relative to the
value of Catalpa trees for cross-ties and other commercial purposes are
naturally, but erroneously, formed from our familiarity with this variety,
which from its low growth and spreading habit is totally worthless as a
timber tree.

Catalpa speciosa, the native forest tree of the lower Wabash valley, is
entirely distinct, a much superior variety, and is the only form of the species
which should be cultivated for any purpose. All other forms should be
avoided.

The value of this tree was known to the early settlers of that region, who
preferred it for almost every purpose for which wood is used, even covering
the roofs of their houses with shingles split from Catalpa trees. It was exten-
sively used for cross-ties and telegraph poles in constructing the first railways
through southern Illinois. Because of this appreciation the natural forests
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 257
disappeared very rapidly, and but comparatively few specimens of. this

natural forest growth may now be found. There are still enough, however,

to repay one interested in the subject to visit the groves still in existence in
southern Illinois.

 

 

 

 

CHARACTERISTIC GROWTH OF CATALPA SPECIOSA WHEN GROWN IN OPEN FIELD.
THIS TREE GREW FROM A STAKE IN THE RAIL FENCE, ALL THE RAILS
BEING OF CATALPA. IT IS SIX FEET DIAMETER, COVERS 75
FEET CIRCUIT, AND IS 90 FEET HIGH

THE FARLINGTON PLANTATION.

The writer here quotes from a Government report, and gives numerous
tables, estimates of values, etc. Continuing the subject. he says:

The average value per acre is seen from the table to be $390.21. This
would give for the whole plantation of 400 acres a value of $156,084.

[This tract of 640 acres was cleared during the year 1904 and realized $100,000 for
the Frisco Railway. ]
258 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

It is very interesting to give in this connection an estimate made on an
entirely different basis. In the winter of 1900 the owners of the Farlington
forest let a contract for the cutting of 125,000 posts. The specifications called
for straight posts, 6% feet long, measuring 4 inches in diameter at the top.
These were sold at Io cents each, or altogether $12,500. It was estimated that
this cut removed one-tenth of the trees. Had all the timber been sold in that
way, the return would be $125,000. However, limiting the posts to a diameter
of 4 inches at the top, without utilizing the smaller sizes, made the cut need-
lessly wasteful. Thousands of good, straight pieces only a little below the
diameter limit were left on the ground to decay. They might easily have been
removed and sold as second-class posts at from 5 to 8 cents each; and had
this waste thus been prevented, the returns from the cut would have been
sufficiently increased to make the two estimates very nearly equal.

Numerous tables are here quoted, showing the percentage of sap and
heartwood. This shows that the high percentage of heartwood is found even
in the very young trees, and that practically it is uninfluenced by the rate of
erowth. The five-year-old sprouts on Blocks IX, X and NI of the Yaggy
plantation have grown very rapidly, yet they show as much heartwood as the
slowest-growing trees (Block I) of the Farlington forest. It permits of
but one conclusion. In the early growth of the Hardy Catalpa neither age
nor rate of growth affects to any great extent the relative amount of heart-
wood. It is generally recognized that the sapwood of the Catalpa does not
greatly resist decay when used in or on the ground, nor does sapwood of any
timber. Numerous instances are known both in the case of young and old
timber of the sapwood decaying and leaving the heartwood intact after a few
years’ usage in the soil. However, since the sapwood forms so small a part
of the tree, its decay is of but little importance. The heartwood of both
young and old timber shows great longevity in the ground. Bulletin No.
108, of the Kansas Experiment Station, shows a photograph of an eight-year-
old fence post which had been in the ground constantly for twelve years.
The heartwood was still in a perfect state of preservation. Plate XIX shows
a section of a fence post which had been in the ground thirty-eight years.
The section was taken right at the surface of the ground where decay is
always most rapid. Deeper in the ground this post was perfectly solid. This
section, it should be explained, was from an old tree which had made very
slow growth.

“There is no longer any question as to the long-lasting of this wood.
Engineers who emploved the wood in railway construction in southern Ilinois
and Missouri, many years ago, when the original groves of Catalpa trees were
still standing, were well aware of its valuable properties. In an interesting
pamphlet Mr. E. E. Barney brought together, in 1878, a large number of
letters testifying to the long life of Catalpa wood. These testimonials might
be augmented to-day by hundreds of others, but it is not considered necessary
to do so here, for no one doubts this fact at this day. Railway engineers used
the wood to some extent for ties, but it has never taken a front rank for this
purpose. This has been due not so much to any doubts as to its lasting qual-
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 250

ities, but to other factors, chief among which has been the small amount of
this timber available and the smaller amount of care and trouble involved in
getting other timber close to the railway lines, which served as ties. It may
be of interest to note a number of authentic cases of long service. Plate XXI
shows a section of a Catalpa tie from the lines of the Louisville and Nashville
Railway. The section is taken from the part of the tie situated immediately
under the rail. This tie had been in actual service for about eighteen years.
It will be noted that the wood is perfectly sound, even at the points where the
spikes were driven in. The rail wore down the fiber to some extent, but there
is absolutely no decay. Plate XXII shows sections of a post from southeast
Missouri, which seryed as a fence post for the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and
Southern Railway for twenty-three years, and before that, on the farm of
Colonel Deal, at Charleston, Mo., for fifteen years. These examples of
remarkable durability might be extended indefinitely.

“Without doubt, therefore, one may say that for fence posts this wood
has no equal; and in view of the fact that it can be grown so easily, it ought
not to require much argument to cause farmers to plant Catalpa wherever it
will grow. “he same is true for telegraph poles. Wherever trees can be
grown tall and straight enough, it will be found that they will serve as poles,
lasting longer than almost any other class of timber.

“Por ties the same is true as regards lasting quality. There is only one
serious objection to this wood for tie purposes, and that is its soft, yielding
character. With heavy traffic, ever increasing, this becomes a serious matter.
It is believed, however, that proper tie plates will do much to remedy this
difficulty. The cutting in of the rail in the tie shown on Plate XXI is, after
all, not excessive, when compared with the redwood, for instance. There
seems to be no good reason why a proper plate will not prevent excessive
rail cutting.”

I would here call attention to the fact that all of the sample ties quoted
are of old forest growth, which, being softer in all timbers, will not offer the
resistance to rail cutting as will young trees grown in open plantations.

About twenty-five years ago Mr. J. P. Brown, then a civil engineer on
the N. O. and N. E. Railroad, became deeply interested in the subject of the
renewal of our forests by the planting and cultivation of trees. Since then,
purely from motives of philanthropy, much of his time has been devoted to
the study and pursuit of practical methods of forestry. While by no means
a man of one idea, his belief in the superiority of the Catalpa tree for economic
use and his thorough study of that species has resulted in his becoming gen-
erally recognized as the foremost authority upon that particular tree. In his
paper read at a meeting of the National Roadmasters’ and Maintenance
Society, Milwaukee, Wis., September 9, 1902, he has the following to say
concerning Catalpa speciosa as a railway timber tree:

“1 It is the most rapidly growing tree in America that possesses eco-
nomic value.

“2, A greater quantity of valuable wood may be produced upon a given
area in a specified time than from any other Amer:can tree.

“x. The wood is the most enduring of all our trees.
260 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

4. It succeeds over a greater range of territory than any other valuable
tree of this continent.

bse,

5. Its habit of growth is upright, with long trunk, where it has an
opportunity, thus differing from all other forms of Catalpa.

“6. The chemical constituents of the wood are so resistant of decay as to
make expensive artificial wood preservation entirely unnecessary.

“7. The roots are strong, vigorous, large and deep, holding so firmly
to the earth that storms do not blow them over. I never found a Catalpa to
be blown over by the wind.

“8. It is less subject to disease and attacks of insects than any other
tree of my acquaintance. Only one worm, the Catalpa sphinx, attacks it, and
that is easily controlled by spraying, while the trees are never seriously
injured by the sphinx.

“g. The wood has the same texture as butternut, firm enough for tie
purposes, and holds a spike well.

“to. For inside car finish it is admirably adapted, partakes of high
polish, has a handsome grain and is a superb wood for furniture and inside
finish.

11. It is easily manipulated with edge tools.
12. Its strength is ample for all requirements in railroad work.”

THE, INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF ARBORICULTURE

has an exhibit in the Forestry Building at the World’s Fair at St. Louis
which should be seen by all engineers, and, in fact, by any one at all inter-
ested in forestry. The exhibit demonstrates practically every point made by
Mr. Brown in this statement. The newel posts, balusters and railing enclos-
ing the exhibit are of Catalpa wood. The Barney and Smith Company have
finished a section of a passenger coach entirely in this wood. A handsome
stairway gives a fine example of interior finish. Desks, tables, a dressing
case, both plain and fancy chairs, and various other articles of household
furniture are shown. In the rear are cross-ties and telegraph poles in a good
state of preservation, which were taken out after a record of thirty-two years’
service, fence rails. posts, etc., with records of long service, all proving con-
clusively the wide scope of usefulness of this wood as well as its lasting
quality.

One surprising point developed is the strength and toughness of the wood,
which most authorities declare soft and brittle. If they will try to break either
a piece of the new wood or one of the ancient fence rails in this exhibit, they
will no longer declare Catalpa brittle. The Barney and Smith Company
reported Catalpa a better wood for bending than is white ash.

It will be seen from the foregoing that three most eminent authorities agree
upon the essential points, viz., that Catalpa trees may be grown profitably
as a commercial proposition; that the endurance of this wood is established
beyond question, and that it is suitable for cross-ties.

The authorities disagree, however, upon one most important point.
namely, the method of planting and treatment.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 201

Mr. Hall recommends close planting in rows 4x4 feet, in order to prevent
low branching, and declares that “without severe crowding the Catalpa will
not produce the straight pole growth necessary for best use. With plenty
of room, it 1s a spreading, round-topped tree, with almost no tendency toward
an elongated, central axis, and pruning, while it may somewhat improve the
form, will not sufficiently change it to make the tree of much use. At best,
pruning can only remove the branches within eight or nine feet of the ground.
Above that height it is entirely impracticable in a commercial plantation.”

Mr. Brown, on the contrary, declares that planting closer than 8x8 feet
will not give the young trees sufficient root space to afford them necessary

 

 

 

 

 

 

CATALPA RAILWAY SLEEPERS, STILL SOUND AFTER THIRTY-TWO YEARS’ SERVICE—
L. & N. SOUTHERN, ILLINOIS CENTRAL AND BIG FOUR RAILWAYS.
CATALPA EXIIBIT OF THE INTERNATIONAL
SOCIETY OF ARBORICULTURE

nourishment for a vigorous start; that in two to three years all should be cut
back in order to get a strong, straight sprout. In eight years three-fourths of
the trees should be removed, leaving a stand of one hundred and seventy to
the acre. He says that close planting is the chief cause of failure of the several
large Kansas plantations to produce large numbers of trees suitable for tele-
graph poles and cross-ties in fifteen to twenty years’ growth; that experience
has proven that the roots of each Catalpa speciosa tree three years old requires
sixteen square feet surface space; at eight years, sixty-four square feet; at
sixteen years, two hundred and fifty square feet; and that with less space
the trees are dwarfed and stunted for lack of food and water; that if close
262 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

planted, it requires too many years for the more vigorous to overcome and
destroy the weaker, and thus secure sufficient space for successful growth;
and that Catalpa speciosa is upright of habit, with long trunk, when sufficient
space is afforded to give it opportunity.

I do not find anything in Mr. Hall’s report indicating that close planting
has prevented side branches. And my own observation of various plantations
which I have visited leads me to the belief that it does not. In plantations
4x4 feet, planted eight to ten years, | found many side branches sound and
tenacious. Pruning 7s necessary and is entirely practicable up to twenty or
even twenty-five feet from the ground, if desired.

In looking up information for this report, it has been my object to follow
practical lines as closely as possible. I have visited various plantations, all
of which I found planted 4x4 feet or 3x6 feet, and the results obtained were
found in all cases similar to those so fully reported upon by Mr. Hall. I have
never found a tree in a close plantation which had grown large enough to
indicate that it will pay any one to plant Catalpa trees with the idea of grow-
ing timber suitable for cross-ties within a reasonable limit of time.

I have, however, found many trees growing singly upon lawns and along
roadways which show a remarkable growth. From many examples I will
give the following: Several street trees at Colfax, Ind., planted twenty-six
years ago, have attained a growth suitable for saw logs, or will make several
cross-ties to each tree. Five trees growing on a lawn at Charleston, W. Va.,
have in thirteen vears grown large enough to make pole ties from each butt
cut. Because of their upright tendency they were cut back at twelve feet from
the ground, and the owner informed me recently that a sprout from the
tree nearest his house had in five years made a growth of thirty-five feet, and
that when he cut this sprout because it towered above his roof, it was found
to measure six inches in diameter at the base.

In southern Illinois I found many Catalpa trees still standing in the
original forest groves. Two large trees had been recently felled, and the
farmer was splitting them up for fence rails and posts. This gave me an
excellent opportunity to measure the tree and examine the wood. One tree
was cut up as follows:

One 12-ft. log. 28 in. diameter at butt.,18 in. at top.
One 18-ft. log, in. diameter at butt, 14 in. at top.
One to-ft. log, 14 in. diameter at butt, 13 in. at top.
One to-ft. log, 13 in. diameter at butt, 9 in. at top.

OC

The second tree measured twenty-six inches at the butt, and tapered
gradually to a nine-inch top, fiftv-two feet up. It was straight and perfectly
sound throughout. Several logs from each of these trees had been split once
through the center, and all showed up perfectly clear and sound hearted through-
out, the first cut eighteen feet long not even showing a knot.

A larger tree standing near, measured eighty-four inches circumference
two feet up: seventy-two inches circumference twelve feet up, the estimated
height being sixty feet to forks.

Another of about the same height measured seventy-six inches circum-
ference at butt; sixty inches twelve feet up.
PRACTICAL ARBORICUOLTURE 263

Most of the trees in this natural grove had grown up within flfty years.
The growth had never been dense. Many slender, upright saplings were
growing fifteen to twenty feet away from other trees, and there is no evidence
that this natural growth has ever been crowded. The farmers, who valued
these trees and wished them to grow well and rapidly, had seen to it that
every tree had sufficient space for its roots to spread.

Our chief interest, however, is not in what the forest has produced, but
in what can be done by planting. Very near the natural groves | found rows
of trees planted along lanes and about the borders of fields. A tree which
had been recently cut from one of these rows was lying upon the ground,
affording a fine opportunity for measurements. The first cut was nine feet

 

SECTION FROM A CATALPA SPECIOSA TREE EXHIBITED AT LOUISIANA PURCHASE
EXPOSITION, 1904. THE ANNUAL GROWTHS ARE PLAINLY SHOWN AND
COMPARED WITH THE TWELVE-INCH RULE. DIAMETER OF
TREE, 22 INCHES; AGE, 14 YEARS

long and measured sixteen inches at butt, ten and 2 half inches at the top.
The second cut eight feet long measured ten and a half inches at large
end and nine and a half at the top, or small end. The third cut
measured six inches at top end. Annular rings showed this tree to
have been planted some fifteen years. The first two cuts would make
good cross-ties, or the entire tree would make a good twenty-five-foot pole.
It was planted in a single row, bordering a cultivated field. The trees in this
row were planted eight feet apart, had no cultivation, and were never cut
back in order to induce straight, upright growth, as is recommended by all
authorities. The tree which had been felled was not an unusual specimen.
Hundreds of others just as good, and some better, could have been selected
204 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

from these rows. I measured one thirty-six inches circumference at butt;
thirty inches six feet up; sixteen feet to the first side branch, which will make
a twenty-five foot pole, six inches in diameter. Another growing in single
row measured fifty-four inches in circumference at butt; forty-two inches six
feet up; ten feet to first small side branch, which will make a twenty-five-foot
pole eight inches in diameter. Another in the same row measured thirty-six
inches in circumference twelve feet up.

Farmers in this region, which is between Mt. Carmel and Albion, IIL,
appear to fully appreciate the excellence of this wood. One man told me he
had recently hauled fence posts twenty miles in order to get Catalpa posts.
Thousands of Catalpa posts and rails may be seen on every side, and I did
not see one broken rail. This struck me as very singular, having recently
come from the long leaf yellow pine region of Georgia, where broken fence
rails are very common, indeed. These Illinois farmers have a practice of
planting Catalpa trees in single rows bordering their fields, utilizing the living
trees for fence posts, cutting back at, say, five feet from the ground, and
cultivating the upright sprout from this stump, which in a few years produces
a growth large enough to be made into several more posts of ordinary size,
thus providing a continuous source of supply directly on the ground.

In driving along a public highway between Brown’s Station and Albion,
I noticed a fine row of trees which had evidently been planted with this
purpose in view. In the meantime a telephone company had run their lines
along this road, attaching the wires to the trees in this row. A row of living
telephone poles probably a quarter of a mile or more in length is pretty con-
clusive evidence that Catalpa trees do grow straight enough and tall enough
to make valuable poles in about fifteen years, if given room enough in which
to obtain nourishment from the soil. This row borders a cultivated field on
one side and a public highway on the other. It has had no cutting back, no
cultivation, the trees standing in fence corners completely surrounded with a
heavy sod. The same lack of cultivation is evident with all the farm and
street rows I have seen. If trees will grow in this manner in spite of diffi-
culties, it seems probable that Mr. Brown’s method is correct, and that much
better results may be anticipated from forest plantations if the young trees
are not crowded.

Enough has already been said regarding the enduring quality of this
wood, but some information upon this point which I chanced to obtain when
in Edwards County, Illinois, is of so direct a nature that it seems of sufficient
interest to be related in this report. In making some small purchases at a
store, I learned that the merchant, a Mr. W. L. Wheeler, had served for
twenty-two years, first as section foreman and later as supervisor, on what is
now the St. Louis Division of the Southern Railway. Mr. Wheeler informed
me that when he began service with this company he found thousands of
Catalpa ties in the track where they had been since the track was laid, some
eight years earlier. He had first laid fifty-two pound rails on these ties. When
that was renewed he found many of these ties fit for further service, and laid
the new fifty-six pound rail on them. And when renewing recently with
seventy-five pound rail, a few were still found serviceable and remain in the
PRACTICHL ARBORICULTURE 265

tracks under the new rail, where he can identify them at any time. The old
ties were taken out because they were too thin for the large spikes now used,
but not one was rotten or broken. He lays particular stress upon the fact that
he has never seen a broken Catalpa tie, while many of the oak ties were found
to be broken when taken out. He says that they hold the spike very well,
and are not decayed or broken away from corrosion where the metal comes
in contact with the wood.

Mr. Wheeler can also point out many telegraph poles still in good condi-
tion where they have been since the line was built.

Many prominent railroad men have entire confidence in Mr. Brown, and
faith in his methods, among whom I will mention Mr. Fish, president of the
Illinois Central; Mr. Smith, president of the Louisville and Nashville, and Mr.
Kittredge, chief engineer of the Big Four, all of whom have had plantations
started on lands belonging to their respective companies.

The Ilinois Central has the Harahan plantation of two hundred and fifty
acres near New Orleans, and also a plantation of two hundred acres at
Duquoin, Ill.

The Louisville and Nashville has established a large plantation near
Pensacola, Fla.; another at Newport, Ky., near the mouth of the Licking
River; one at Shawneetown, Ill.; one at East St. Louis, as well as several
others at various points in southern Illinois. I am not informed as to the
acreage of the Louisville and Nashville plantations.

The Big Four has a young plantation near Indianapolis. The B. & M. and
the B. & A. have started plantations in New England.

The Southern Pacific has several small plantations in Texas. The N.
©. & N. E. has several small plantations on their lands in Louisiana and
Mississippi.

The Mexican Central has recently begun a number of small plantations
in Mexico.

President Diaz, of Mexico, who is deeply interested in the subject, has
ordered several plantations for the government of Mexico.

All of the plantations just mentioned are under the general direction and
management of Mr. J. P. Brown, whose services are free for the advancement
of the cause, and all are planted 8x8 feet. Unfortunately for the purpose of
this report they are of too recent planting to prove what Mr. Brown's method
will accomplish in producing trees for cross-ties, but it seems evident from
the growth of the street trees in various places and those in farm rows, which
have in twelve to eighteen years attained both girth and height sufficient for
cross-ties and poles without the slightest attempt at cultivation, that these
plantations, under careful and intelligent management, will show results
far in advance of those obtained by methods of close planting, which has
proved a failure in every case, save in producing fence posts.

In starting a plantation it is of the greatest importance to secure the
right seed or young plants. Neither bignonioides nor hybrids will produce
strong, upright growth, no matter which method is followed. Judging
entirely from what I have seen, I believe that proper cultivation and pruning
will insure good results.
266 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

I give the following estimate of cost and profit, as from ARBORICULTURE:
“The cost of planting will vary according to local conditions. The land
should be such as would produce a fair crop of corn:

ESTIMATE PER ACRE.

WaliemOr laid e sa vcs seas hce nant grec ney ces a/areusnuuncanenenn cea ear $20.00
Prepartmge st hers Vain cssss 22s tetas ries Seca yore emcees pera Masai feces 5.00
Bight hundred and ‘eighty trees acs cndcessscemeaedea eee: 8.00
Labor. planting-and cilivanne...0. co.cc ereead aes 5.00
INGErES RGIS HE earsna da tiactused evans Brae wey migtads eS 12.16

$50.16

“At eight years three-fourths of the trees should be removed, ieaving
permanent trees 16x16 feet, or 170 per acre.

“Each tree removed will supply two first-class posts worth ro cents each.

“Five hundred and ten trees removed make 1,020 posts, worth $100,
being original cost with total expenses, leaving the plantation fully paid,
including twenty years’ interest and taxes.

“The remaining 170 trees will, by twentieth year, produce 850 cross-ties
worth, at 60 cents, $510, or 250 feet lumber per tree, 42,000 feet b. m., which,
at $20 per 1,000, 1s $850.

“The value of the land having been greatly improved, and a permanent
income insured from the continued growths (as the trees are quickly
renewed from the stumps), equal to a capital investment of $1,000 at 8 per
cent interest.”

The greatest dificulty to be encountered in beginning a plantation is in
obtaining pure seed. The following quotation, also from ARBORICULTURE, bear-
ing upon this point, is of interest:

“The Southern Catalpa is much branched, of low, scrubby growth, and so
far as known has no value in the arts. Asa flowering, bushy tree, it has been
largely distributed, and is now found in every part of the world. The enor-
mous quantity of seed produced, together with the ease with which the seed
are collected, from low spreading trees, has caused thousands of pounds of
this worthless seed to be distributed throughout Europe as well as America.

“One prominent seed house in the West, some years ago, collected one
thousand pounds of this Southern seed and sold it as speciosa, distributing this
inferior tree to every part of the United States. Another prominent seed
house of an Eastern city sent out a quantity of the seed labeled C. speciosa,
the present year, a sample of which seed is held by Arnortcutture. Not one
seed of this lot is speciosa, but both the Japanese dwarf, C. kempferii and C.
bignonioides comprise the lot. When such gross carelessness, if not crimin-
ality, exists among seed houses professing eminent respectability, the public
must suffer.

“The greatest difficulty which this Society has to contend with is the
erroneous estimate placed upon the Catalpa by the great number of people
PRACTICAL ARBORICULLURE 207

who have had an acquaintance with this Southern tree, and suppose it to be
the C. speciosa of which we are writing.”

A consideration of the various points above brought out indicates that
the proper planting and growing of Catalpa trees for use as railroad ties
would not be only profitable from a financial standpoint, but would give a
most satisfactory supply of cross-ties, provided tie plates are used in con-
nection with the same.

It is hardly probable that railroad companies will go into the business of
tree planting upon a large enough scale to produce ties sufficient for their
requirements, but it appears to be a matter of great importance that they
should plant trees in considerable numbers upon lands in their possession
to afford object lessons to farmers and others, and that great future benefit
will result from such course. Respectfully submitted,

COMMITTEE ON Roabway AND BALLast,
268 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

HOW TO DISTINGUISH CATALPA SPECIOSA.

Sir. didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares?—Matt. XIII, 27.
Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Gal. VI, 7.

The colored plate of Catalpa Blossoms will greatly assist the observer _
to distinguish the several varieties of catalpa. Yet other comparisons of the
habit of growth, bark, seed pods and the seed will be required to positively
identify the true species and reject the others. The large clusters show the
leaf and flowers of Catalpa speciosa, and for comparison one flower, No. IV,
is the Japanese variety, C. kempferii, which has become so common in the
United States. Another single flower, No. II, is bignonoides, while No. III is
a hybrid. The great extent to which the inferior varieties and hybrids have been
grown and distributed throughout the world by careless nurserymen and
ignorant seed collectors, make it imperative that seedsmen, nurserymen and
dealers, as well as farmers should familiarize themselves with the methods
of detecting worthless seeds and trees.

We have a water color drawing from the natural flowers from which
Messrs. Williamson, Haffner & Co., Denver, Colorado, made the plates for
reproduction.

Kempferii, it will be observed, has a very distinct color by which it is
easily distinguished, although this shading is lost in the hybrids.

There is no forest tree which hybridizes more readily, by insects which
carry pollen from flower to flower, than does the catalpa. There are innumer-
able mixtures among seedlings, where several varieties are growing near to-
gether, some of which closely resemble speciosa, while others differ very
materially.

The flowers of hybrids also show the characteristics of both parents, some
being nearly as large as those of speciosa, while others greatly vary in size.

Whether large, upright forest trees are obtained, or crooked dwarfs,
will depend upon the care used in selecting trees from which to collect seed.

The following peculiarities of the trees should be observed and differences
noted:

1. There is no one feature so important as to secure seed from trees of
upright habit. True Catalpa speciosa is as distinctly upright as is the Lom-
bardy poplar. It is only necessary to see the photographs shown in these
pages, which were taken from natural groves, both in the forests or slashes
and out in the open ground, to know the habit of this tree.

One may as well expect to produce Norman or Clydesdale horses by
breeding Shetland ponies, or heavy Durham cattle from Jersey stock, as to
anticipate growing forests of catalpa where seed of dwarf trees are planted.
 

 

 

 

 

CATALPA BLOSSOMS
PRACTICAL. ARBORI CULL ORE 271

The matter of first importance, therefore, is to secure seed from tall grow:
ing, straight trees, and upon such trees but a small quantity of seed will be
found, which is expensive to collect.

Oriental forms of catalpa seldom exceed twenty feet in height. Big-
nonoides has a spreading, very crooked and irregular habit, and possesses far
less vitality or stamina than does speciosa.

 

 

 

TREE SHOWING BARK CHARACTERISTICS OF CATALPA SPECIOSA

2. The next important means of identification is in the bark of the trees.
Speciosa should have a thick, heavy bark, deeply furrowed, the ridges quite
prominent as seen in the half-tone illustration above.

The bark of other varieties is inclined to scale off and does not form
ridges. A good illustration of bignonoides is found elsewhere. The real
character of the bark is not seen in young trees.

3. While the trees are in blossom compare the flowers with our colored
plate. While speciosa begins to bloom about two weeks before the others
272 PRACTICAL ARBORICULT ORE

in the same locality, yet late blossoms of this variety are prolonged until
flowers of other sorts have opened. Sometimes favorable locations advance
the blooming period of the inferior trees, while in unprotected spots, not far dis-
tant speciosa may be retarded so that all flower at the same time.

Notice the comparative size of the individual flowers. There is not a
great difference in depth of color in the markings of the flowers but the in-
ferior sorts have a narrow white margin, while speciosa has a broad border
of pure white, which lightens the color effect.

4. Examine the seed pods. For some reason while speciosa produces
as large a cluster of flowers as other varieties, only one or two pods are devel-
oped, and these are from fourteen to eighteen inches long and three-fourths
of an inch thick.

 

SPURIOUS CATALPA SEED SOLD FOR SPECIOSA

Bignonoides, the southern form, produces from four to six pods to each
cluster. These are from six to eight ‘nches in length, and a hali inch in
thickness. Pure oriental catalpas have from eight to twenty pods,

5. Next observe the seed as it is being gathered. Speciosa seed has a
broad pencil of filaments at each end. In the inferior varieties these filaments
are drawn to a point and sometimes twisted.

The ease and rapidity with which seed may be collected from low,
spreading trees, together with the enormous quantity of seed produced by the
worthless varieties and hybrids, sorely tempt unscrupulous persons to gather
them, and many thousand pounds of such seed have been distributed throughout
America to the serious injury of planters, who are thus inclined to condemn the

catalpa without knowing the tree.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 273

DISTRIBUTING MILLIONS OF SPURIOUS CATALPA SEED.

Eighty thousand catalpa trees at DeLand, Florida, now four years old,
are spurious, while one hundred thousand in Louisiana are bignonotdes. Yet
both lots were sold by reputable nurserymen for Catalpa speciosa.

The same firms are still engaged in the nefarious business.

We purchased seeds for examination this year of these nurserymen and
seedsmen all of which proved to be the southern catalpa, biguonoides.

In part this fraud is practiced through ignorance, yet in some cases it
is known by the seedsmen that they are not selling speciosa.

The persistence with which this concern sends out trashy catalpa seed,
which they acknowledge they have done for years, excusing themselves by
claiming that Mr. Douglas planted these trees, and that the seed of young
trees differs so greatly from that produced on older trees, is greatly to be
regretted. The characteristics of each variety of catalpa are so distinct,
both in tree and in the seed, there is absolutely no excuse for any great seed
house to make such a blunder and repeat it year after year.

 

TOP SEED, KEMPFERIL MIDDLE, SPE-
CIOSA. BOTTOM, BIGNONIOIDES

It is this unfortunate condition of the distribution of worthless seed,
which has been going on for so many years, wherein millions of Catalpa big-
nonoides, kempferti and hybrids without character have been imposed upon
the people and caused so wrong an impression regarding Catalpa speciosa.

The late Robert Douglas made the two great plantations now owned
by the Frisco Railway. That he was liable to be mistaken in making his
purchases is evident, since one forty-acre tract of these catalpas are of Dig-
nonoides, discovered to be such by himself after they had produced flowers
and seed.

We appeal to any reputable botanist if the seed of apples or fruit trees,
ash or other forest seeds, or as a rule vegetable and other seeds, are so very
different in the young and old trees as are the seeds sold by this seed house from
those of true Catalpa speciosa.

We have engraved the seeds sent out by this firm, and they may be com-
pared with our cut, where one seed of kempferii, one of bignonioides, and one
of speciosa are shown side by side.
274 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

SIR WALTER RALEIGH AND FRANCIS BACON ADMIRERS OF
THE CATALPA.

A Bit of History.

(New York Tribune, October, 4, 1905.)

There is in the garden of Gray's Inn a fine specimen of the North Ameri-
can Catalpa megienlondes: In Timbs’ “Curiosities of London” this tree is
stated to have been “raised from one planted by Lord Bacon.” Francis
Bacon certainly directed the laying out of the perden in 1598-1600, planting
elms and quickset hedges, and nowadays, savs “Nature Notes,” one hesi-
tates before saying that there is anything he did not do, from writing
Shakespeare's plays downward; but it is not probable that he planted a ca-
talpa. This tree was found by Mark Catesby on the banks of the Ohio and
the Mississippi, and brought to Carolina about 1725 and to England in 1720.
Its name is probably a corruption of Catawba, that of an Indian tribe, while
its local Grench name is “Bois Shavanon,” from the Shavanon (now the
Cumberland) River.— London Globe.

The New York Tribune of October 4, 1905, printed the above item from the
London Globe.

On page g8, ARBORICULTURE for January. 1903, gave a brief history of this
celebrated tree, as follows:

“Tn 1586 the remnants of Sir Walter Raleigh’s first colony, on their return

London, took with them three valuable American products—the potato,
tobacco, and a catalpa tree. Raleigh gave the tree to Sir Francis Bacon, who
planted it in the garden of Gray’s Inn, which at that time was the resort of
scholars and the nobility of England. A seedling from this tree 1s still alive,
or was recently, but in a decrepit condition. As this tree was from Virginia,
of which North Carolina was then a part, it was doubtless bignonioides.”

Thus we see what an interest has been manifested in this American tree
for more than three hundred vears.

The London Globe is somewhat in error as to the tree coming from the
banks of the Ohio and the Mississippi. The Catalpa speciosa had its home on
the Wabash River, in Indiana, some trees extending down the Ohio and as far
as New Madrid, Missouri, on the shores of the Mississippi.

Catalpa bignonoides was indigenous to the State of Virginia, which
then comprised much of the South Atlantic Coast region, including North
Carolina.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 275

There is a very great difference in these two trees, yet a confusion has
always existed, many persons mistaking the varieties.

The names Catawba, catalfa, and other local pronunciations of the Indiaa
name catalpa, are still used in the South.

F. Andrews Michaux, in his “North American Sylva,” v. 2, page 57, says:

“The French of Upper Louisiana call it (the catalpa) Bois Shavanon,
from the Shavanon, or Shawnee Nation, which once existed in West Tennes-
see on the borders of the river of this name, called by the English the Cum-
berland.”’

Thus it will be seen that this refers specially to Catalpa bignonioides,
which is common in the South, and existed on the Cumberland River in Ten-
nessee.

Seeds of this Southern catalpa were distributed throughout Europe and
large numbers of the trees exist upon the continent — from this source — so it
is plain to be seen why there should be much confusion, and in the minds
of those best informed there should be a feeling of disgust when it is proposed
to plant catalpa trees for production of forests.

However, genuine Catalpa speciosa trees have been sent by the Inter-
national Society of Arboriculture to all parts of the world which in a few years
will demonstrate their value for forests.

DISTRIBUTION OF SPURIOUS SEEDs.

We recently spent a week in Washington city searching for Catalpa spe-
closa trees but there are none to be found.

Numerous specimens of Catalpa bignonioides are found at Georgetown
and on the public grounds in the city. Also large numbers of Japanese ca-
talpa, with their very abundant, long slender seed-pods, often twenty in each
cluster; but after a thorough search in every park, all the public grounds,
Botanical Gardens, Capitol grounds, and about the Smithsonian and Depart-
ment of Agriculture grounds, as well as on all public street lines, J failed to
find a single specimen of Catalpa speciosa.

The managers of the Botanical Gardens did not know of one tree in the
District of Columbia. Inquiry at the office of public grounds and city streets
brought the same reply, and I do not believe there is a tree of this valuable
American forest product in or about Washington.

This solves the question of such violent opposition to the catalpa by the
United States Forestry Bureau, whose observations have been confined to
the two varieties which are so abundant in Washington and all other cities
of this continent. No wonder the Bureau decided that seed of the Catalpa big-
nonioides Was pure speciosa.

The specimens existing in Washington are all remarkably crooked, de-
formed, scrubby, and worthless samples of even the Southern bignonioides Ca-
talpa, and would naturally create disgust in a forestry expert.

A pilgrimage to Evansville, Indiana, Princeton, in Gibson County, or to
almost any of the native forests of Catalpa speciosa would greatly benefit the
doctors of the Forestry Department in their judgment of the catalpa tree,
276 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

and would prevent the issuance of such a mass of errors and misinformation
as is contained in the recent Bulletin on the catalpa, sent out by the Bureau of
Forestry.

We have long been battling with large and influential seed dealers, who
have distributed millions of bignonoides and hybrid catalpa seed under the
name of Catalpa speciosa, and have been at great expense in having engrav-
ings made, showing the different types of trees, flowers and seed, but some of
the seedsmen refuse to learn, and this season large quantities of worthless
seed have been sold to the American people under the label of Catalpa speciosa.

Some time since we received several packets of seed from widely sepa-
rated sources, all from the same seed house.

One man in Florida, asking our opinion of the seed, said he had sent
samples of the same seed to the Forestry Bureau, Washington.

The seed were of all sorts, badly mixed; only a small proportion were
speciosa. This we reported to the sender. Soon after the man wrote us that
the Forestry Bureau had pronounced them Catalpa speciosa.

We determined to test the knowledge of the Forestry Bureau authorities.
Calling to our assistance Dr. R. W. Taylor, of Cinéinnati, that gentleman
collected seed from one of the worst specimens of Catalpa scrubbiosa to be
found among the thousands of scrub catalpas near Cincinnati (see page 278).

These bignonioides seed were sent to Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the Fores-
try Bureau asking what variety they were.

We give in full the government authorities’ reply:

“United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Forestry.

Washington, May 10, 1905.
“(Dendrology.)
“Mr. R. IW. Taylor, 2200 Central Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio:

“Dear Sir:—I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of May 1,
which Mr. Gifford Pinchot has referred to me, together with the catalpa seed.
which is Catalpa speciosa. Very truly yours,

“GEORGE B. SUDWORTH, Chief.’

On another page we exhibit the tree and photograph the seed which
the highest authority of the United States declares to be Catalpa speciosa.

It is indeed a stupendous undertaking to educate the public and help to
secure the planting of forests which will be of value, when the government
authorities place such obstructions in the way.

The opposition which this Society has had from the Forestry Bureau
has almost made it impossible to accomplish the great work which is being
done throughout the world by the International Society of Arboriculture.

The American public have been grossly outraged by these seedsmen, who
have distributed thousands of pounds of dwarf and worthless catalpa seed, so
that it is extremely difficult to find trees of pure speciosa.
 

 

 

 

CATALPA BIGNONOIDES.
Seed of this tree was certified as being Speciosa by U. S. Forestry Officials.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 279

To collect seed of pure speciosa costs $3.50 to $5.00 per pound, while seed
from low-growing, inferior trees may be gathered for ten cents per pound;
hence the incentive to secure cheap seed.

The author, some years ago purchased seed from the tenant of the Yagg
plantation at Hutchinson, Kansas. After waiting four years we found the
entire lot to be bignonoides hybrids.

We afterwards collected seed and pods in this noted Catalpa farm, which
we photographed, and reproduce below. No intimation was ever given by the
Forestry Bureau that these trees were other than speciosa, although they
spent months examining it.

 

SEED PODS PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE YAGGY FARM. CATALPA HYBRID
bo
w
oO

PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

APPEAL TO AMERICAN FARMERS.—PROVIDE AN INCOME FOR
THE FUTURE.

To the Farmers of America.

Year in and year out, American farmers plow the land, sow the seed,
reap, and send to market the various grain, hay or produce, each season
demanding seed, labor and expense, repeated as the years roll on, from youth
to old age. A few become rich by reason of advancing values in lands, not
many make more than a living during a lifetime of toil.

American youth tires of this continuous drudgery and drift to the great
cities, in hopes that by successful speculations they may gain wealth without
the expenditure of such labor.

Combinations of capital control the price of your productions. Unions
among the elements of labor decide the cost of your help. In every branch
of industry and all forms of business are alliances to limit the income of the
agricultural class. The hours of labor in the cities are short—the day of
the farmer is double the length of that of his city brother.

Why not produce something in addition to grains and grasses which
will relieve you of part of this incessant toil, and which will ever be in demand
at remunerative prices?

You who have made homes in the wilderness of forest, and by slow and tire-
some degrees cleared the fields for tillage, are aware of the small value of wood in
the mixed forest. Here and there is a good tree, but the majority is of no
special value for the lumberman, and only adds to the labor of clearing
This is owing to the methods used by nature in planting the seed, sowing
it promiscuously by wind, animals and birds.

If every tree on your land was a walnut, or a hickory, yellow poplar or
other valuable species, all of one kind, you would find a ready market for
the timber, in the same manner as your orchard: if all are wine saps, pippins
or spys, you have no trouble in securing the highest prices for apples, but if
no two trees are alike, you cannot sell the crops to advantage.

If you plant a forest of quickly maturing timber trees, and all of the
same kinds, these do not require planting but once, they demand but little
of your time, growing while you sleep, as well as in your waking hours, and
they cannot be manipulated by stock speculators on the one hand or labor
combinations on the other. The improvidence characteristic of Americans
has destroyed the natural forests, and good timber is becoming scarcer every
year, and will always be in demand at rapidly increasing values.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 281

Pine lumber of better grades is almost exhausted, and so with oak and
other woods, something must be provided to take their place.

The landowners who are wise will devote a portion of their farms to the
growing of fence posts, cross ties and other forms of timber.

We append a table, carefully prepared after a third of a century’s obser-
vations and measurements, showing the annual rate of growth of our prin-
cipal trees, and also estimates of growths which may be obtained in a series
of years for each acre planted and properly cared for. This data will enable
you to determine the probable results in a given number of years.

A majority of trees will have room to develop if planted 14x14 feet or
220 to the acre.

The Catalpa speciosa increases one inch in thickness each year if reason-
ably cared for; thus by the end of twenty-five years the trees become 24
inches in diameter, with a uniform taper to the top.

Such a tree will contain 150 feet b. m. lumber, 25,000 feet to the acre,
and bring, at prices which will prevail twenty-five years hence, $60 per
thousand, or $1,500 per acre, net, while the cost of planting and caring for them
will be inconsiderable.

If such trees are sawed into cross ties, they will produce 1,700 ties, and
will bring one dollar each on account of durability.

In the vicinity of mining operations, where mine timbers are constantly
in demand, the income will begin in eight or ten years, each tree making
probably two lengths, or 1,360 timbers per acre.

Some railway companies are planting Catalpa timber on a large scale
upon their lands, under which lie vast beds of coal. It is now difficult to
procure a sufficient number of mine timbers to support the roof of the
mines. These trees will, in eight years, make better props and ties than the
wood now being used, while transportation from long distances will be
avoided. Eight hundred and eighty-six trees, making 1,172 props and ties
for the mines, grow upon each acre in eight years; the wood being so much
more durable than what is ordinarily used, will, of course, be of greater value.

If a railway company can do this, what opportunity does it offer to the
farmer to supply such wood for the mines?

DEMANDS OF RAILWAYS.

There are in the United States now, 250,000 miles of steam railways and
50,000 miles of electric roads, the mileage increasing daily. It takes 3,000
cross ties and thirty telegraph poles for each mile of track; ties must be
renewed once in five to seven years, poles once in ten or twelve years. The
telegraph and telephone lines have in use 5,000,000 poles. Thus three thou-
sand millions of cross-ties and thirty millions of poles will be required during
the twenty-five vears before us. In addition to this, three hundred and fifty
millions of fence posts will be required to fence these roads in.

It will be seen that a vast area of land must be planted and maintained
in timber to provide for these three items—cross-ties, poles and fence posts.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

bo
Co
ty

Ii rapid growing trees should be planted at once, 222 trees per acre,
it would require five million acres to grow enough timber for this purpose.

There is no danger of our planting too much timber, and the farmers
who begin now and plant a fair proportion of their lands in such timber as
is in constant demand at high prices, will in due time reap their reward, and it
will come when they begin to feel like retiring from the arduous labor of
farm life.

Of course, if the planting is done and no further interest taken it will
result in failure just as any other crop would do.

I shall leave to the great lumber manufacturers and dealers the problem
of future supply of lumber for the market. Fires, excessive cutting, unwise
exports at unremunerative prices, competition which is entirely unnecessary,
waste upon every hand; how long can this continue?

There is a great benefit to the land from growing forests, its fertility
is renewed, by the annual deposit of ieaves and decay of twigs and roots.

Wind carries the leaves to other fields, adding in their fertilization.

The waste in soil erosion is greatly lessened, and often checked entirely.

The injurious effects of hot drying winds is largely overcome by heavy
belts of trees, which guide the air currents above the surface.

The influence of the trees upon the climate, rainfall and sudden changes
of temperature is recognized by every intelligent person.

A forest of economic trees is better than a life insurance policy, for a
great majority of companies fail after receiving premiums for many years.

YOUNG GROWTHS ARE OF GREATER VALUE THAN OLD TREES

The popular impression is that timber lands are without value until the
trees have obtained great age, yet this is fallacious.

The oak, for example, is of great longevity; its growth seems slow when
compared with human existence, and the opinion prevails that a century must
elapse ere it would have any value.

For some purposes old wood is necessary, but in general this is far from
a correct conclusion, as with most of our Northern trees the annual growth
is made on the outside of the trunk, and just within the liber, or inner bark.
There is but little connection between the older layers of wood and the grow-
ing parts, and in a few years it ceases entirely in performing any part of the
functions of the living tree, except that it aids in stiffening the trunk, and
supports the active, though flexible young wood.

In the case of the oak, the heart wood may have been formed and died
a century or more ago, each successive annular growth or ring being a year
younger, while the last sap growth is of the present season.

The wood of such a tree is of far less utility for most important purposes
than the wood of young trees from a dozen to two score years of quick, live
growth.

A giant cedar (thuya gigantea) of Washington, measures 63 feet cir-
cumference, and is 265 feet in height; it is hollow, having been the abode of
bears for a great period. The walls now are but four feet in thickness, all the
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 283

interior wood having rotted and crumbled away, yet the roots and branches
are alive and growing thriftily, and the outer walls are fresh and green,
notwithstanding two-thirds of its bulk, the oldest formed, is dead and gone.
Such a tree has lost its greatest value centuries ago.

Youth is life, energy, strength, vitality, elasticity, no matter whether it
be in the animal or vegetable world.

The oak, at thirty years, having made a rapid growth, is in its prime.
This wood is sought by the manufacturers, while in an ancient tree the wood
is dead, brittle, and for many purposes of far less value.

Second-growth hickory, that young, vigorous timber which quickly
springs up in an old clearing, where the vegetable mould is abundant to stim-
ulate rapid growth, is of much greater value than lumber made from older
trees.

A woodsman never chose an old tree from which to make an ax handle,
but seeks a young pecan or a hickory sapling which possesses the necessary
strength and elasticity.

The best carriage spokes are made from second-growth hickory—the tree
from twenty to thirty years growth—while the locust rapidly decreases
in value after the fifteenth year.

From careful measurement made of many trees growing in parks, and
of well known age, the following table is prepared:

AVERAGE ANNUAL INCREASE IN GIRTH FROM PLANTING.

Inches. Inches. Inches.
Ash ...............2.8 K’nt’cky Coffee Tree2.6 Oak, Red .......... Bis
BirGhie..5 elias eee Ava Noaneh: skeen e eos BO) Oak? BIBCK: shonin. 223
Buckeyes soncatee 20) IBOCUSH £40) oes 4:0 Oak. Burr 2-225
@hestinits said facets 2.9 Lombardy Poplar ..5.5 Oak, Willow ...... BEG
Gatal pal ssseesumiee sh Bet ini wareddwa cates 2.53 Pine, White .<i0-+4 242
Cottonwood ........ 7.0 Maple, White ...... Geo Sweet Guile aga eink 20
Felina ANVItes ees 3.2) Maple, Red 2 sccasc.1220 Sycamore: oxsca4 ck 3.9
Bemloek ors... ene 1.7 Maple, Sugar ...... 2.1 Spruce, Norway ....2.4
ENCKORY ance ian Oude MUIbery: caoec tines 40° “Filip: Roplat 2. 44.5 D7.
Honey Locust ...... g20r Wild: Cherry ya cas 1.8 Weeping Willow ....7.0

TREES WHICH HAVE GROWN IN FOURTEEN YEARS.

Common Name. Scientific Name. Height in feet. Girth, in.
Siti! 02 Ren a eae Arla A DIC RICAI A un aon eecet aon esareenee 40 46
Yellow Poplar ......... Liriodendron tulipifera ......... 35 38
Silver Maple ...........- Acer dasycarpum svcncs nag eee es 50 81
Red Maple ..........-- ASCer TUDE UI) cist iet et ten yee es 30 30
Sugar Maple ...,.2<.+% Acer Sacchannuim: sacscccu..ears 2¢ 24
White Poplar .......... Populus monilifera ............. 60 96
Lombardy Poplar ...... Populus dilatata ............... 65 78

Weeping Willow ....... Salix Babylonica: 22.2: nce: 45 96
284 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Common Name. Scientific Name. Height in feet.
Black (Birch: cay. cuniavor, Betula INGA se wide teens 35
Wibité: BIneh: (ysceie wag ears Betulasalbay wesc ccaceots ates dette tes 35
Wi! AS Ine esc eeresae Praxinus alba, ccs snaweuierss es 29
White Mulberry -...... Nor is a lbar asics asta eacee ie tenes ct 20
Black MOGUSt. “.h.ukecon nee Robinia pseudacacia .............. 35
Catal pass <1 Fei te Catalpa speciosa ............... 30
ICd Oaks ket ta ease ice, QUERCUS: LUDTAL anaes ew ogee: 40
Black “Oak june densa Ouercetis: tinetoria® sis ee nese es 25
Buti lOak sss amee ce key nie Oirercus- MaCrocarpa inact egw is 26

TREES OF THIRTY-ONE YEARS’ GROWTH.

INGEWaly “SPLUCes hy semen white eaters rah earache 40
EVE TINT OC ist iver ca Seed aa tes eeu oe eer tan aach cau ore A lne erlaaen oe a Clee Ba 35
Beal Sesto RO peer note he ee ecu cae lee See ties en Sen Ocean el ohne rye 40
AWaltites SIGS tg anette teh ont hs in eh ty uk chev Sean eae 40
RGU CCC as ore carey ga set neers Meade RNR Ae 30
EEO peatiaWsanGlt Wane ael Gm ssaranrweareates | anwrarn tas od ae che kbs Ada 60
Sugar Maples is ccves/cmscstravta ean wears ail ey sneer ts ae 55
Buckeye ac. Stes oh aot de csc de Oh 28
WPI CET Ry steps cise rsh oe ce aed Oe ee Bad eit: 45
Caitallp aserasccessame ress wisteCeatetstaean iA ok eatin eae nes nt ke qm Rae ays 50
NViellOweie Oplaieacevatnes cave urs Act anette cuain eet maynr tee ae ten 45
IS CCL ere haat de gta ue ge eet ean gee er ie, end eoe ep nicer oeeeatee gt ce aecate 35
CES Ua tak ates age ge ork emit aang ser ec Servant ucts chaque enone ga a 50
Bit Oa Ke sas acerae tata ecclissi nev data ti icone aan Mail mene ee 45
Willow Oaks 2 ncciesctsiuesainies aba ualh bt MG Tiaras wate aie ay 45
TITIES? aver aston a ow erecta kere ecremnes ereuiiurieyy Waar gangstas 45

TREES OF TWENTY YEARS’ GROWTH.

Common Name. Scientific Name.

Sweet Guime 6.20 G pai de as Liquidamber stryacilua.cicik cds saoss 3
Whites Bla cece ae aos Wilms Aumiertcatial 53 2 ein es
PAHICK Oey te rar ona being aeons Gaiyama milan yes ere ome earn ey ered
SY.CAIIOKe, Naat ent se: Platanus® occidentalis: scone a5 sock aca ues
Burr “Oaks 22uikt doers Queretis MacrOcarpar ane es
GotonwoOodl sracneeekaes Populus -mOmilitera Veoh eee oe Sate
VWOWA i Gystee pace a Daline We atritolias cm aleiars Set tcin nth e
BluevAsh: .w eee Praxinus:-quadrangulata: <2 on ccncaears
LON ey IS OCUS Ese teen awe GleditSchia: triacanthos. 2204450 wacceses':
IBUCKeVes e.02 Meieiserae an Aesculuscelabids si. 44.0 Warten ow eet
Kentucky Coffee Tree...Gymnocladus Canadensis .............

Girth, in.
62

43
39
50
54
48
46

2

20

89

oui NT Un
+ wNI

STON XO
Oo # O

We find that in the hard soil of the parks without cultivation, for many
years, these trees have made excellent saw timber in from 14 to 20 years.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 285

Basswood has averaged a gain of 3.28 inches circumference per annum.
Yellow poplar, 2.7 gain per annum. Silver maple, 5.8 gain, growing in four-
teen years to be 25.8 inches in diameter.

The Cottonwood has gained 7 inches girth each year since it was planted.
Birches have gained from 3 to 4’ inches per annum. Ash, 2% inches gain.
Mulberry, 4 inches gain, the same as Locust. The Catalpa is 15 inches
diameter, a gain of 3.4 girth each year.

The Oaks have gained 2.4 each year. Sweet gum in twenty years gained
2.6 inches. White Elm gained 3.2 inches girth, Hickory gained 2.4 inches per
annum in the twenty years, while Chestnut made 3 inches additional each
year.

The foregoing tables prove beyond a question that almost every species
of our American woods can be grown to a merchantable size, and become
a profitable investment within a quarter of a century, many trees increas-
ing one inch diameter each year of its existence under most unfavorable situ-
ation and conditions.

With fairly good soils and thorough cultivation, planted more closely
to prevent the formation of turf, and more especially if it be a renewal of
an old forest, these records should be greatly exceeded.
286 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

QUALITY ESSENTIALS FOR RAILWAY SLEEPERS.

Railway officials and investors are now giving much attention to the
subject of suitable materials available for cross-ties or sleepers, whether, they
shall be made of metal, concrete, or a combination of several materials, or
of wood, and if the latter, what species of trees are best adapted for the pur-
pose, and which kinds may be grown within the limit of time when the present
supply shall have become exhausted. These are subjects to which attention is now
riveted.

There is a great danger in going to extremes with various tests, and in
placing too great stress upon immaterial points, and thus losing sight of the
more essential qualities.

We desire to point out some prominent features which should receive
consideration by engineers, in forming a scale of tests, and we place these
in the following order:

(1) Durability.

(2) Elasticity.

(3) Transverse strength.

(4) Cost of production.

(5) Time required for production.

(6) Spike-holding quality, or density.

DURABILITY.

In considering the qualification of metals it should not be overlocked
that oxidization, electrolysis, danger from breakage, especially under frost
conditions, tend to reduce the value and longevity of sleepers, while in the
use of cement concrete and combinations in which this material is used, the
effect of frost and impact of heavy trains and of disintegration must be kept
in view.

In the use of wooden sleepers, the experience of railway officials, actual
long-term trials by many railways, and the credible statements of those who
have had long and practical experience in the use of certain woods, are
entitled to large consideration.

In the chemical treatment of inferior woods, the cost of impregnation
and of transportation to and from the plant must be considered together
and if a timber possesses equal or greater durability without the necessity
for such artificial chemical treatment, it should receive due credit for this
valuable quality.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 287
ELASTICITY.

Every railway frog in the world is a practical illustration of the neces-
sity for elasticity in rail connections with the bed-plate or sleepers. Here
rigidity is the positive rule. Steel rails are bolted to steel connections, and
these require frequent repairs and renewals. The same result must be
expected whenever this policy of rigidity governs cross-tie connections. The
safety of swiftly moving trains, especially under American railway conditions,
depends upon this element of elasticity which exists in wooden ties. every
spike being bedded in a cushion of compressed wood fibers, and each tle
being an elastic bed-plate.

TRANSVERSE STRENGTH

of wooden sleepers is an important consideration, for the bearing is fre-
quently more substantial in the center than at the ends of the timber,
and often oak ties are broken from this cause. It is probably true
that knotty, cross-grained and brash timbers are the ones which thus
give way. In making comparative tests, with white oak as a standard,
it should be remembered that the best grade of oak has not been used for ties
for many years; it would be much too costly for this purpose. A sleeper
containing 45 feet b. m. would at $60 per 1,000 feet, its value for furniture
manufacture, cost $2.70, or five times the average price of ties on our American
tracks.

It is not fair, therefore, to test catalpa, or other woods which may be
grown specially for use as sleepers, with white oak of a much higher grade
than is used in the track for sleepers.

Cross ties are never suspended at the two ends, having to support the
weight of a train in their center, and it is not proper to demand of any
timber a far greater strain than could ever be required of it. Enough is
surficient.

COST OF PRODUCTION.

Perhaps the average price of standard railway sleepers in the United
States may be sixty cents each, although the range is from thirty cents for
inferior to seventy-five cents, depending upon the competition among pur-
chasing lines and distance of haul.

In considering timber culture for the production of ties, early maturity
of trees is an important factor, the cost of production being largely governed
by the time required to grow the wood, during which period interest, taxes
and expense of maintenance are accumulating.

In portions of Europe, Asia and Africa, where wood is scarce, many
sleepers are imported from America, the expense of transportation by sea,
transfer at two docks, and freightage to points where required, is very large,
so that metal sleepers are in close competition with wood. If to this expense
for wooden ties there is added the cost of chemical impregnation, the cost
may even exceed, in some localities, that of metal sleepers.
288 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

So many forms of ties have been devised, some with considerable merit,
the element of cost will govern the extent to which they will be used in
experiment.

So long as suitable wood can be secured at reasonable cost, this will be
the material used by the great majority of railways.

In planting trees for sleepers the cost of production is very largely in
favor of catalpa wood, providing proper judgment be used in selection of
stocks, care in planting, and subsequent management.

That there have been many grievous failures is true, but this should
not prevent a continuation of experiments under more intelligent manage-
ment and with the light of recent information.

There is not at present any supply of this wood in existence, nor will
there be until the trees shall be planted and grown.

Trees planted in a single row along the track of a railway, surrounded by
a dense grass sod, the tops cut out by telegraph linemen, utterly neglected
by the company, even were they of the proper variety, will never make profitable
timber, and should not be taken as a gauge with which to measure a forest
for cross tie purposes.

In considering the catalpa for cross ties there should be added the cost
of tie-plates, about sixteen cents per pair, for each sleeper, since the wear by
grinding under the rails will be prevented by the use of plates.

And while adding the cost of tie-plates to catalpa wood, it must not be
forgotten that all wooden ties of the future will demand the use of plates, for
oak has practically ceased to be a timber for general use, and heart yellow
pine will not long be in the market. Most other woods are softer than catalpa,
especially when the latter shall have been grown quickly, and thus very
much harder than that which has had a slow, suppressed growth, from over-
crowding.

TIME REQUIRED FOR PRODUCTION.

To produce timber suitable for sleepers of white oak will require from
seventy to one hundred years. Yellow pine, such as is used largely in the
South will take an equal length of time. Pinus ponderosa, the bull pine of the
West, grown from the seed, will take from sixty to seventy years. Red wood
of California is also of very slow growth, while chestnut, so largely used
in New England, may require thirty years, although old trees of sixty years
make the more enduring timber. Black locust makes a rapid growth for a few
years, but it is sappy and not enduring. The old trees of locust are very
dense and durable in the ground.

Catalpa speciosa is recognized as making the quickest growth of any
valuable American forest tree. There is no other tree which can confidently
be recommended with which to reafforest the land within the time of the
present generation.

This essential qualification should count very high in comparative tests.

The mesquite of Mexico and quebracho of the Argentine Republic are
instances of very dense woods which require centuries for their production, vet
they do not equal the catalpa for durability.
 

 

 

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290 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE
SPIKE-HOLDING QUALITY.

Some engineers who have had experience with chestnut ties are fearful
of all woods which are not so dense as white oak, and go to the extreme of
testing woods by their ability to hold a spike. Yet those very dense woods
which cling with tenacity to nails or spikes which have been forced into
their body so that they will break before they can be withdrawn, are not
the best timbers for railway sleepers.

The use of tie-plates not only adds to the durability of sleepers, but
greatly increases the capacity of timbers to hold spikes, or rather decreases
the tendency of springing rails to withdraw the fastenings.

In removing rails for repair of track or change of line, it is of importance
that spikes may be withdrawn by workmen, and that they may be quickly
driven after the change has been made. Very dense woods, which require
to be bored before spikes may be driven, are very objectionable on this
account, as well as being of extremely slow growth, taking a long period for
maturity.

Timbers of moderate hardness are far superior to those of extreme
density. The same may be said of rosewood, lignum vitae, and other tropic
woods which are used to some extent.

DEDUCTIONS.

The first qualification, essential to premanent railway sleepers, is dura-
bility. A material which requires renewing within four or five years is very
expensive, no matter what the original cost.

Cf wood, no timber has lasted so long in the tracks as catalpa, which,
after thirty-two years, ten years of which were under heavy traffic, still
remain sound.

It is not so much a question for engineers to discuss as to what par-
ticular timber will be demanded, as what it is possible to procure.

Railways must have ties, and have them speedily and in vast quant:ties.

Catalpa can be grown to supply sleepers in sixteen years, provided the
trees be planted and cared for. Time wasted in frivolous discussions and
scientific tests for non-essentials only delays the practical work of planting,
and of course prolongs the period of temporary expedients, a search for woods
of short life in the track, and expensive treating plant for inferior woods.

The evidences furnished at the St. Louis World's Fair in the catalpa
exhibit were sufficient to prove that catalpa possesses every requisite for use
as sleepers, and that many thousands of ties have been in practical service
from the time of the earliest railway building in Indiana, Tlinois and Mis-
souri, and that the wood was satisfactory for the purpose and so recognized
by many of the best engineers of America; while at the same time being
suited for all the purposes of the builder, in carpentry, for furniture requiring the
highest polish, for mine timbers, and, as well, for pulp and paper.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 291

RAILWAY CROSS TIES.

The inventive genius of Americans has been largely employed during the
past quarter of a century in an endeavor to adapt some substance or combi-
nation of materials as a support and fastening for steel rails, and which should
become a substitute for wooden cross ties.

The cost of buying ties is not the greatest expense. Transportation often
becomes a very great factor in estimates. And when to the ordinary transpor-
tation there is added freight to and from a treating plant, it adds materially to
the total cost.

The constant tearing up of the roadbed, removal of the decayed or worn
ties and their replacement with new ties is the great cost of track mainte-
nance of all railways.

When ties can be placed in position and remain thirty-five years as it
may be when catalpa is used, the cost of repairs will not be ten per cent of
the present expenditure. This question is therefore of moment to stockhold-
ers and financiers who supply the cash with which to pay these bills, to know
that these expenses can be greatly reduced.

Steel and iron in innumerable forms have been tried; ties of vitrified clay,
wire combinations; glass, concrete alone and in combination with metal have
been devised; solid stone and many other substances have been experimented
with and patents for improved cross ties form a large collection in Wash-
ington.

Even before the general public began to realize that timber might be-
come a scarce article in America, at an early period, engineers and thought-
ful men were anticipating such scarcity and pondering as to what could take
the place of wood. But so far there has been no substitute discovered which
is sufficiently economical, adaptable, and so satisfactory as wooden ties.

A certain degree of elasticity is essential, where the jars of a heavy rail-
way train, with the terrible forces which are exerted in side thrusts, espe-
cially on short curves, for no matter how solid it is thought best to make the
road bed, there must yet be an elastic cushion beneath the rails, and no sub-
stance is so well adapted to receive and overcome these continuous blows as
wood.

One of the latest designs for ties is a reversed T rail imbedded in cement
concrete, the rails being bolted to the metal flange of the tie.

A few such ties have been used, being placed between regular oak sleep-
ers in the track, and have apparently stood this test, but it is probable if such
concrete ties were continuous, and required to support the entire traffic, un-
aided by intermediate ties of wood, that they would soon disintegrate under
the vibration and jarring of heavy trains.

In a foundry it is the practice when breaking up heavy castings for the
purpose of remelting, to let a heavy iron weight fall from an elevation upon
the metal to be broken.

The force thus employed to reduce solid masses of metal is very slight
as compared with that exerted by heavy freight trains moving around reversed
curves. Often there are two powerful engines pulling in one direction, the
292 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

rear of the long train is acting with great force in a contrary course while in-
termediate portions of the train jump from side to side with an incalculable
momentum. It is not difficult to account for spreading of rails, broken rails
and strained track which is not discovered until some fast express train finds
the break and rolls into the ditch.

If beneath the castings at the foundry there is a solid foundation the re-
peated blows soon fracture the metal. But if there be an elastic cushion
beneath, it may be pounded a year before it will yield.

The old experiment of an athlete supporting an anvil on his chest while
a comrade rains heavy blows upon the iron, is but another illustration of this
subject. Bolt a hundred pound steel rail to an inflexible metal or concrete tie
and something must give way under the irequent passage of heavy traffic.
Bolts must give way as they do in frog crossings and constant repairs become
necessary.

The driving of a railway spike into a wooden tie pushes aside the fibers
of the wood and forms an elastic cushion for each spike, while the wood
itself forms an elastic foundation over which the traffic is borne in safety.

Hard woods, as in some of the tropic growths
where ties must be bored before spikes may be
driven, are very much less flexible and are inelastic
for want of this cushion.

The slow process of removing bolts and replac-
ing them, in case of accident or in change of track

to the use of bolts as fastenings for cross ties.

Iron and steel are rapidly corroded by oxidation
when in the presence of moist earth, and while paint
or an asphaltum coating may protect for a while,
vet these substances are destroved by moisture and
the acids ever present in soils, leaving the metal un-
protected. The increasing use of electricity on rail-
ways, even the quantity generated by engines for
lighting. hastens this process of corrosion since
there 1
earth through rails and ties. Ifthe latter be of metal,
both bolts and metal ties must be rapidly weakened

s a direct current between the trains and

 

by this rusting process, yet hidden from view it
may be after some serious accident that the discovery is made.

On some European railways steel ties are in use, but conditions in Europe
and America are very different. Scarcity of wood and high price of ties on
account of transportation for great distances make it specially desirable that
some substitute be adopted. Lower wages for labor encourage a greater use
of metal. Straight tracks within minimum grade, more substantially con-
structed roadbeds, shorter lines of roadway, dense population and lighter
trafhc, with greater care in all operating departments, combine to discourage
the use of wooden ties which must largely be brought from America, where
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 293

the demand is already greater than the supply, and make possible in Europe
the use of metals which on American lines will long remain impracticable.
Dense population, greater support per mile of roads operated, low rates of
interest, and financiers who are satisfied with smaller dividends, place Euro-
pean roads on a different footing from those of the United States. Yet it has
not been decided in Europe that metal ties are profitable, nor how durable
and economical they may be as compared with ties of suitable wood.

One railway in Mexico has part of its tracks tied with steel. Many of
these ties are cracking, while the fastenings are easily disarranged, being
secured with keys driven into raised projections which are punched through
the sheet of steel and bent upward to receive the rail flanges.

The trains have a rigid motion, less pleasant to the traveler than those
of other roads which have elastic wooden ties.

The life of wooden ties has been gradually shortened in the past two de-
cades because of the inferior wood used in their construction.

Formerly none but the best heartwood of the trunks of large white oak
trees would be accepted. As timber became more valuable for lumbering, the
tops, small immature trees, and knotty portions were accepted by the inspec-
tors while competition became great among purchasers of various railways.

Rock oak and various forms of the red and black oak families under
sundry names, were received in certain proportions, and many roads were
glad to secure chestnut, pine, redwood and many other kinds of timber grow-
ing in the vicinity of the lines.

From nine years’ duration as the best heart white oak, the average has
fallen to four or five years.

This has led to the more extended use of treating plants, the inferior
woods thus being made available through antiseptic solution.

The redwood of California is rapidly worn by the grinding motion of the
rails acting upon sand which finds its way between the tie and rail. The use
of tie plates but partly overcomes this rapid wear.

Beech, which is totally worthless when placed in contact with moist soil,
is trebled in durability by the ordinary zine chloride treatment.

Red oak, good for only four vears, may be extended to twelve by chem-
ical treatment. White pine and other woods may be made to last from ten to
fifteen vears if the treatment is thorough.

In Europe the creosote used in preservation of timber is a product of
wood distillation.

The great expense of this material has led to the use of coal tar products,
under the name of creosote, but it is much inferior. Both processes are too
expensive to justify their use in treating cross ties and a resort is had to a
by-product of the smelters, zine chloride.

Glue and other substances are used by the various preserving plants to
fix the zine in the pores of the wood, but in time it is liable to be redissolved
and washed out, leaving the wood subject to attack by the fungus which

causes decay.
204 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

One variety of wood, a native of the United States, is in itself proof
against decay. In the fiber of the wood there is stored away those antiseptic
substances which makes it practically immune to the attacks of rot fungus.

This is Catalpa speciosa, many articles of which have lasted through more
than a century.

The earliest railways of southern Indiana, southern Illinois and south-
east Missouri, were constructed through or near the catalpa slashes or
swamps and whenever possible to secure this wood, which even through the
sixteenth century had gained a reputation for extreme durability, tt was used
for telegraph poles, bridge timbers and cross ties or sleepers.

Engineers of that period were profuse in their admiration and praise of
the catalpa as a most enduring wood and well suited to those uses, but
through the changes of officials which have taken place, the identity and
location of most of those ties has been lost, yet enough remains to convince
reasonable men of the high character of catalpa for durability and adaptability
for ties and poles.

The great abundance of white oak in the middle states up to a recent
period and the low price of ties, has prevented a careful study of this subject
except with a few earnest men.

Mr. Barney, the senior, the veteran car builder of Dayton, Ohio, men-
tioned several ties and timbers which had been in use for very long periods,
while Dr. John A. Warder, Mr. Robert Douglas and others, a quarter of a
century ago, offered abundant evidence in this regard, all being enthusiastic
in praise of the catalpa for railways.

There is no reasonable doubt that cross ties made of sound, seasoned
catalpa wood will last thirty-five years, or five times as long as oak, seven
times as long as red wood or pine.

EVIDENCES OF THE DURABILITY OF CATALPA.

The author has contended for many years that if a railway were using
cross ties they would require to be renewed but twice in a century, that is,
that the durability of these ties would be thirty-five years.

There has been an abundance of evidence of the lasting qualities of this
wood, given by engineers and railway officials during the past century, but
the proof now discovered and made public in this publication is of most
positive character and is indisputable.

When trees may be grown in so short a time as sixteen years, which will
last in the track as cross ties twice the length of time required for the trees
to grow, it is worthy the attention of all railway officials and is of especial
interest to stockholders who furnish the money for expenses.

In 1872, the old Air Line Railway began laying tracks through Edwards
County, Illinois. In the construction of this road large numbers of catalpa
cross ties were used, the timber secured in the swamps adjoining. Some old
citizens of the locality informed me several months since that some of the
ties still remained in the track and that they could find them.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 295

Through the courtesy of Mr. H. B. Spencer, general manager Southern
Railway, I was permitted to make a search for these ties and remove
such as were desired. On September 17, 1903, 1 made a search and between
Albion and Brown's found several of the original catalpa ties, which were
sound and in good preservation after thirty-one years’ continuous service.

Thirty-one years ago thirty pound rails and four inch spikes were in use
and ties of present thickness were not required. These ties were therefore but
five inches thick. In modern reconstruction with ninety pound rails and six
inch spikes these sleepers are not thick enough, the long spikes passing
entirely through the wood. For this reason most of the catalpa ties have
been removed.

Many citizens who saw the track laid thirty-one years ago remember
these ties and have observed them from time to time. The evidence is com-
plete as to their time of service. During this thirty-one years five sets of
white oak ties have been decayed and removed, yet the catalpa is sound
to-day.

A white oak tie lasts one-tenth as long as the time required to grow it,
while these catalpa ties grow in sixteen years and last twice the length of
time required to grow.

The telegraph lines of this Air Line Railway were largely of catalpa,
several hundred of which still remain in use after thirty-one years of service.
Some of them were removed and placed on exhibition with the cross ties. They
are but slightly decayed just at surface of the ground. The poles are of but
six inches thickness and twenty feet length and the probable age of trees ten
years.

A fence post secured in the same location has a verified existence of sixty-
five years, while another has been in use eighty years.
296 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

WHAT TREES SHALL WE GROW?

Americans of the present generation will not plant acorns which require
a century or more to mature, and while red oak may grow in somewhat less
time, there will be no oak forests of large area planted during the first half
of the twentieth century.

Beech will be grown in a few botanical gardens and private grounds, as
an ornament, but not one acre of beech will be planted as a forest. Hickory
should be grown, but it is scarcely probable that it will be looked upon as a
desirable investment during the fifty years before us. The same may be said
of ash. There is not a sufficient interest in forestry to impel land owners to
plant slow-growing trees and wait for the timber to produce an income.

The yellow pine of the South is not being preserved, nor will it we planted,
while few timber owners are taking any steps to perpetuate this tree. Some
white pine is being planted in New York, New England, and a little in Michi-
gan. It should be extensively grown, but probably will not be during the
next five decades.

Red wood of California, fir of Oregon, yellow pine (p. ponderosa) of the
West, are being worked up rapidly by the lumbermen, but who will extend
these forests?

Black walnut so abundant in former years, is now practically out of the
market.

Now what is to take the place of these fast disappearing wood lands? It
is replied by some that the metals, brick, stone and concrete will be more
largely used, and wood will not be required. What folly! A thousand articles
may be mentioned for which nothing can furnish a substitute equal to wood.

The answer can only be that immense forests must be planted of some
rapidly maturing timber, trees which will be the most useful to man.

There is not a week passes but that some expert forester, usually with two
or more letters appended to his name, writes a lengthy article for some newspaper
or talks to some audience in opposition to the catalpa tree.

Very often these letters or talks are in the guise of a civil engineer whose
knowledge of this tree and the characteristics of its wood are obtained from
his observation of another tree as distinct from the Catalpa speciosa as from
an oak tree, but they all have the effect of retarding the work of forest
planting.

What tree, pray, do these authorities wish the American public to plant?
Certainly not the oak, which requires two or three generations to become
merchantable.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 297

It cannot be the beech, which decays in three years but requires fifty
times that period for its production.

Is it the cypress, whose wood is so much in demand for its longevity?
This cannot be for six hundred years are required to grow a tree four feet in
diameter.

The cedar of the north valued for making most ideal telegraph poles.
This may be the tree? But no, count the rings which mark the annual increase
on any telegraph pole, and you will be tired of counting before you have
finished.

Is it the red cedar? The same argument is offered against planting
this tree, that so long a period must elapse before any benefit can be received
by the planter.

What tree then can be grown from which there may be a harvest within
the lifetime of the planter? Of course the tree must be of economic value.
It must be suited for lumber manufactures, house construction, cabinet wood,
or for paper, or perhaps for cross ties and telegraph poles.

There are very many trees which are valuable for ornament, for shade,
for street, lawn and park planting, trees variegated in foliage, beautiful in
flower, majestic in stature, and possessing every known quality for these
purposes, but what we are seeking is a tree of economic value in manufactures
or in commerce. What tree will fill the bill?

Possibly the cottonwood or some form of the poplar family. Here we
have rapidity of growth, but lack durability of wood. <A tree of large dimen-
sions, but unsuited for most uses as lumber. Yet one valuable quality it has,
the rapid production of pulp and paper. If we want that one quality, we can
and should plant cottonwood, especially where sufficient moisture is available.

What of the pines? The yellow pines of the South and ponderosa of the
West should be protected where they are growing naturally and where they
have made some progress.

This is very important to protect and perpetuate these natural growths,
but if we are to plant trees with a view to having a return bearing even a
small interest on the investment, no one would think of planting any of
these trees, the period of whose growth is beyond a century.

There are many places in the semi-arid regions, however, where from
want of summer rains deciduous trees will not grow without irrigation. In
such locations the bull pine and other native coniferous trees should be
extensively planted.

The white pine presents another feature. This is a tree of rapid growth,
succeeds in the far North, as well as in the middle states, grows upon rough
land, among rocks, or in level sand tracts. In fact, is almost universal in its
habits. Much may be said of white pine, and is mentioned at greater length
elsewhere. It is a most valuable wood for many uses, but it is unsuited
for ties or telegraph poles. It has no beauty of grain and is thus not fitted
for cabinet purposes.

And so we might enumerate the eucalyptus, useful in tropic regions;
the chestnut, valuable for ties, poles, rough lumber, fence posts and fuel;
298 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

as well as the entire list of forest trees, but none, so far, offer sufficient
inducement for capitalists to think of investing money in planting.

What then shall it be?

There are but few trees under consideration for planting in forest on
extensive scale, with a view to producing a revenue for the planters during
their life time. The one tree proposed by the opponents of Catalpa speciosa
is the black or yellow locust.

So far as fence posts are concerned this is one of the best trees for their
production.

Tor rough rocky mountains, broken lands not suited for cultivation, this
is an ideal tree. Every farmer in America who has such broken land should
hasten to plant millions of locusts, all will be needed, and bring good prices
for all time to come. It is a good investment—better than much of the till-
able land in mountainous and hill regions. There is much to favor the locust
for money making. It occupies otherwise unproductive land and helps to
pay taxes and interest on parts of the farm which would without the locust
be unremunerative.

There are many minor articles of commercial value which may be made
from locust. It grows quickly and never requires to be replanted. Once
a locust grove always a grove.

While it will not make lumber, it does suit well for country lines of
telephone poles. If it is not suited for cross ties, it will fence the railway
track. It will pay well as a farmers’ proposition, but not as an investment
for vast capital over millions of acres of Southern lands and middle states locations
for the production of lumber for domestic use and for export.

We must look elsewhere for an answer to our inquiry.

What possible reply can we have but that Catalpa speciosa fills all the
requirements of a commercial timber tree? The reasons are apparent to those
who are not so thoroughly prejudiced that arguments have no weight.

Black walnut, yellow poplar (tulip tree), cottonwood for pulp and paper,
black locust on rocky lands, for posts, honey locust and catalpa speciosa,
almost exhaust the list of available trees suitable for profitable investment.
In sandy lands chestnut may be grown to advantage and with a good profit.

All of these trees are of rapid growth, all are valuable in their special
lines, and as a moneyed investment will pay a fair rate of interest.

When the farmers learn the value of a woodlot and plant a small portion
of their lands in such quickly maturing trees, and large land owners make
extensive plantings, the individual owners will be profited and the nation will
be the better for timber thus produced,
 

 

 

 

ON’S MOUNTAINS

EG

OF ORE

ONE
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 301

TIMBERMAN’S PROBLEMS.

The ownership of a tract of timber land carries with it many questions besides
the one usually attributed; viz., to clear away the trees, convert them into lumber,
and that into cash in the briefest possible time.

There are many owners of timber lands who must have the money which
the property represents, and on which they are paying interest. And these men
will place their lumber upon the market as quickly as possible, without regard to
future results. But the capitalist who has purchased forest property for the
purpose of an investment, and who wishes to realize the greatest interest upon
the capital involved for a long period of time finds other problems to wrestle with;
and these are of greater importance than the one first named.

The long-headed financier asks himself, “In what manner can I increase my
capital more rapidly if I withdraw it from its present employment?”

That is, if the timber is converted into money, to what service can this cash be
placed so that it will bring greater return in young, growing timber?

Speculation has a fascination for men, and occasionally one gains by some
lucky stroke, just as the lottery brings an occasional prize while the vast majority
of tickets are blanks.

There is no investment which is so sure of producing a regular and legitimate
income as that of well-situated lands. Yet, when to this is added the increment
of growing timber trees of proper kind, one need not look for a more profitable
or safe means of employing one’s capital. How to realize a safe income and yet
not kill the golden-egged goose is an important consideration, and this we purpose
discussing.

There are elements of uncertainty in every human calculation. Fire may
destroy the entire body of inflammable timber and the land may be left with
greatly depreciated valuation; hence, every effort should be made to protect
the property from such disaster. This is a duty of the State and National govern-
ment in return for taxes demanded of the owner, as much so as that a fire
department should be maintained in a city.

It is an act of dishonesty for any community to “hold up” the owner of a
forest tract for heavy taxes each year and render no equivalent in the protection
of such property. Laws should be enacted and officers instructed to enforce such
laws as will adequately protect timber from malicious and careless trespassers
who leave camp fires burning which the wind may fan into a great conflagration.
Severe penalties should be provided by law for causing fires, and carelessness
under the guise of accident should be no excuse.
302 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

NO SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION IN A FOREST.

A woolen mill, with oil-saturated rags, may at times cause spontaneous
combustion, but there never was an instance of such in a forest. The burning end
of a match, cigar or cigarette often causes destructive fires. Fire guards properly
arranged will check the advance of a fire, but they must be closely watched
during the summer and autumn, as dry leaves accumulate, and an ample space
be kept clear of inflammable debris.

The usual method of lumbering is first to cut and remove all good trees of
sufficient size to make boards. Trees of inferior size are next made into ties, the
remainder being cut into cord wood.

In proximity to pulp mills, suitable trees are converted into paper. To
facilitate logging operations, teamsters and loggers are permitted to cut away
much if not all young growth. In this manner the entire forest is quickly
destroyed.

If this should be rich agricultural land it may bring a good price after the
timber has been sold; otherwise it may be without material value. Now, this
property having been converted into cash, some other investment must be sought
in order that the money may continue its earning capacity.

The land has ceased to produce an income. Has it paid the owner for his
time, trouble and use of the capital?

Rather would it not have been better if only a portion of the timber were
removed, leaving the younger trees for a future cutting? If the crop be a large
one, a twenty years’ rotation would make it a source of perpetual productiveness.
There are many tracts of forest land which were cut over twenty years ago, and
which are now ready for a second or even third harvest.

Under proper conditions trees continue to grow, adding to their bulk each
year, until they are ripe or have become mature. Then they decrease in value
annually until they have ceased to exist and become a part of the soil from which
they are produced.

To cut a tree in its prime, while in healthy, growing condition, is waste, and
to destroy younger trees which have required from ten to a score of years to
develop thus far is a useless sacrifice.

On the other hand, to permit trees to pass their day of greatest usefulness
and enter upon a decline is equally unwise. Just when to cut trees requires
judgment and careful observation.

Often one mature tree, if left, will prevent the development of many small
growths near by. Thrifty trees of greater value should always be preserved,
removing those of lesser worth where they interfere with the development of more
valuable young timber.

A proper stand of trees on the ground should be maintained. When too
thickly growing, all are stunted, as they can not maintain a vigorous enistence.
On the other hand, land unoccupied is a source of loss which must detract from
the value of the whole. Therefore every space should be growing some tree: if
they do not exist naturally or have been cut away, other trees should be planted
in these vacancies.

It has been the constant practice of many farmers who own wood lots of
 

 

 

 

 

TIDE (LAND: SPRUCE, PEGIET SOUND
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 305

mixed varieties of timber to cut the choicest for home use or to sell, as these
produced the most money at the time. And thus we find, in many localities, only
the trees of least value are left. This gives rise to the opinion that timber lands are
unprofitable. A mixed forest, while a beautiful object, is not so sure a money
maker as where most of the trees are of one variety.

In the Middle States the forests were of oak, basswood, sycamore, hickory,
ash, sugar maple, hackberry, walnut, yellow poplar, beech, elm etc., with paw paw,
haw, willow, and various shrub growths filling in the gaps. In this way all these
trees are of value, but the lumberman will pay cash for the oak and walnut, a
lower price for others and totally refuse the great majority of trees. If all were
yellow poplar or oak, ash or walnut the demand would be far greater and prices
obtained more remunerative. These artificial plantations are more profitable when
all are of one kind of timber. Every worthless tree or those of little value occupy
space which should be producing more important timber.

TAXATION OF FORESTS.

The various State governments are largely responsible for the loss of the
forests, the value of which, for climatic effect, and for future manufacturing
industries, is yet too little understood.

The assessment of forest property, where it is held especially for this purpose,
should be upon a very low basis. It is unjust to the people who will come after
us, and who must build upon the foundation which this generation is erecting,
that the forests are being sacrificed; and to a large extent this is a result of
excessive taxation upon forest lands without affording adequate protection to this
class of property.

The Indiana law, which provides that forests shall be assessed for taxation at
a specific and low valuation, is the true method of taxing timber lands.

REPLANTING FOREST LANDS.

The sandy lands of Florida were but recently covered with a fine body of
yellow pine. The practice of the early settlers of burning of the annual vegetation
in order to have fresh grass for stock, totally destroved all young growths; hence
new pine forests can not exist. The boxing for turpentine has not been conducive
to forest perpetuation, as the trees are being slowly killed by the process.

The average crops, alwavs certain so long as surrounding forests kept off
excessive frosts, and the early market gardens protected by the woodlands have
been gradually becoming more precarious as the lands become denuded.

These should be restored wherever the lands are not needed for cultivation.
Such lands, if seeded, naturally or planted, will produce pine timber; although
possibly some other trees will be more quickly profitable.

The Michigan pine barren, after removal of the timber. have very little
worth. There is ample moisture in Northern Michigan to insure good tree
growth, and there are other varieties of timber which will succeed on these lands.

Now that wood pulp is in such demand, extensive tracts of poplars should
be planted. If the common cottonwood will not succeed there are many other
306 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

forms of the populus family which may be grown profitably. The Abele is of
quick growth, easily propagated, requires little attention while growing, and
makes good paper.

The poor, sandy soils would be greatly enriched, and possibly be made of
great value for cultivation in crops by a twenty-year service in growing Abele or
other poplars, providing fires were kept out.

Lombardy poplar, Canada balsam, or Balm of Gilead all have fibre suitable
for wood pulp. As these are all grown from cuttings, the expense of planting
need not be great.

PINE SUCCEEDED BY NUT TREES AND HARD WOODS.

We are frequently asked why these succeed pines and coniferous trees when
the latter have been lumbered; some have asked if this is nature’s method of
rotation.

When pines are removed, there is no seed left to reproduce these forests,
while small animals, birds, the wind and flowing water at times bring
acorns, nuts, fruit of berry trees and light-winged seeds from long distances,
and old, decaying stumps make excellent perches and nestingg-places for these
great tree planters of nature. If frequent seed trees were left when clearing
timber nature would reproduce the forest. This should always be done.

PROFITS IN PAPER.

Trees suitable for wood pulp need not be so large as for lumber, and a dozen
years will produce good returns in the quick-growing soft woods. Yel-
low poplar, which is not a poplar, but liriodendron, willows, and similar soft
woods are suitable for pulp, many of them may be grown from cuttings. All will
grow on sandy land if moisture is present, although of course they make more
progress in rich land.

Essentially Northern localities are preferable for pulp. With land at low
prices, taxation moderate and labor obtainable at fair rates, money will be well
invested in growing paper stock.

The Carolina poplar, or cottonwood, Aspen and Abele will grow in ten or
twelve years, and may be planted 7x7 feet, or 900 trees per acre.

Black walnut grows rapidly in moderately rich soil. The nuts should be
planted in autumn or kept moist until early spring, and planted where the trees
are to remain. They may be used to fill in gaps in the wood land, or with svstem
placed in solid forest. Unless grass is abundant no cultivation will be needed in
forest, but young groves should be thoroughly cultivated for several years.

In the South the pecan is destined to become and remain a profitable nut
tree, and will always be in demand as timber. Where carriage spokes are to
come from in the future is hard to tell. Pecan and other forms of hickory
are becoming very scarce. Here, too, the nuts should be planted where thev are
to remain, at least not attempting to transplant nut trees after the first vear.

The chestnut is indigenous to New England, Pennsylvania, New York and
the mountains of West Virginia and Tennessee. Here this tree should be exten-
sively grown to replace the forests now so rapidly disappearing.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 307

The chestnut grows from the stump after the tree is cut, reproducing itself
perpetually. It is of rapid growth, and useful for lumber, cross-ties, posts, etc.
The young sprouts are used for barrel hoops, where abundant. It might be
profitable to plant for this purpose.

LUMBERING.

Most of the lumbermen of to-day, as well as of the past, only see the present
timber value in the standing forests. They do not consider the importance of
anew forest to take the place of the one which the unscen power always at work
has provided for them. The carelessness in many instances is simply appalling.
This negligence causes fire to overrun the cut over land, totally destroying what
seed and young seedlings may have been left. Conservative lumbering is a sub-
ject every owner of timber land ought to familiarize himself with.

PROFIT IN PINE TREES.

John Murphy, a farmer of Fayette county, Indiana, is now 68 vears of age.
When he was 18 years old he planted a number of evergreens on the farm which
has always been his home. Arbor vita, fir and pine were planted, all of which
died except the white pine, an ornament and a shade, when Mr. Murphy cut the
tree and had it sawed into lumber.

Only one twelve-foot log was sawed from the broken tree, which was 24
inches in diameter at top. It made 300 feet of lumber.

Mr. Murphy is the owner of 227 acres, part of which is yet in woodlands ;
ash, oak, ete., which he does not consider of great profit on account of the inferior
character of the wood. Now suppose, that when this pine was planted one
hundred acres of his farm had been used for the same purpose, the trees set 20x20
feet, or 100 trees per acre. He would now have for sale three million feet of white
pine lumber, which at Sto per 1,000 feet, net—a low price truly, but safe for an
estimate—that portion of his farm would now be worth $30,000.

Mr. John Murphy can not turn the wheels of time backwards and begin life
anew by planting his farm in white pine. Yet there are a milliou farmers in the
United States who can and should begin now to plant pine, walnut, catalpa and
other trees with which to supply the future manufacturers and commerce with
lumber, and incidentally to provide an ample income for their old age.
308 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

THE WASTE OF THE LOGGERS.

The farmers of Oregon, together with a large number of prominent citizens,
oppose the forest-fire bill, mentioned elsewhere, very largely from their dislike of
the timber owners and their methods.

It is a well-known fact that for a score or more years the timber land has been
accumulating in the hands of a comparatively few wealthy operators, until the vast
tracts of forest in the Northwest have come into their possession. While some
of the present owners have come honestly into these possessions, yet in very many
cases there have been grossly fraudulent methods employed to secure the valuable
timber from the government.

High officials have connived at these transactions, and are believed to have
profited by them. These various facts are current topics among the public and
by legislators, many of whom say they would rather see the entire forest burned
over than that the present svstem of lumbering should continue.

Others affirm that the sooner the timber is destroved by fire, the more speedily
will the land come into cultivation and sustain a denser population.

It is evident that a breach exists between the rural population and the lum-
bering interests, and that it is of broad proportions.

Strangers visiting the Pacific Coast see the terrible waste which is practiced
in the lumber camps, the fires which are never quenched at every sawmill, and
along the various routes of travel where fire is used to destroy vast quantities of
timber, in the first instance to facilitate logging operations, in the second case to
burn slabs and timbers of lesser value, and the latter instance to clear the land
for crops which will never equal in value the trees destroved, and with one accord
all condemn the pernicious practice.

These adverse interests combine to prevent the perpetuation of Oregon’s
forests, and unless 4 more patriotic sentiment can be aroused, the future of Ore-
gon will be a dark one.

The sawmills, logging companies and timber land owners are fast cutting
their own throats. Lumber is sold at a ridiculously low price, so great is the
competition. Fear of losing the timber by forest fires becomes the incentive to
force the product upon the markets as rapidly as possible. Export lumber brings
from $8.00 to $9.00 for carload and cargo shipments. Lumbermen publicly assert
that logging and milling costs $7.00 per thousand, which is approximately correct.
They claim that this is an income to the State because it is expended for labor. In
one sense this is true.

Besides there are many expenses for office work, taxes, interest, commissions
 

 

 

 

TON

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OF WASHIN(

STATE

PEET WASTE

T1759

FIR,

STUMP,

A HIGH CUT
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 311

on sales, all of which must be deducted from the small margin of one dollar per
thousand feet, the difference between the selling price of lumber and cost of manu-
facture.

San Francisco, Columbia River points, and Puget Sound operators are
striving to undersell each other, and every mill in the various localities is in strong
competition. This is all wrong. The output should be greatly reduced and a
severe economy im clearing and manufacturing the product be adopted, with a
view to the perpetuation of the lumbering industries.

The government authorities, whose estimates are surprisingly inaccurate and
overdrawn as to the amount of standing timber, only allow fifty years for the
Pacific forests to become exhausted. If we recognize this to be correct, the State
and nation will be the great losers, and should take legal steps to prevent further

vandalism, and compel a reasonable method of lumbering as well as to check the
annual burnings.

LUMBERING ON THE PACIFIC COAST.

We present three pictures which vividly represent the grossly wasteful
methods of Pacific Coast lumbermen. In one view is a giant tree which
is being felled by the usual mode, the choppers standing upon spring boards,
which are fitted into notches cut with the axe into the tree several feet above the
ground. The waste in these stumps is enormous where the trees are of such giant
size as those of Puget Sound, the Columbia, and in California. In the tree shown
in our illustration there are 7,775 feet b. m., which is a total loss. As this practice
is universal in Oregon and Washington, it 1s seen that a serious loss is incurred
upon every section of land.

Since the loggers are paid by the day, they will chop where it is easiest cut-
ting, and as the mills receive their remuneration by lumber measure, they bear
no loss. The owner of the land does not complain, because there is so large a
quantity of timber on the ground and it has cost him so small a sum.

In Pennsylvania and other locations it was a former practice to cut trees in
winter, when snow was several feet deep, thus leaving high stumps. They are
now using this stumpage, sawing it close to the ground, although several years
have elapsed since the trees were removed.

Cordwood for fuel in Seattle is six dollars per cord, while but fifteen miles
away is a mill where for almost half a century there has been enough wood burned
in the fire that is never quenched to supply a large city with fuel.

Another view is of a fallen forest. The trees have all been felled, the young
undergrowths entirely destroyed, and after the choicest logs have been removed,
the remainder will be burned to clear the land.

This terrific waste, added to the forest fires which prevail every summer, will
very soon make barren this once wonderful wealth of forest.

Lumbermen fear these forest fires, and anticipate serious losses at any time
when some miscreant may apply the torch, hence all are using their utmost
exertions to market the timber as quickly as possible, without regard to economy

of the product.
 

THE WASTE OF THE LOGGERS—AN

OREGON

 

SCENE

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PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

wn
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A REPETITION OF HISTORY.

But three centuries ago all of New England, the great Middle States, the
northern lake region, the Atlantic and Gulf States, in short, every portion of the
United States east and south of the prairies, were as densely covered with prim-
eval forests as is the Coast Range of the Pacife at present

In the Rocky Mountains were magnificent forests, while the Pacific Coast
contained vastly more than it has to-day.

Almost the entire forest region east of the Continental Divide has dis-
appeared. That of the Southern States is going rapidly, and can not last beyond
two deecailes, or to the close of this century's first quarter.

Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, formerly covered with immense oak, walnut
poplar and other timber trees, might now well be called prairie States.

New England's abandoned farms, where once the white pine abode, were
cleared for farming, which, becomimg unprofitable, have been abandoned, to grow
up in brush and trees of slight value, bringing no adequate returns to the common-
wealth and are of little profit to their owners.

The great manufactories of wood in New [England were forced to remove to
Indiana and other timbered States half a century ago.

Thirty vears ago it was affirmed, without contradiction, that the hardwood
forests of Indiana could never be exhausted. Manufacturers of wagons, carriages,
furniture, building lumber, and innumerable sawmills sprang into existence
throughout the State. To-day the few factories which remain procure their wood
from other States far distant. There are no forests in Indiana to-day.

Thirty vears ago the white pine covered Michigan and Wisconsin so densely
that is was considered inexhaustible. To-day it is gone, and but a very moderate
quantity of hard wood remains. Sawmills of great capacity were busy night
and day. The timber could not be removed with sufficient rapiditv. Millionaires
were made in this speedy destruction of Michigan forests; but what are anv of
them doing to aid the timber-impoverished State in a restoration of her wasted
forests? Can a millionaire of Michigan reply ?

The mills have gone, their owners seeking other forests to conquer in the
South and the West.

Grand Rapids manufactories now transport their lumber for a thousand
miles from the small forest areas remaining in the South.

The Southern States have been more backward in clearing away their timber
simply because the means of transportation has been insufficient to facilitate its

more rapid removal.
316 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Many million acres of forest land in the North and in the South, after being
cleared, have been found to be unfit for agriculture, and much has been turned
over to the States, the owners refusing to pay taxes upon the barren land.

What will the States do with these large tracts, which have been deprived
of their valuable timber and left as a legacy to the public?

An enormous acreage of cut-over lands are now held at from fifty cents to
two dollars per acre throughout the South, producing no considerable revenue for
any person. Has the State any remedy, any rights, against the wasteful and
extravagant methods of lumbering? Assuredly it has, if it will but assert them.

THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES

have become so reduced that they can last but a few decades at most. Those of
the South will be gone by 1925, and of the Pacific before 1950. The seaports of
the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico are exporting rapidly to South Africa
and to many European marts, besides supplying ties and timbers for a large por-
tion of this country in which the wood has become exhausted.

There are no forests being propagated throughout the South. Annual fires,
a vicious practice to give fresh grazing for a few animals, keeps the young pine
from growing, while baby saplings are having their life-blood drawn for the
turpentine stills.

With the general indifference of the public, there is no hope for a future tim-
ber growth of value. Where trees remain thev are of inferior quality, and under-
growths, where they exist, are of little prospective importance.

New England has not enough timber for her own factories; eight-inch trees
are being sawed into box lumber.

The Middle States are dependent upon the South, having no timber left. The
prairies remain treeless except as a few groves are being planted, insufficient to be
seriously considered.

Four States may furnish lumber for a little while, Oregon, Washington,
Northern California and Idaho.

With the calls for timber from Asia, Africa, much of Europe and all of the
United States, what prospect is there for a permanent contribution to all these
fields without a greater effort to protect the young growths and to economize in
that of mature age?

CALIFORNIA TULE LANDS FOR CATALPA SPECIOSA.

In the vallev of California, where the Sacramento, San Joaquin and other
rivers approach the bay, and meet tide water, are quite extensive swamps, formed
from Tule growths. For half a century these have been the subject of specula-
tion. When protected by dykes or levies these become wonderfully productive,
being a mass of decomposing vegetation. Many attempts have been made, and
some successfully, to reclaim these lands, but it is quite expensive and when ex-
treme high tides, together with continuous heavy rains, they become flooded, and
crops are destroved. These swamp lands would be admirable location for grow-
ing Catalpa speciosa.
 

 

 

 

 

BUILDING CANOES ON THE AFRICAN COAST. CATALPA TREES ARE BEING PLANTED HERE
PRACTICAL ARBORICGCULTURE 319

When once the trees become established and have secured a season's growth,
the overflowing would not be detrimental. The growth would be extremely rank,
almost continuous, and timber formed with greater rapidity than elsewhere.

In the Catalpa slashes of the Wabash the water frequently overflows to depth
of several feet.

Thus the environments of the California swamp lands are similar to those
existing where the Catalpa is indigenous, while climatic conditions are far more
favorable.

Levees for this purpose need not be so substantial as would be required for
aunual crops, simply enough to keep back the water until the trees have grown
one season.

In ten or twelve years, under these conditions, Catalpa wil make sawing tim-
ber, telegraph poles and railway cross-ties to a greater profit than attends any an-
nual crops.

When established, a plantation becomes permanent, producing a succession
of crops every ten vears, being renewed from the stump when the trees are cut.
On the Wabash the farmers dig out the roots when they wish to destroy the trees,
so persistent are they in renewals.

Each acre of such lands as are now covered with Tules, should produce 34,-
000 feet of lumber, worth $2,000 in a dozen years, the land improving in value all
the while.

Owners of swamp lands who have hesitated at the expense of reclamation,
should carefully consider the possibilities of what may be accomplished with this
extremely valuable timber.

Wood of such character is not found upon the Pacific Coast, and will always
be in demand at remunerative prices.

A few thousand trees have been sent to Stockton by the Santa Fe Railway to
be planted in the tule lands between the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers as an
experiment, and within another year or two it will be practically determined
whether or not the Catalpa will thrive in these marshy locations. The trees were
contributed by the International Society of Arboriculture for the experiment as
has been done in many cases in other localities. Altogether almost a million Ca-
talpa speciosa trees have been thus contributed for such trials by the society.
320 PRACTICAL. ARBORICULTURE

A VISIT TO OLD MEXICO.

For two hundred miles north of El Paso, in New Mexico and Texas, and the
same distance south of the Rio Grande, in Mexico, the desert is in evidence most
of the way. Mesquite, yucca, cacti in variety, with herbs and shrubs of arid
growths, are everywhere present. Rolling hills, sloping plains, with glimpses of
distant mountains, make up the desert picture.

Southward are the tablelands, with an elevation of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet.
There are numerous valleys of remarkable fertility, producing corn, wheat, al-
falfa, sugar cane, cotton, with vegetables and fruits in profusion.

THE SKIES OF MEXICO

are something wonderful; the blue is intense, while the light scattering clouds
float slowly about the horizon, but as they come in contact with the higher moun-
tain peaks they cling to the mountains and accumulate in dense masses, until re-
lieved by a brisk precipitation amidst discharges of lightning.

AGRICULTURE.

With the richest kind of soil, kindly in its nature, easily worked, having a
fairly abundant rainiall, agricultural productions should be vastly greater than
they are.

The plow in use, which we illustrate, is responsible for the small production
of farm crops. By the use of

IMPROVED AMERICAN PLOWS.

Loosening the soil to an increased depth, pulverizing it and giving it a greater
body of mellow earth, it will absorb and retain the moisture from every rainfall,
and thus aid growing plants in obtaining nourishment. The same power exerted
by the ox teams, with good plows, would double the agricultural area of the Re-
public simply by increasing the soil depth.

ECONOMY OF WATER.

Water evaporates rapidly in summer weather and under the present system
of plowing and cultivating there is litthe absorbed by the shallow soil. Frequent
cultivation with a harrow or fine toothed cultivator, which keeps the surface pul-
verized, will break up the capillary attraction and thus check evaporation
 

 

 

 

VOLCANO COLIM.A, FROM TUNDPAN
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 323

Manufacturers of farm implements will do well to study the needs of the
Mexican farmers. Oxen are the sole draft animals of the country for farm
work. The men have for many generations driven the cattle as they now do.
The ox bow is attached to the head and horns of the animals. Energy is trans-
ferred from the driver to the team through the medium of the needle-pointed
“pica,” or prod. One hand is required to handle this instrument of energy, while
with the other the plow is manipulated. Of what use, therefore, are two handles
toa plow?) An American cannot handle an improved plow with one hand. How,
then, can a Mexican?

To sell plows in the Republic of Mexico one must be devised which is suited
to the slow motion of the ox and the man. It must be balanced so that with
one hand it may easily be manipulated, and then skilled workmen, not mere sales-
men, must be sent to Mexico to teach the farmers how to use them. The man-
ufacturer who is wise enough to build an implement suited to the needs of this
people, and instruct them in its use, will lay the foundation for a profitable and
permanent business.

WRONG IMPRESSIONS OF MEXICO.

When we see the rude implements and ancient customs, it is asserted that
Mexico is far behind the civilized world. This, in some respects, is true. Yet in
the four centuries’ experience in the art of irrigation and in the laws secured for
the management of her forests Mexico is far in advance of the United States,
while in her structures of masonry we can learn much from her experience. An
exchange of ideas would be profitable for both nations. Some of our agricultural
schools could learn much from the farmer and irrigator of the Republic.

FORESTS.

Officials of the Republic who have carefully studied the subject mention that
there were forests on the tablelands and that rainfall was much greater years ago
than now. Tradition says that the Spaniards cleared away these forests, since
which the rainfall has been greatly diminished. Certain it is, there are now no
extensive forests on the great plains of Mexico.

There are the remains of great systems of reservoirs for irrigation, with aque-
ducts of brick supported upon arches, which still remain, where the water was
carried through tunnels and over valleys for long distances, but by reason of
droughts and decreased precipitation these are now of little or no use.

Forests cannot exist without water. Regular and copious rainfall cannot
prevail without a production of forests. Aridity is invariably accompanied by
scant shrub growth, or entire absence of plant life.

When it is considered that Mexico, especially the Southern portion, is narrow,
with large oceans on either side, lying in a tropical region where evaporation is
constant and extreme, the questions naturally arise: Why is there not greater
precipitation? Why are there not large trees and dense forests, which always
accompany moist tropic conditions? In his history Prescott relates that at the
time of the invasion there were large and dense forests which were not uncommon

upon the higher tablelands.
324 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Have climatic changes occurred in Mexico which destroyed the forests? And
what caused the change? Or has the destruction of these great forests caused
the change and induced aridity? If the former is correct, there can be no rem-
edy. All must be left to time and the caprice of nature to effect a change. But
if the latter be the true diagnosis, then it is within the power of man to replace
these forests and thus secure as favorable conditions as existed before the removal
of the trees.

Spain's history has been one of forest destruction, and her climatic condition
and agricultural degeneracy are the result of this indiscretion. Americans have
closely followed Spain’s footsteps, and the great forests of the United States
have been wantonly sacrificed, while the results are daily becoming more apparent
in drought and flood.

With a wiser government than either, Mexico is giving protection to her
remaining timber lands, and will, in time, overcome the evils caused by acts of
former generations.

The tropical forests of Mexico occupy the low coast lands and borders of
streams at low altitudes. The pine is upon the elevated mountain tracts, while
the great area of the Republic, the table lands, are practically bare of valuable
timber trees. It is apparent that Mexico has no timber to spare for export. Her
forest resources are none too great for home consumption. A limited quantity
of mahogany and especially tropical hard woods along the coast will be exported.
as it is not available for economic transportation to the interior.

On the low moist lands a jungle of vines, undergrowth and numerous plants
having no commercial importance for wood are growing among the valuable
timber trees which are scattered and quite difficult to remove for shipment.

The pine is not dense as a forest, and while in the aggregate there is a con-
siderable quantity it is difficult of access and generally not of the highest quality.
Pine lumber sells in the cities at from $20 to $35 per thousand feet.

The pine which is accessible is being made into lumber and fuel. By far too
large a quantity of pine is being cut into fuel, as coal is scarce and expensive on
account of long distances for transportation.

Oak is also largely used for fuel for engines. It is not of a character to be
very useful in construction. The trees are short-bodied, the grain twisting and
interlocked, is very difficult to work with ordinary tools. The variety seems to be
closely related to the English oak, Quercus Rober. While some of the trees are
of fair size, the majority is dwarf and of slight commercial value. Its location,
upon mountain slopes with slight moisture, would naturally prevent a vigorous,
healthy growth.

MESQUITE.

The most numerous of trees upon the table lands is the mesquite, which is of
extremely slow growth and seldom attains a diameter of ten inches, with a very
short trunk and low head. The wood is heavy, close-grained and durable. When
large enough it is sought for and made into cross-ties, although far more is used
for fuel, of which great quantities are taken to the railroads for shipment.
 

 

 

 

 

THE PLOWMAN
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 327

ASH.

Ash is planted in all the plazas, and frequently upon the streets, making a
handsome shade and beautiful trees. It is said to have been indigenous to Mex-
ico, but close observation has failed me in finding any ash except where planted
by man. The variety much resembles Fravinus Alba of the Northern United
States. One reason for not thinking it an indigenous tree is the habit of casting
its leaves at various seasons; one tree in full leaf, another almost bare; one tree
with seed ripe and falling, another quite immature. Since this tree has become
naturalized, as it were, and is of high value in the arts, it should be planted in
forest as a timber tree for profit.

SAUZ (WILLOW).

All along many ditches and in moist localities large numbers of willow trees
have been planted, Salix Babylonica being common. As an ornamental tree for
shade, it is well adapted, but it posseses no economic value for timber. It would
be better were the eucalyptus planted in such places, if only for fuel, cutting out
alternate trees from time to time. These trees are not killed by cutting. They
are soon reproduced from the stump.

CHARCOAL.

Owing to the slight need of fuel for heating purposes there are no stoves, fur-
naces or fireplaces in Mexican homes. In the kitchen ranges and ovens charcoal is
preferred, and in this form the fuel is brought in on burros and is on sale every-
where.

ARTIFICIAL FUEL

is imported from Wales, made from coal screenings, with asphalt or coal tar as a
binder, and compressed into uniform blocks 5x6x8 inches, with rounded edges,
one railway, the International, using this exclusively. Although handled fre-
quently, on shipboard and cars, it holds its form without much breaking. This has
a high heating power.

Nature has been very profuse in her gifts of plants to Mexico. The flora is
very extensive. Climate, soil moisture, continuous growth, all combine to favor
arboreal creations. Magnificent flowers, varied foliage, delicious odors, grand dis-
plays of tropic and semi-tropic plants, but in economic timber trees there seems
to be a serious scarcity.

ARBORICULTURE IN THE REPUBLIC.

My investigations have not been entirely satisfactory along this line, yet the
trip was not by any means fruitless.

Mexico possesses comparatively few trees of great economic value, and little
attempt is made at improvement. There is considerable pine on the higher moun-
tains, but it is scattered; there are no dense pine forests. Near the railway,
328 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

none; all has been cleared. Americans are here trying to secure concessions in
pine lands, but the Government seems to understand the case and refuses to give
away its valuable possessions.

One official informed me that the climate had changed very materially since
the clearing by the Spaniards 300 years ago. Others confirmed this opinion,
assuring me that aqueducts and irrigation works, once carrying vast quantities of
water, are now valueless, there being no continuous flow of the streams which
formerly fed them.

There is much small shrub growth on the higher land, which has an influence
to a certain extent, but its economic value is extremely small. Eucalyptus has
been planted to some extent and succeeds well, the principal variety being Globulis.
But, like the residents of California, few appreciate its vast importance.

Among the many varieties of eucalyptus there are some which will thrive on
all the hills and produce in the future an abundance of lumber and timber.

CATALPA.

Two years ago one hundred Catalpa speciosa trees were sent to Mexico City
for experiment. I have made several ineffectual attempts to find them. I did not
find a large catalpa tree in the Republic, but found quite a number of smaller
sizes in various cities, mostly bi gnonioides.

Ash, ailantus, honey locust, black locust and some other Northern trees are
growing well in Mexico, as well as tulip poplar.

Considering the various conditions existing and plant growth which I found,
I am certain that the catalpa will become a prominent and successful tree in many
portions of the Republic.

The Republic of Mexico is as vet a vast undeveloped country. In the low
east coast and. Isthmus land the heat is that of the tropics, and the productions
are also tropical, but on the great mesas of the north and elevated country about
Mexico City the temperature varies but slightly during the year, vegetation is
continuous, combining the products of the temperate with those of the semi-
tropic regions.

I saw a disc gang plow of best American manufacture drawn by two mules or
oxen, hitched at the end of the tongue, a pole sixteen feet long. Too far from
the draft, not easily controlled, and machine enough for four powerful horses.
The driver made a series of crooked lines across the field, doing no good whatever.
His ox team with native one-handled primitive plow would have done better
execution in such hands.

Proper information in regard to the use of these implements is needed. Man-
ufacturers of agricultural (and other) machinery would do well to bring a num-
ber of practical men from the States to teach the natives how to use the machinery.
There is no doubt but with improved tools and intelligent instruction there will
be great advances in all branches of business.

The same mistake is being made in Mexico as in California in using so much
pine wood for fuel. Engines burn it on the railway. It is shipped to the city
for sale and is made into charcoal universally. By doing so seed trees are
destroyed, and such as are not suitable for lumber are made into fuel. It were
 

 

 

 

 

 

CATHEDRAL, CITY OF MEXICO.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 331

better these trees should be left to grow into good lumber and perpetuate the for-
ests. There is much wood of no value except for fuel—enough, | should think—
and the pine should be saved.

FLOATING GARDENS.

While the City of Mexico is eight thousand feet higher than sea level, there
are in the vicinity several lakes and marshy tracts which require extensive
drainage operations. The Viga canal is one of these drainage systems, and upon
it are numerous barges, which transport farm and garden produce from the mar-
ket gardens to the city. Flat-bottomed boats, propelled by a pole, convey passen-
gers to the Floating Gardens.

The gardens are located upon marsh land quite similar to the tule lands of
California. The soil is composed of decayed reed and grass roots, being entirely
of vegetable mould and quite fertile. Ditches at frequent intervals drain the
gardens and furnish means of communication by canoes and small boats to the
larger canal, and thus to the city. Here are the great market gardens, where veg-
etables are grown for Mexico’s consumption. Here, too, are grown the magnifi-
cent flowers which form one of the principal attractions of Mexico City, the
flower market being a wonder in the quantity and exquisite beauty both of the
individual tropic Howers and the magnificent floral forms, which are made with
great taste and skill.

Street cars also connect the city with the villages upon the Viga canal, and
they are well patronized.

VOLCANO COLIMA.

Colima, the only active voleano in North America, was in eruption. Our
illustration shows the mountain with a stream of vapor rising in an immense
column.

I spent one day and two nights at Tuxpan, on the Mexican Central Railway,
taking many photographs of the volcano and of the country surrounding.

At night the sudden explosions were accompanied with fire, and clouds of fine
sand were scattered for great distances, but no lava was seen. The mountain
has two distinct cones, only one of which is in eruption. The other is called the
cold mountain.

The distance from my point of view was about ten miles. I ascended 1,200
feet upon a mountain near Tuxpan to procure a better view of the volcano than
could be had from the plain, but during most of the day the clouds gathered and
hung about the high peaks, 15,000 feet elevation, and seemed to be attracted
scarce moving for hours. At the same time the sky was absolutely clear in all
other directions.

The eruptions are not continuous, but intermittent, occuring several times
during the day and night.

Colima is nineteen degrees from the equator and is in view from a point
within a mile of the Mexican Central Railway station, Tuxpan.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

oo
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bo

When an explosion occurs the clouds of vapor rise to a great height, making
a very beautiful appearance.

At a distance of a few miles no danger is apprehended, yet the Indians who
occupy the villages upon the mountain slope abandoned their homes temporarily
when the volcano gave evidence of continuous eruption.

IRRIGATION.

From the time of the Conquest Mexico has practiced irrigation. The long
aqueducts of masonry, the arches of brick, to carry streams of water over broad
and deep valleys are still in good preservation, although constructed three centu-
ries ago. Dams of cut stone, with pressers or reservoirs of great extent, and dis-
tributing canals, convey water from the canyons to the fields far away.

Rude as may be the implements, and fixed in ancient habits as are the people,
yet they are adepts in the art of irrigation.

Mountains have been pierced with tunnels to bring the precious fluid from
distant valleys, for on the elevated lands agriculture is dependent upon irrigation
to extend the season of plant growth beyond the rainy period.

The dry and rainy seasons are more marked in Central Mexico than in the
Eastern United States, although in California similar periodic rains occur, and
during the rainless months water must be supplied.

There are great agricultural valleys throughout the tablelands of Mexico,
where corn, cotton, sugar cane, alfalfa and small grains are grown, while the
Maguey is one of the principal products, pulque being as much a national drink
among the poorer classes as beer is in Germany, wine in France and whisky in
the United States.

Upon the lowlands near the seacoast, where the air is more moist irrigation is
unnecessary.

There are places where, on rough, rocky hills, bare of soil, have been built
large cities. Here, in excavations in the rocks, filled with soil from a distance,
are growing fine shade trees. Walls of masonry have been erected, four or five
feet square, two feet high, about these trees, in which water is poured to irrigate
them. This also protects the trees from careless people and stray stock.

Some of the great trees, as the one which we illustrate, the cypress of Mon-
tezuma, at Chapultepec, have been religiously cared for during more than 400
years.

TEMPERATURE.

During July and August the telegraph brought reports of very high tem-
perature throughout the United States, the thermometer being reported to register
105 degrees at times. In Central Mexico, at the same time, the weather was
extremely pleasant, with but 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Towards the close of
each day a dark cloud would usually appear, and suddenly a rain of brief duration
indicated the rainy season. Frequently these rains occurred at night.

This equable temperature makes the table lands of Mexico a more pleasant
region for summer residence or travel. At no time was it unpleasantly warm,
while at night blankets were always acceptable.
 

 

 

FORTRESS OF CHAPULTEPEC, MEXICO
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 335

FORESTRY LAWS...

The forestry laws of Mexico have been constructed along French lines and
are immeasurably superior to those of the United’ States. We shall soon have a
translation of these laws and give the substance of each. Briefly, the forests
are protected by the Government, forest fires are infrequent, and, when they
occur, immediate and thorough investigation is made as to the cause, and persons
who are guilty of starting fires are severely punished.

The Government refuses to sell the forest lands, but leases the right to cut
timber under official direction. The official brand placed upon a tree must show
when timber is exported, else the wood is confiscated. The importance of the
forests is recognized in their laws.

EXPERIMENT STATION.

An agricultural experiment station is maintained at Mexico City. I visited
the buildings and grounds. The location and soil are well chosen. There are
many small trecs and shrubs, some of great beauty. The stock, mostly Holstein
cattle, was very fine.

The weeping willow seems to be a favorite about the moist lands of Mexico.
ts shade is refreshing, and as a tree it is ornamental: but why grow so many trees
which possess no valuable qualities upon land of such high value, when the
eucalyptus and catalpa will thrive under the same conditions and produce lumber
and timber of the highest value, and vet are equally ornamental for shade?

A series of experiments which would illustrate European and American meth-
ods in farming, showing various improved implements, and planting a variety
oi forest trees not common to the country, especially those of high value in
manufactures and for economic uses, would be of immense import to the Re-
public.

If to this permanent exhibit American and European manufacturers should
send specimens of their wares, with experienced men to operate them and show
their use, it would add to their sales and benefit the farmers of Mexico.

The railways would doubtless bring representative citizens from various por-
tions of the Republic, at reduced rates, if not free, for instructions and for
observations.

It would well repay the United States Government to send a number of
students from the various colleges to Mexico to learn of her people more of
irrigation, of masonry and many things in agriculture, in which Mexico so greatly
excels. There is not an architect in the United States but could gain some valu-
able |
through our neighboring Republic.

On July 18 a messenger from the National Palace brought to Porter's Hotel a
letter from President Diaz, inviting me to call upon him on Monday afternoon.
I was extremely fortunate in having the acquaintance of Dr. Foid, a gentleman
who in addition to being an expert linguist, is also a thorough master of arbor-
iculture, having been for many years director of forestry stations in France. Dr.
Foid volunteered to accompany me on my visit to the President and to act as inter-

essons in building and in planning structures by a tour of observation

preter.
 

 

 

 

MEXICAN TREE CACTUS
 

 

 

DATE PALMS, MEXICO
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 339

The President gave me a cordial welcome to the Republic of Mexico as rep-
resentative of the International Society of Arboriculture, and expressed gratifi-
cation for the visit and the interest taken in his country. I was assured that the
Government would co-operate with our Society in all efforts to advance the cause
of arboriculture.

President Diaz is well informed in regard to prevailing conditions, and vari-
ous plans were discussed for the extensive planting of trees about the borders
of lakes and moist locations throughout Mexico.

Experiments will be made at once to test the adaptibility of several species of
forest trees not indigenous to Mexico.

I was also received by Sr. Genl. Manuel Gonzales Cosio, Minister of Fomento,
with whom I had a very interesting interview. The Minister assured me of his
interest in the subject and explained at length the forestry laws of Mexico.

Unusual honors were accorded our Society by all the Government officials, as
well as by many prominent citizens of the Republic.

PYRAMIDS OF CHOLULA.

The pyramids, now consisting of three artificial earth mounds, were old when
the Spaniards first landed in Mexico. The larger pyramid erected by pre-historic
people rises to a height of more than one hundred feet, and covers probably forty
acres. It is surmounted by a church of great antiquity. Stone steps lead to the
summit by a very easy ascent. By a winding stone stairway we reach the top of
the tower and walk out upon the brick roof, where a panorama of wonderful
beauty is spread out before us. The peaks of Popocatapetl and Iztaccihuatl are
in plain view, although not now in eruption. In former times these two volcanoes
blazed before these ancient mounds, as in awe the Indians offered their sacrifices.
The churches, with lofty spires and venerable with age, which are seen from
Cholula heights, number a score, and seem but a stone’s throw distant. In some
the ornamentation is of wondrous beauty. Four and five hundred years are given
as the age of many.

The plaza was alive with people, buying and selling wares of many kinds, as
well as fruits and edibles. The valley is a series of fertile farms, fields of corn,
maguey (pulque) and other crops. The people are happy and contented.

Cholula Station is on the Interoceanic Railway, and is directly at the base of
the largest pyramid, so one may go from the City of Mexico or from Puebla to
the village without change of cars.

The old church in which the Indians made a stand against the invading Span-
iards still stands, and is well worth a visit.

The surrounding country is a rich agricultural region of great interest.

Where did the immense quantity of earth come from with which to erect
monuments of such magnitude? How long ago were they constructed? Whether
by slaves or voluntary labor? are speculative queries. The worship of the sun,
sacrifice of human lives and various religious rites occupied the minds of prehis-
toric men, rather than the business industries of modern civilization.
340 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

THE EVERGLADES OF FLORIDA FOR FORESTS.

Dating from the Seminole Indian war of 1812-16, and the acquisition of
Florida in 1820, the entire southern portion of Florida has been looked upon by
the American people as an impenetrable swamp, unfit for human habitation and
valueless for any purpose of man.

Various exploring expeditions have, with great difficulty, penetrated portions
of the Everglades, and some extensive drainage operations have been undertaken,
notably the Diston canal from Lake Okeechobee westward, and the East Coast
canal near Fort Pierce, and much has thus been learned of these extensive
marshes. Sufficient for us to know that they are capable of being drained; that
thev are free from malaria and healthful; that the soil is remarkably fertile,
suited for the culture of sugar cane, rice, corn, hay, early garden vegetables, pine-
apples, citrus fruits and numerous forest trees.

COMPARISON WITH THE WEST.

Half a century ago the plains country west of Missouri, aggregating a million
square miles, was considered as the great American Desert, part of this being
platted by geographers as such, and described by travelers as a region unfit for
cultivation. Yet within this vast expanse of supposed desert have been created
ten magnificent states and three territories, the homes of millions of happy
citizens. And before another fifty years shall have passed, the everglades and
surrounding swampy lands will have become the garden spot of the south, and
have a population far greater than the entire state of Florida now contains.

With the rapidly increasing population of the United States, the available
lands having passed out of control of the Nation, there must of necessity arise
a greatly increased demand for lands suitable for cultivation, and especially such
intensive culture as this grade of soil will admit of, and when after drainage it
shall attain proper conditions, it will become the home of a multitude of people.

EXTENT.

The everglades extend from Lake Okeechobee southward, practically to the
south end of the Floridian peninsula, one hundred and twenty miles. A
distinction is made by separating the great swamps partially surrounding the
everglades proper, especially the Mangrove swamp on the south, and the big
Cypress swamp on the west, extending to the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the large
areas on the east, which have been surveved and platted, yet all these require
 

Lf

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ROYAL PALMS, MIAMI, FLORIDA
PRACTICAL ARBORI CULTURE 343

drainage before they will attain to any value, still, all will be suitable for culti-
vatiom when once it has been reclaimed from the water.

The peninsula has a foundation of coraline limestone, highest in the central
divide extending north and south, with a general declivity to southward.

It has been upheaved very slowly, and as it has emerged from the sea the
coral has gradually become covered with grasses, which in time have formed a
deep bed of muck, varying in depth from two to fifteen feet.

The principal growth is the saw grass, growing from four to ten feet above
the shallow water, yet there are other grasses, some of which now afford grazing
for many cattle.

Here and there are Keys or small islands, a few inches above the water,
which are covered with tropic shrubs and trees.

When the Keys are four or five feet above the water, such trees as cabbage
palm, cocoanut, rubber trees and a few pine trees occur, as well as bay and num-
erous shrubs.

There are fish, alligators, some deer and innumerable birds inhabiting the
everglades.

Along the east coast is a narrow strip of sandy land thrown up by the ocean,
outside of which is the Indian River, a long narrow saline channel into which
the tides pour through several inlets, while still without this channel is a narrow
strip of ocean sand.

It is along this inner strip of sand that the Florida East Coast Railway
Company has built its fine track to Biscayne Bay where the magic city Miami has
been constructed within eight years.

It is along the east coast that this Railway Company has built many hotels
which are veritable palaces, and from the railway terminal established steam-
ship lines to Cuba and the Bahamas.

From an uninhabitable sand spit, through the indomitable energy of this
company, the east coast has been reclaimed and populated with a prosperous
class of fruit growers, who are shipping large quantities of oranges, pines and
early vegetables to the cities of the northern states.

But no habitations by white men have been made within the everglades
proper, although they are but a few miles away.

The everglades, with the included Cypress swamps, cover an area of some
five million acres, but the entire drainage area which pours its waters down
upon the glades is of far greater extent, being seventeen thousand square
miles. The precipitation in this region is 54 inches per annum, while the out-
lets from the everglades to gulf and ocean are few in number and of insignifi-
cant capacity.

The annual rainfall of this drainage area would be an equivalent of a col-
umn of water one square mile in surface, and fourteen and one half miles in
height, which must flow over the glades, meander through tortuous channels
in every direction, but gravitating generally to southward, while the densely
growing grasses and reeds continually retard its progress.

During the dry season large areas are drained and left so dry they may
be plowed and cultivated, but with the recurrence of the periodic rains they

again become submerged.
344 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

A thorough system of drainage canals, beginning at Lake Okeechobee,
to cui off the surplus water from the north, and with others through the
glades at intervals, the natural rainiall of the everglades proper would be
quickly led away through these channels to the sea, and this great basin of
nore than five million acres become suitable for cultivation.

Since there is considerably more than twenty feet elevation at interior
points, and the distance only from thirty to forty miles each way to sea, there
should be no great difficulty in constructing drainage ditches.

Throughout the everglades the varying elevations of the underlying coral
formations, together with the density of the abundant saw grass, cause the
sheet of water which spreads out over the glades to flow in very irregular and
tortuous channels, which courses are known to the Seminole Indians, but are
guarded by them with greatest secrecy, so that the white man is totally ignor-
ant of their direction or depth.

On either side the tall grass is so dense and impenetrable nothing can be
seen from the surface, or from the little canoes which are the only means of
navigating its passage ways, the height of a man who propels the canoe with
a pole, and not with paddles, being too low to see more than a few feet dis-
tant.

Such white men as have penetrated this water prairie have found the re-
gion to be very healthful, with pure clear water purified by the water plants
which abound, while all report the soil to be exceedingly fertile and capable
of reclamation.

About Lake Okeechobee the digging would be through earth and loose
fragments of coraline rock, with an abundant fall to insure a rapid flow of
water in a straight open ditch.

At Miami, the Miami River joins Biscayne Bay. Four miles from its
mouth it pours over the limestone ledge in rapids having a descent of ten feet
in less than a quarter of a mile. From the head of the rapids there are
several channels through the glades, more or less obstructed with water lilies
and various plants.

The Seminoles enter the Miami River and traverse the glades, reaching
Fort Myers and other points on the Gulf of Mexico in a very short time,
threading their way through the narrow passages unknown to the whites.

I came into view of the everglades at a point some ten miles from Miami,
and as the water was low passed over quite a large tract which has been part-
ty reclaimed and which was being planted with oranges and vegetables.

I procured the best pineapple, and the largest which I have seen, from a
plantation in the edge of this reclaimed glade land, while near by was the best
grove of grape fruit I have ever beheld.

From an elevation T was enabled to see over the glades many miles and
am convinced that by the expenditure of a moderate sum in ditches the tract
may become of great value to the state and to the people who will occupy it.

Miami is situated on a substantial foundation of this coraline formation.
The streets have been made as solid and smooth as any city in the country.
as also have miles of country roadway from this extensive coral deposit, which
 

 

 

SEMINOLE VILLAGE. IN THE EVERGLADES
VAIMOTA ‘TINVIW ‘SAV TDNAAT

 

 

 

 

 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 347

is similar to that of which the reef of Keys extending southward from the
Biscayne Bay to and beyond Key West are composed.

In composition this is principally lime and marl, varying somewhat in
hardness, although usually it is easily loosened with pick and mattock, the
crushed material being of excellent character for the growth of trees and
vegetation. Upon all this there is a surface covering of dried muck, forming
a rich soil.

The value of these lands are quite high, owing to their specially favorable
climate, fertility, and capability of producing a high quality of fruits and veg-
etables.

THE EVERGLADES FOR THE CATALPA.

The special effort of this paper is to point out the many advantages which
this large and at present little valued portion of the state of Florida possesses
for the growing of vast forests of Catalpa and other trees for the produc-
tion of fine lumber, telegraph and telephone poles, and many millions of dur-
able cross-ties for American railways. And if anything more is desired we
will add that wood pulp for book paper can be grown in this location ten
times as rapidly as the spruce will grow in its more northern clime.

In its native habitat the Catalpa is a “slash” or wet land tree, growing in
the low overflowed lands of the lower Wabash River. It succeeds well on
higher and drver soils, but endures the annual overflowing of the rivers, where
for several months the ‘‘slashes remain covered with water.

Its relative, the Southern Catalpa, while of far less value, yet has similar
habits also, is found in the low bottom lands and margins of southern streams.

The Catalpa is of much more rapid growth in Louisiana, Texas and Florida
than farther north, because its period of rest is very brief—almost a continuous
progress.

The phenomenal success of the hardy Catalpa speciosa in Mexico as far south
as 20 degrees, and about New Orleans, Pensacola, Mobile and other southern
localities, mark it as the tree to plant in these glade lands, where conditions
seem to be so favorable for its culture.

If a great drainage scheme should be undertaken in the everglades, there will
be many locations in which ordin2*y crops cannot be grown for several years. On
such tracts the planting of trees which will thrive under moist conditions, will
speedily prepare the land for other uses if such be desired.

WATER TRANSPORTATION.

The advantage of competitive transportation should not be overlooked as
the products of the forest are both bulky and weighty, and often water trans-
portation is more economical than by rail.

Since the Catalpa tree gathers from both atmosphere and soil the special
antiseptic materials which resist decay, and builds into its every fibre all those
substances, they can not be washed out by water as some materials are, which
have been artificially treated. Hence the great expense of chemical treatment
and transportation to and from the plant are avoided, and it is believed that time
348 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

5

and tests will demonstrate that the wood which all insect lite avoids will also
prove to be proof against teredo attacks and thus ocean piling be made from the
timber.

Extensive practical plantings of Catalpa will be made in and about the ever-
giades the coming season, and but a brief period will prove its nature and adapt-
ability to this locality.

THE INSIDIOUS RUBBER TREE.

There is a peculiarity of a variety of the Ficus which is abundant in southern
Florida, that its seeds becoming lodged among the branches or scales of the palm,
or in a protruding piece of bark of other trees, takes root, far from the ground.
It is probable that like the mistletoe the seed is picked into the bark by birds. The
little string-like roots gravitate downward until they reach the earth, although
often that may be twenty feet below. Entering the soil the roots extend rapidly,
and being gross feeders, the aerial roots, or those connecting the roots proper
with the growing plant above, rapidly increase in size and in number, spreading
out like a veritable piece of rubber, forming a network of roots about the original
tree to which it has attached itself, and tightening its coils like the anaconda
crushing an ox, gradually checking the growth of the slower growing palm or
other tree, while it expands its branches fast becoming the main tree, using its
victim for a support.

SIMILARITY TO THE FLOATING GARDENS.

These are in many respects similar to the everglades. They were reclaimed
from a swamp or lake adjoining the city of Mexico, by a system of drainage
canals, the Viga Canal being the principal outlet into which numerous ditches let
the water, leaving the black muck soil dry for tillage.

There is no reason why the people of Florida should not accomplish greater
results with a far less expenditure of money.

CATALPA SPECIOSA A TAP ROOTED TREE.

Secret of its wonderful growth. One season's growth from seed, three feet
above the ground and five feet deep.

Doctor J. F. Corrigan of St. Leo, Florida, who is planting large forests of
Catalpa speciosa from seed which we sent him, sends us a tap root of a seedling
which was pulled up, breaking off some at the bottom, the entire portion secured
measures five feet and two inches in length, vet the tree and root were but quarter
inch thickness. The seed was planted in March one year ago, the average
growth above ground being three feet.

There is no question about Florida sands being an ideal place for Catalpa
speciosa. One tree near Jacksonville, nine vears old, measures eighteen inches
thickness at six feet above ground. We cannot affirm how deep the roots of this
tree extend.
 

 

 

CATALPA NURSERY OF DR. J. H. CORRIGAN, ST. LEO, FLORIDA

 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 351

THE EUCALYPTUS.

The United States possesses such an extent of country, with great variety
of soils, all graduations of elevation from several hundred feet below sea level in
the Southern portion of California to three miles above in the Rocky Mountains.
All conditions of rainfall and of aridity must be considered in planting forests or
continuing the life of those now in existence.

In the sub-tropic regions of Southern Florida the Gulf Coast of Texas,
through Arizona and southern half of California, conditions prevail which are
favorable to the growth of the Eucalyptus, and if the land owners can be shown
the high value of this tree, ease with which it may be grown, and more especially
the folly of former and present methods of pruning this magnificent tree, it can
be made of vast importance to the regions to which it is adapted.

It is necessary, first, to state that the various Eucalpyti are confined to locali-
ties free from frosts or at least severe frosts, hence it will not succeed in our
middle or even the southern states except within the territory above named.

It is my purpose in this sketch to speak of this tree from a practical stand-
point only, showing some of the uses to which it has been and may be put, how to
plant and cultivate the tree, where to plant, etc.

As to uses. The first and most natural service is to be found in the remark-
able beauty of the tree growing in arid and treeless sections. In California, along
the highways, the tree with its towering foliage lends remarkable relief to an
otherwise barren and desolate landscape. Not only as a shade, but also as a relief
to the monotony of the view, it is worth while to plant it. But so far the most
practical use to which it has been put, aside from its forestry effect on the rain-
fall, is as a domestic fuel supply. On account of its well-known rapid growth,
groves planted twenty-five to forty years have been supplying cooking fuel for
vears, and while as a fuel it does not rank with the hardwoods, yet considering
that it makes a growth in twenty-five years equal to the hardwoods in
three hundred years, its value may readily be appreciated. I have seen
trees that made as. many as seven cords of stove wood, and after standing
ricked for a few weeks it burned freely, enabling a meal to be prepared
in a few minutes, and making the maximum fuel yield in the shortest time from
any fuel available in that state. While it ranks as a “soft wood,” yet when cut a
very short time, the grain being rather fine, it becomes very hard to cut, indicating
that for framing material in coarse construction work, the timber may be very
useful. In construction of barns and outbuildings there is no reason why this new
timber may not become an important and economical factor.
PRACTICAL, ARBORTCULT URE

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to

How to plant and grow it: The seeds are planted in shallow furrows, similar
to other nursery stock, and should be cultivated for one or two years before
transplanting. In planting the grove, the distance may be made not to exceed ten
feet apart, allowing for a ten-years’ growth, and then if desired, cut out alter-
nate trees for use, allowing the remaining double space, which will be ample
for the greatest growth attainable. There has not been to my knowledge any
experiment made with it as sawed lumber. But there is no reason why it would
not be valuable in that way. The great feature of the tree is its adaptability to
any sort of soil or environment. It has been equally thrifty in dry, rocky hill land
as in swampy corners. And owing to the great penetration of root, it has been

 

 

 

 

EUCALYPTUS BRANCH, LEAVES AND FLOWERS

found that wet land has become arable owing to the roots breaking up the hard-
pan, allowing the water to percolate to the sand or gravel substrata, thus acting
as a draining system for wet spots. In the matter of climatic range the experi-
ment has not been tried to test this point. Authorities usually give it a range in
temperature down to thirty degrees.

There have been many medicinal qualities claimed for the tree, and in Califor-
mia an extensive industry has been established in making Eucalyptus oil, used
both as a liniment and internal remedy for various ailments. But this feature is
 

 

 

 

 

EUCALYPTUS TREE, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

ioe)
on
on

a small consideration in advocating the planting of waste land to Eucalyptus
groves.

It would certainly afford substantial benefit in’ sections bordering rivers,
where the natural forestry has been destroyed in the pursuit of lumber and for
ciearing land for cultivation, The frequent recurring floods due to the deforest-
ration may be entirely done away with if trees were planted to hold in check
by their leaf deposits, the surface water that now finds its way into the flood
as soon as it falls. Just what influence such forests have upon the rainfall may not
be readily determined. But that it has an important influence seems a well es-
tablished fact. [or many sections in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, in dry
and treeless regions practically abandoned to jack-rabbits and desert growths,
useless alike for man or beast, the Enecalyptus would find its most useful office.
The state and Federal governments should take the matter up in this direction
at least, and by establishing extensive forest plants in such places, bestow a
great benefht upon future generations.

In the open country, and along public roads, where land is not so scarce or
valuable as to render the shade and root encroachment on the adjacent few rods
oi material moment, and in hilly lots and marshy spots, by all means encourage
the planting to this rapidly growing tree.

The Eucalyptus was brought from Australia and planted in California about
1865 to 1870, and is proven to be well adapted to subtropical regions of America.

During my visit to the Pacific Coast in 1900, I found that little importance,
was attached to the tree by citizens generally, and began an investigation lasting
two months, in which I found many facts to prove that the tree was of vast
importance, but its application as an economic wood was confined to a meager
few who had learned its value.

At Berkeley, on the grounds of the University of California, is the most
extensive plantation I ever saw in forest form. These trees are upon quite rolling
land, not irrigated, and prove what can be accomplished under almost arid condi-
tions. But the largest trees, with most wonderful growth, were on level lands,
which were to a greater or less extent supplied with water during the early period
of their growth.

There is an avenue of Encalyptits, globulis, on both sides of Lincoln avenue,
San Jose, at “The Willows,” which were planted by the road supervisor in 1872.
In twenty-eight years these trees attained a height of 120 to 175 feet.

Twelve exceeded ten feet in girth, five exceeded eight and one-half feet girth,
tliree were twelve and one-half feet girth, five were eleven feet girth. Each
would make four logs sixteen feet long.

Mr. James W. Gillespie of San Jose has used much of the wood in wagon
works, for which it is admirably adapted, having much the character of hickory,
which must be transported across the Continent for use in California.

Mr. Gillespie was filling a very large order from an eastern firm, for tele-
gtaph insulator pins, using the inferior portions of the tree in this way. The elec-
tric works made tests of the strength of Eucalyptus, finding it to be 30 per cent
stronger than White Oak, and 20 per cent stronger than Black Locust.

Mr. Gillespie informed me that one tree was cut in Santa Clara County,
which made 1,750 feet of lumber B. M., besides three cords of wood were made
356 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

from the tops. This lumber was sold at $125 per 1,000 feet. The tree had grown
in thirty years. At present the lumber is worth $50 per 1,000, as it runs, at the
mill.

I measured one tree on the grounds of Mr. Leibs in San Jose, which was five
and one-half feet diameter and 175 feet high. This tree was thirty years old.
Could be cut into 6,000 feet of lumber, worth $300, 100 trees to the acre bringing
$3,000.

 

 

 

 

AVENUE OF EUCALYPTUS. AT HOME OF CHARLES H. RODGERS, WATSONVILLE, CAL.
(25 years from seed)

At Watsonville T visited the residence of Mr. Charles H. Rodgers, the inside of
which is finished with Eucalyptus. The finish is exquisite, and worthy of exten-
sive use. The trees from which this lumber was made were planted by the family

thirty years ago—one Red Gum, of this same planting, measures 175 feet high,
five and one-half feet girth.
 

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PRACTICAL ARBORICULIURE 359

The landowners of the Gulf States as well as Arizona and New Mexico
should give the Australian Gum tree more attention. The time is rapidly
approaching when such timber will be of great value, as the Cypress and Yellow
Pine disappear. Its extremely rapid growth and easy culture make it a very
desirable economic tree.

As a shade and ornamental tree it has few equals. Since it is not hardy
north of Lat. 30 degrees except in California, when it reaches 40 degrees N. Lat.,
it will not be worth while to attempt growing it except in these locations. How-
ever, there are some varieties mare hardy than others.

Any trees which grow rapidly, as the Catalpa and Eucalyptus, are gross feed-
ers and require considerable water for best development, but in many portions
of the Southwest there are underground streams to which the roots will penetrate
and obtain necessary moisture.

Unfortunately as there has been no demand for trees, the nurseries of
America are not prepared to supply plants of Eucalyptus in large quantities, but
this will be remedied if planters take sufficient interest in the trees.

My correspondents in New Zealand, Hawaii and Australia inform me there
are more than three hundred varieties of the Gum trees in their native woods.
Some varieties have great durability, being used for foundations of mills partly
in water, but as a rule the wood is not durable when exposed to alternations of
moisture and dryness, and in contact with the earth.

One hundred and fifty varieties have been cultivated in California.
360 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

HICKORY.

Reports from the Government Statistics place the number of barrels made
in the United States at 300 million, by far the larger majority being “slack bar-
rels,’ that is not for holding liquids.

In recent years the manufactured hoops have grown in favor and have taken
precedence over the split hickory poles, largely on account of the difficulty in

 

 

 

: EUCALYPTUS TREE
At the Home of Mrs. Rodgers, Watsonville, California; 135 Feet High; 17 Feet Girth Three Feet from
Ground; 38 Years from Seed.

procuring young hickory sprouts. At the same time iron hoops have become
the standard for oil and other tight barrels where salt is not used in the contents.
Pork and meat barrels, having a brine or salt solution would soon corrode and
destroy metal hoops.

It is but a few years since the entire output of cooperage was bound with
hickory hoops until the young hickory forests were almost annihilated. As it 1s
now, there are probably one hundred million barrels still made where hickory
poles are used for hooping.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 361

A slack barrel has usually ten hoops, flour barrels for instance three at each
end and two on each side of the center or bulge. As these are made by splitting
the small poles, it destroys five living hickory trees for each such barrel made.

Meat barrels, however, are hooped solid, double or treble the number of
hoops, requiring from 10 to 15 trees to form each tight barrel.

Consequently the number of hickory trees destroyed each year in the United
States for cooperage must approximate fifty millions.

It is not strange that vehicle timbers are becoming difficult to obtain.

Elm is the principal tree which possesses the requisite toughness and long-
itudinal strength to make good hoops, and this timber is now growing very scarce.

Meantime it seems very unwise for carriage manufacturers and those who
use hickory wood in large quantities, to ignore the subject of future supply and
rely upon the invention of some material which may take the place of hickory
wood.

Not a single manufacturer thinks of planting nuts and growing trees,
although the matter is possible and would be a good investment upon much of the
low priced land of the United States.

By planting systematically and giving proper cultivation, trees of suitable
size may be grown in twenty-five years.

The habit of growth of hickory, naturally a straight slender upright stem,
with corresponding deep tap root; the hickory may be planted much more closely
than other trees, probably 400 per acre or 12 feet apart each way, and could
remain in such dense forest until timber suitable for spokes, handles, axles, etc.,
could be secured.

To prepare a forest of hickory, the land should be of good, deep, rich soil,
somewhat moist. It should be plowed in the Autumn, and furrowed out not very
deeply, the furrows being 12 feet apart.

The nuts should be secured as soon as frost loosens and the wind shakes
them from the trees. As with the walnut it would be preferable to leave the hulls
on the nuts, if only for the natural food which it affords the young plant.

The seed should be planted at once as soon as procured, dropping the nuts
a foot or so apart in the row and covering with an inch of loose soil. The general
tule for covering seed of all kinds is depth equal to the diameter of the seed.
This rule is ignored by many with a result of loss in the vitality of various plants,
and often greater or less waste in seed.

The winter frosts help to open the shell and permit the seed to germinate.
For from two to five years’ careful cultivation will be necessary, or until the trees
have been established, and are able to overcome annual weeds and grass.

Any farm crop which requires frequent cultivation may be grown between
the rows of trees and all being cultivated together, and almost as much corn or
other crop secured as without the trees. Hickory nuts vary greatly in size, some
being a half inch diameter, and nearly round, while others are one and a half
inches and flattened. After removing the hulls the small shellbark nuts run 3,800
per bushel, and before the hulls are removed 1,500 per bushel. An acre planted
1x12 feet requiring one bushel after the hulls are removed.

Pecans are as good for planting, as the pecan tree is hardy in the middle
north states, but they do not bear fruit, except in the south.
362 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

 

GRAND PRIZE AWARDED TO THE INTERNATIONAL
SOCIETY OF ARBORICULTURE

GRAND PRIZE TO THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF ARBORI-
CULTURE.

The Catalpa Exhibit.

One of the most important exhibits shown in the Forestry Building of the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 was made by the International Society of
Arboriculture and consisted entirely of articles made from Catalpa speciosa tree.

While there were large numbers of exhibits in this building calculated to
show what was made by various firms of manufacturers from the forests of the
world, here was one unique exhibit of an almost totally unknown tree, with the
sole object of encouraging forest perpetuation in the planting of forests of Catalpa
speciosa, by demonstrating how many and how varied are the uses to which this
wood could be applied.

There was shown a car section with two double seats, which attracted much
attention. It is a magnificent work of art. The panels inlaid with holly, the fine
veneered deck, proving the admirable character of Catalpa for railway car work.
It is finished in natural color, and shows the Catalpa to be one of our handsomest
American woods. Every piece of wood in a passenger or freight car may be
made of Catalpa as it combines strength, toughness and extreme beauty. This
car was made by the Barney and Smith Car Company, Dayton, Ohio.

The office desk used by the author at the fair, is also shown, and the beautiful
dining chairs in front.
 

 

  

 

   

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PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 305

Upon the walls are ten large photographs of typical Catalpa trees as they
exist in nature, each in handsome frames of the same wood.

A roll of paper and another of pulp, both made of Catalpa wood, are seen
upon the wall, demonstrating the adaptability of Catalpa for making paper.

At the rear seen through the car windows are telegraph poles, eight inches
diameter and twenty-five feet long, which have served their purpose for thirty-
two years.

Also mining timbers and fence posts. One of these 314 inches in thickness
was broken to test its strength. This was a most remarkable trial, for it was bent
in four directions successively, under a pressure of 20,000 pounds, before breaking.

The letter “B,” in compliment to the author, is steam bent and highly
polished.

The stairway and elegant house interior is stained and has a dull finish much
admired.

The Buffet made by the Indiana Furniture Company of Connersville is
highly finished in golden oak stain.

Two elegantly carved Roman chairs, one stained mahogany, the other
natural.

A block of wood a section of Catalpa tree, showing twenty annual growths
is twenty-two inches diameter.

To the rear of the stairway are a dozen Catalpa cross-ties or sleepers, as they
are called in Europe.

These are in perfect condition as regards soundness, notwithstanding the fact
that they have withstood the hammering of innumerable trains on four of our
most prominent railways, the Southern, Big Four, Illinois Central, and Louisville
and Nashville, for a third of a century.

Were nothing else shown in this exhibit save these old sleepers, and the
section showing twenty years growth, the success of this exhibit would be com-
plete. Yet so many other articles are included, that the world is amazed at so
great value in an American forest tree almost totally unknown even in America.

WHAT WAS PROVEN AT THE WORLD'S FAIR.

(1st) That Catalpa speciosa will grow in twenty years to be twenty inches
in thickness and forty feet high.

(2nd) That in fifty years it reaches a height of one hundred feet and
diameter of thirty inches, in forest.

(3d) That for fence posts it has lasted 85 years.

(4th) In fence rails it has withstood eighty years of sunshine and storm.

(sth) That as railway cross-ties the wood has resisted wear and decay for
thirty-two years.

(6th) That it makes magnificent furniture.

(7th) Interior house finish equal to any American wood.

(8th) That every portion of a freight or passenger railway car may be
miade of Catalpa.

(9th) It may be carved into handsome chairs.

(10th) It is suitable for picture frames, receiving any stains and taking a

high polish.
366 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

(11th) That firm, straight telegraph poles may be secured in a dozen
years.

(12th) That it may be bent and retain its form.

(13th) That for Cabinet work it does not shrink or warp.

(14th) That fine book paper may be made from the wood.

(isth) That it is straight and upright in habit of growth.

(16th) While an oak tree requires twelve times as long to grow as its term
of durability in the ground, Catalpa has lasted for ties twice as long as the period
of growth. And for rails and fence posts, four times its period of growth.

(17th) For mine timbers it has no superior for strength or durability, and
may be quickly grown in mining regions.

HOW I BECAME INTERESTED IN THE CATALPA TREE.

By profession I am a civil engineer, and in that capacity have had in charge
several quite important railway and government surveys. It was to a large ex-
tent this field of employment which has influenced me in choosing the practical or
economic side of arboriculture, the researches into which subject my natural in-
clinations led me in early life.

The woods have ever had greater attractions for me than social functions or
business employments, and what I have learned of trees and their influences upon
nations and peoples has been from observations of nature in the great forests of
North America, rather than from universities or from books.

My studies of the trees and forests began while a boy at school, has con-
tinued through three-score years, with the interest increasing as the years
speed by.

Forty vears ago I was collecting data for the purpose of presenting the sub-
ject of forest planting, and in measuring many trees of known ages, in the vari-
ous public parks and in private grounds throughout the United States, to deter-
mine and tabulate the annual rate of growth of American forest trees, in order
to encourage the preservation of some of our woodlands.

While fully realizing the necessity for clearing away the major portion of the
forests, in order that homes, farms and States could be made, and civilizatien
replace savagery, yet it appealed to me that upon every farm there were portions
which should remain in trees. My object was to present this thought for the
farmer and land owner, that it was a good investment to retain a portion of the
native forest.

The effort proved futile. Americans could not wait for slow-growing trees
to produce a value for their posterity.

It was while I was earnestly pursuing this subject, about 1875, that I discov-
ered the extremely rapid growth of Catalpa speciosa. There was little could be
learned at that period, of its importance or uses, which came within my knowl-
edge, vet T continued to make investigations, and some years later obtained the
address of Mr. E. E. Barney, the venerable car manufacturer of Dayton, Ohio.
Entering into a correspondence with Mr. Barney, a flood of information was sup-
plied me. That gentleman sent me a copy of his pamphlet on the catalpa which
contained the result of many years’ investigation. From this print I learned that
many men of great prominence, during the early part of the nineteenth ecntury,
 

 

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GROWTHS

NATURAL

CIOSA,

CATALPA ‘SPE
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 369

had been enthusiastic in regard to the
catalpa tree, foremost of whom was
General William Henry Harrison, af-
terwards President of the United
States, who, while Governor of the
Northwest Territory, had his — resi-
dence at Vincennes, Ind., among the
groves of catalpa trees on the banks of
the Wabash-River. There still remains
in the grounds of the Harrison home-
stead a fine catalpa tree, a successor to
the original tree which General Harri-

 

son so greatly admired.

In 1818 Mr. Harrison delivered an
address before the Chio Agricultural
Society upon the subject of the catalpa
tree, in which he urged that it be ex-
tensively planted, foreseeing almost a
century ago the destruction of great
forests which then densely covered the
entire Northwest Territory. He also
sent trees and seeds to his home at
North Bend, Ohio, and to many loca-
tions in the Eastern States. These
trees have been in evidence, and have
enabled us to determine the wide range
of country where it may be successful-
ly grown.

Several civil engineers of that period
and the years succeeding have advo-
cated the use of catalpa wood in canal and
railway construction, and the cultivation
of the timber; and when the early rail-
ways of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri
were first constructed, large numbers of catalpa cross-ties, telegraph poles and
fence posts were used in these operations. Catalpa wood was the first timber
used for these purposes in the region where the trees were indigenous, and con-
tinued to be used so long as the wood could be obtained; but the supply was quite
limited, and the demand was so great by farmers for fence rails and posts, and by
the railways for various purposes, the trees were almost exterminated.

 

I afterwards became acquainted with the eminent pomologist, Dr. John A.
Warder, of Ohio, who had given the name, speciosa, to the variety, which is
now recognized as the only catalpa of value for timber planting. Also I met
Mr. Robert Douglas, of Illinois, and Mr. H. H. Hunnewell, of Massachusetts, all
of whom had taken prominent interest in the catalpa.

The knowledge that so many eminent citizens had recognized the merits of
Oo

PRACTICAL

 

 

IN

 

CATALPA FOREST

 

ARBORICULTURE

this tree above ull others of our great
list of valued forest trees encouraged
me to continue my investigation during
this long period of years.

The subject has been one of slow
progression, here a little and there a
little, and while much has been ac-
complished, there remains more to be
learned. I visited the localities where
the trees were indigenous, and have
seen most of those which have been
preserved, having studied them in the
forests, observed the minute differences
in tree foliage, flowers, seed, and hab-
its of the trees, learning to characterize
the true Catalpa speciosa from the in-
ferior varieties and numberless  hy-
brids, for I found that no forest tree
was more easily hybridized, by insects
carrying the pollen from flower to
flower, than is the catalpa.

In pursuing these researches I have
traveled three hundred thousand miles,
traversing every State, as well as
Canada, Mexico and Central Ameri-
ca, and have founded and_ recorded
many thousands of catalpa trees which
have been transported from their home
in the Wabash Valley, in order to de-
termine the extent of territory to
which the trees were adapted, the soils
suited to their growth, and their hardi-
ness in rigorous climates, as well as
their behavior under tropic conditions.
The result has been that apparently
there is no limit, yet found, between
latitudes 45 deg. north and 4o deg.
south of the equator.

There has been no assistance ren-
dered in all this work by the govern-
ment or State, the expenses having
been met by my own labors as civil en-
gineer and other employment, until in
1897 the organization of the Interna-
tional Society of Arboriculture was
effected, since which time the society
has steadily grown, and has for the
most part borne the expense. Ex-Pres-
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 37!

ident Benjamin Harrison and Governor James A. Mount, of Indiana, General
Lew Wallace and many eminent citizens of this and other lands have been
members of this society. Flon. J. Sterling Morton, of Nebraska, was our first
president, continuing as such ts the time of his death.

General William J. Palmer, of Colorado, succeeded Mr. Morton, and is still
president of the society. No other person has done so much to advance the inter-
ests of the society, by moral encouragement and financial support, as has Generai
Palmer, who as a railway president has enabled the society to reach and interest
the great railway systems of America in forest planting and management.

At the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, t904, the society made an exhibit of
the catalpa which attracted the attention and secured the admiration of the world,
and for which we were awarded the grand prize. Even the residents of the re-
gion of which the catalpa was indigenous, and who were familiar with it from
childhood, were amazed at the many uses for which the wood could be employed,
the beauty of finish, the clegance of the furniture made from the wood, the mag-
nificent carvings, handsome veneers and inlaid panels. Until now they had valued
it only for its durabilitv, having known it as good for fence rails and posts.

Railway officials and engineers here learned that catalpa was the peer of ma-
hogany for passenger-car finish, and par e.vcclience for telegraph poles and rail-
way sleepers, for here were numbers which had served their purpose in the tracks
for one-third of a century with no indications of decay, this being four times the
life of white oak, seven times the durability of pine, and twice as long as creosoted
ties.

Paper manufacturers found a new value in catalpa for wood pulp and book
paper, both of which were in this exhibit.

Botanical writers had published that catalpa wood was not strong. This was
disproven at the St. Louis exhibit by practical and most severe tests.

Objectors had pronounced the trees to be small, crooked, and without material
value. In answer to this a dozen large-sized photographs of natural trees in for-
est showed the true habit of Catalpa speciosa as being very tall and straight, while
actual trees by their presence gave their own evidence, and proved that these pe
pie were mistaken in the variety of catalpa which had come under their observa-
tion.

Railway presidents visited the exhibit and were convin
sent special officials and engineers to examine the exhilit, some of whom also
visited the native forests on the Wabash, and found they had not been misrepre-

 

cot Other companies

sented.

Foreign governments sent representatives to investigate the subject, and from
their reports have heeun the extensive planting of this American tree.

Tleretofore manufacturers had used only those woods which had required
more than a century to grow, and after these forests have been consumed, will
require an equal period for their reproduction. Never before had a rapidly ma-
turing tree been found suitable for any purpose of the manufacturer other than
as fuel, and these have slight value in heat units.

It was a revelation to see a railway car of such magnificence entirely con-
structed from a tree which had been produced in less than two decades. The
problem of forest reproduction for lumber, paper, cross-ties, for the uses of
372 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

transportation, manufactures, the mines as well as for agriculture, was solved by
this exhibit.

The result has been an awakening among consumers of wood such as has
never before been experienced. The demand for seeds and trees of Catalpa spe-
ciosa, which can be relied upon as true, is far greater than can be supplied, while
niany hundred of thousands of inferior trees are still being scattered throughout
the world by careless dealers.

 

A CATALPA SPECIOSA TREE STILL STANDING, WHICH WILL MAKE 45 TIES, ESTIMATED
IN

TO BE 40 YEARS OF AGE. HEIGHT, 103 FEET; DIAMETER AT STUMP, 36 INCHES

A number of the great railway systems have begun the planting of forests,
for the purpose of growing ties and lumber, although some officials still look upon
the work as experimental.

The first large plantation of catalpa made in the United States was in South-
east Missouri, half a century ago, by the Iron Mountain Railway. The officials
of this pioneer railway were convinced, even at that early period, that forest plant-
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 373

ing by railways would in time become necessary, and that the catalpa had all the
essential qualities for railway timber, and two hundred acres were devoted to this
experiment.

The road had largely been constructed upon ties of catalpa, all the telegraph
poles of this wood were used so far as they could be procured, while no other
timber was purchased for fence posts in the region where they existed.

Seeds of Catalpa speciosa from the Wabash Vall ley had floated down the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers, and been carried to the interior by the overflowing back
waters, and some of these trees were growing along the railway line; while the
southern or bignonioides catalpa existed in Arkansas and Missouri. Thus both

varieties were present in this locality, and, of course many hybrids. At this
period the varieties had not been classified; they were called indiscriminatelv
catalpa.

Unfortunately the seed for this first experiment were purchased from seeds-
men, who had imported from Japan the small ornamental variety, kempferti, and
after years of waiting, obtaining only shrub growths, the plantation was aban-
doned and mostly destroyed. While this Japanese variety yet remained a seed
firm gathered thousands of pounds of seed, which was distributed throughout
Europe and America under the impression that it was the great forest tree,
Catalpa speciosa.

The demand for catalpa seed which followed the agitation about thirty years
ago also caused the distribution of vast quantities of bignonioides seed, while the
difficulty and expense of gathering seed from large trees, a hundred feet in height,
discouraged the distribution of the true variety.

The next plantation, six hundred and forty acres, was made at Farlington,
Kans., by Mr. H. H. Hunnewell, for the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Rail-
way Company, now part of the Frisco system. The mistake was made here of
too close planting, twenty-seven hundred trees per acre, and the constant refusal
of the manager to thin them and allow sufficient space for the trees, although I
have urged them to do so frequently during the past eight years.

During the past vear, under a new management, $100,000 worth of fence
posts have been removed. Instead of $100,000, which has been the income after
twenty-five vears’ waiting, had the trees been planted at a greater distance, so they
could develop, five hundred and forty-four thousand first-class cross-ties should
have been produced, worth half a million dollars.

The next experiment was made by the Pennsylvania Railway Company
eighteen years ago on the lines in Indiana, the wrong varieties being purchased.
They were planted in hard, unplowed ground along the track, on right of way,
where the telegraph linemen destroyed their usefulness by cutting to prevent in-
terference with the wires. The prominence of this row of two hundred thou-
sand trees, mutilated, struggling against both man and nature, has been a serious
drawback to the progress of timber planting, and has deterred the engineers of
the Pennsylvania Railway from making other more rational efforts at catalpa
growing.

Mr. L. W. Yaggy planted five hundred acres of catalpa some dozen years ago
on his farm near Hutchinson, Kans. This has been one of Mr. Yaggy’s most
374 PRACTICAL ARBORICUOLI URE

profitable investments, as he declares. He recently sold $30,000 worth of fence
posts from the thinnings of this tract, yet has as many remaining which are for
sale.

Several more recent plantings have been made by private parties, ranging
from fifty to five hundred acres.

 

 

 

 

NATURAL GROWTH OF CATALPA SPECIOS.\

Three years ago the more modern system of planting at greater distances was
begun, the plantation of the Illinois Central Railway Company, at Harahan, La.,
eight miles from New Orleans, being prominent. This tract was formerly a
sugar plantation, the land having been left in high ridges seven feet apart, with
many deep ditches for drainage. This distance seemed too close, and part of
the tree rows were planted on alternate sugar-cane ridges, while in the rice land
 

 

 

 

CATALPA SPECIOSA IN BLOOM, RIVERSIDE, CHICAGO
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 377

the trees were set 8x8 feet. There are two hundred and fifty acres planted. The
soil is alluvial, delta land, but of a character quite difficult to work, and was
dense with Bermuda grass and wild cane, having been abandoned for cultivation
many years since. It is expensive to cultivate, but the trees are growing rapidly.
This company has also two hundred acres near DuQuoin, IIl., planted a year later,
which are making good progress. This territory is underlaid with coal, which is
being mined, and it is expected that the thinnings will be utilized here for mine
timbers.

The Louisville and Nashville Railway has eight large plantations of catalpa,
one at Pensacola, Fla., in pure highland sand. This sand has produced a crop of
yellow pine timber. It grows good pecan trees ; deep-rooted pear trees flourish, and
the catalpa trees are growing well. They were planted in the spring of 1902.
Another plantation is in the Alabama River bottoms, at Selma, Ala., one on the
banks of Licking River, near Newport, Ky., others at Shawneetown and McLeans-
boro, Ill. All are doing well, but are too recent to determine results.

This company has just purchased one thousand acres near Mobile, Alabama,
on which half a million trees are planted.

The Southern Pacific Railway Company distributed several thousand trees
through Texas, portions being in the arid region, where irrigation is required.
The officials report them to be in very satisfactory condition.

The New Orleans and Northeastern Railway distributed some thousands of
trees along the line through Louisiana and Mississippi. Passengers have reported
to me that they give promise of excellent results.

The New England railways have planted perhaps one hundred thousand
trees, a portion by the Boston and Maine Railway, at South Lawrence, Mass., in
the valley of the Merrimac River; others by the Boston and Albany Railway, near
Newton, Mass. If these prove satisfactory, the experiment will be extended.

In Utah some years since, the Rio Grande Western Railway established a
nursery of sixty-five thousand catalpa trees at Provo. Part of these were trans-
planted, two years ago, to points along the line between Ogden, Utah, and Grand
Junction, Col. In most part they have been abandoned and destroyed by fires
and stock. One fine grove remains at Salt Lake City, which will be taken care
of until it is determined how the alkaline soil affects the catalpa tree. There are
many fine catalpa trees in Utah, which formed the basis for this extensive plant-
ing.

The Florida East Coast Railway was the last to undertake catalpa planting
for cross-ties, a tract having been purchased between Jacksonville and St.
Augustine, which is now planted. Upon this tract, in the dooryard of a
farmer, Mr. F. J. Register, and in exactly the same pure sand of Florida, stands a
catalpa tree which was planted in 1896 as a small switch. After but nine years’
growth this tree measures fifty-seven inches girth (nineteen inches thickness) at
six feet above the ground. This nine-year-old Florida tree will now make four
cross-ties. A square mile of such trees would furnish in one decade enough
sleepers to build two hundred and thirty-seven miles of new track, or supply the
renewals for twenty-three hundred and seventy miles of railway.

At Gainesville ‘and at Pensacola, Florida, as well as at other points, there are
trees which show an equally good record for rapid growth, while at New Orleans
378 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

trees rourteen years old are twenty-six inches in diameter. All of which goes to
show that the South, and especially Florida, is best adapted for the growing of
catalpa forests. Several parties and companies have signified their intention of
planting from one thousand to several thousand acres of forest as soon as catalpa
trees can be secured and land prepared on which to plant.

The Mexican Central Railway last year planted several thousand Catalpa
Speciosa trees, and the Mexican government experimented with several thousand.
The results have been such that the Secretary de Fomento has purchased as many
more, which are being planted at Tampico.

The Dominion government of New Zealand, after extensive trial in thirty
experiment stations, is satisfied of the success of the Indiana catalpa in that coun-
try 20 degrees south of the equator.

Quite extensive plantings have also been made in France, Italy, Germany
and Great Britain, wile in Korea, from seed which we sent last vear, trees have
grown to be four feet in height in one season’s growth. Far more extensive
plantings are being made this season by missionaries in Korea, under directions of
the International Society of Arboriculture and with its support.

The State of Ohio last year distributed one hundred thousand Catalpa
speciosa trees, through the State Experiment Station at Wooster, to encourage
the farmers in tree planting, while more are being sent out the present season.

States, nations, corporations and individuals in large numbers have made
requests upon this Society for trees, seeds, and information upon arboriculture,
to all of whom the Society has responded promptly. Nine hundred and fifty thou-
sand trees have thus been contributed and nine hundred pounds of seed, enough to
produce five million trees, while two hundred and fifty thousand magazines and
printed circulars have been distributed.

The correspondence increased so greatly as to demand the publication of a
monthly magazine by the Society, and ARBoRICULTURE was established, with
offices at Connersville, Ind.

More than one hundred large plantations of catalpa trees are under the direc-
tion and supervision of the Society, requiring the constant atention of the Secre-
tary, in visiting which, with other duties, require one thousand miles’ travel every
week of the vear.

This work has not been accomplished without great opposition from many
inen of prominence, who have placed almost insurmountable obstacles in our wey.
Usually this has been caused through ignorance of the parties, their observations
having been confined to the millions of spurious seeds and trees sent abroad by
careless dealers. Hence the progress has been slow, with a prolonged, severe
struggle, but the consciousness of being right, and the constant friendship and
hearty support and co-operation of several railway presidents and high officials
of the railways, and the members of our Society, have urged me to continue these
efforts for so many years, even when the outlook was far from encouraging.

There have been severe criticisms for the prominence given the Catalpa and
of my devotion to this subject; but after half a century of laborious effort by
earnest advocates of forestry, it has been impossible to create an interest in actual,
practical forest planting, or care of forest by any large number of our citizens,
when it was realized that a century must elapse before a majority of our forest
REPRODUCTION

 

FROM

STUMP—ONCE PLANTED,
PERPETUAL

A CATALPA FOREST

 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 381

trees would mature. Only a few soft-wooded and little-valued trees, soft maples,
box elder, cottonwood, etc., have been planted to any extent, while the more valu-
able woods, oak, pine, cypress, walnut, hickory, etc., which require from seventy to
six hundred years to reach merchantable condition, have been almost totally neg-
lected.

Americans are migratory. Few old established estates exist. We in America
have not yet learned the lessons which the European nations have practiced for
centuries—that of making the forests a perpetual source of income.

By proving to the world the valuable character of Catalpa speciosa, and in the
distribution of seeds and trees, the International Society of Arboriculture has
been instrumental in creating an interest, and secured the planting of many
thousands of acres of forest, which could not have been accomplished other-
wise.
w
w
to

PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

PLANTING RAILWAY FORESTS.

By Louisville & Nashville Railway, at Carney’s, Alabama.

It is now a conceded fact that forests must be planted by the railways for
their supply of cross-ties, telegraph poles, and lumber to maintain tracks, for re-
pairs and construction in the future.

For every one thousand miles of track half a million cross-ties and more than
three thousand telegraph poles are required each year for renewals, for which
there is paid annually $3,000,000 for materials, besides having long distances to
transport them, and a great expense incurred in labor of renewing.

With the timber now available in the entire United States, even if its supply
could be continued, which is impossible under existing conditions, this drain upon
the resources of transportation companies must ever be continued.

The expense to the companies in twenty years, for renewals alone, will be
three million dollars for each one thousand miles of trackage, or three-quarters
cf a billion dollars for our present railway mileage.

Conservative engineers and railway officials in many portions of the United
States have concluded that it is good economy to prepare at once for the inevitable
result which it is apparent is near at hand, the final end of American forests, and
to plant other forests for supplying these needs.

Among the ra‘lwavs which have begun the actual planting of trees on a large
scale, the Louisville & Nashville is foremost. Beginning in 1904 with ten medium-
sized groves upon tracts of land possessed by the company, it was found that a
much larger area of land would be required to supply ties alone that was owned
by the corporation.

The International Society of Arboriculture was requested to select a large
tract of suitable land contiguous to the company’s lines.

After an exhaustive examination we arranged for the purchase of one thou-
sand and forty acres of rolling pine lands from which the most of the pine trees
had been removed, at Carney’s Ala., thirty miles from Mobile.

The land is of a sandy clay loam, wel! watered, while the meadows or creek
bottoms have a deep boggy soil well covered with grass.

Two hundred thousand trees were planted in spring of 1905 and as many
during the winte: of 1905-6. Two carloads of trees were used, planting going
on all winter.

The ground was plowed as deeply as the farmers of this*region could be in-
duced to stir the so‘l, then furrowed out by running a one-horse turning plow for-
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLANTING RAILWAY FORESTS ON LOUISVILLE & NASHVILLE RAILWAY
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 385

ward and back in the row. This avoids the necessity of digging holes with shov-
els. Fifty men were at work carrying the plants, distributing them in the rows
and covering the roots or planting.

An engine and a half dozen cars were employed transporting and boarding
the workmen. An average of one thousand trees were planted per day for each
man employed.

On June It we received report from the plantation that seasonable rains had
fallen and that practically all the trees were growing.

An additional five hundred acres has been selected in Mississippi which is
being prepared and will also be planted this season. The trees will be planted
7x7 feet, requiring 1,332,000 trees.

With the abundant rainfall, prolonged period of growth with so long a season
of warm weather and in a sandy soil, tree growth is far greater than in the North-
ern States, the average growth of the Catalpa speciosa being two inches in diam-
eter per annum in this region.

Carney’s, where this tract is located, was not selected because of any special
advantage over other Southern soil, but as a fair example of the average cut over
pine lands of Alabama, it being a tract which bordered on the railway and could
be purchased at a reasonable price.

The magnificent water oaks about the home of Captain J. A. Carney are char-
acteristic of the trees and tree growth of the Gulf States. The sarracenta (pitch-
er plant), which grows in the bog meadows so very abundantly, is a very beauti-
ful plant. Almost any tree will grow in this portion of Alabama. There are
very good specimens of black walnut, which in good soil here grows very quickly.
So also the black locust on rougher and dryer ground.

Some very good post oak trees are scattered through the hills, but it is of
rather slow growth.

The long-leaf yellow pine is the natural timber of the country, and many
young groves are coming in where the large timber has been cut out, so long as
fires are not allowed to destroy them.

The Louisville and Nashville Railway Company have made several planta-
tions of trees this season, at points along the line of the road.

A quantity of walnuts have been planted in Kentucky, and upon some rot gh
hills, black locust has been used; 100,000 of these were planted. Ten locations
were selected for Catalpa speciosa, and 150,000 trees have been planted at these
points.

In the North, tracts have been planted at East St. Louis, Eldorado and Shaw-
neetown, Illinois, and at Newport, Kentucky, near the mouth of Licking river.

Where the right of way has exceeded 150 feet, a few locations were planted
on the outer edge of the track line, more particularly for experimental observation.

The principal quantity of trees were planted in forest form in order that the
trees might mutually protect one another.

Fifty acres at Goulding, a suburb of Pensacola, the soil of pure sand, with
a sand subsoil for probably thirty feet. The land was covered with a low growth
of scrub oak, black jack. A part of the land had been in cultivation, LeConte
pears occupying a large area. These pear trees have made a splendid wood
380 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

growth, but no fruit of a profitable character had accompanied it, while blight
destroyed many of the trees.

Near by, on similar land, are fine orchards of Pecan, some pecan trees also
growing on this land.

We argue that soil which would support tap rooted pecan and pear trees
and enabled them to grow so luxuriantly would also support deep rooted Catalpa
Speciosa trees, and thus selected this location.

The ground was plowed, and marked off with a one-horse plow, in eight
feet rows one way, the men stepping off the distance and planting at about eight
feet in these rows.

After the first half day's planting, in which new men accustomed to one kind
of work, and performing a task entirely different in character, they learned the
routine and made excellent headway. The average number of trees planted per
man was 700 each day.

In the North the average per man is one thousand trees per day.

One man carried a bundle (100) of trees, another used a shovel, the tree
being held in the furrow, while earth was thrown upon the roots. Then stepping
upon the earth about the tree, two ordinary steps and one short step were taken
and another tree set.

The advantage of small trees in forest planting will be apparent. Transpor-
tation is much less; cost of trees being but a fraction of the cost of large trees.
While a man may plant a dozen large trees in a day's time, he will plant one
thousand small trees. Then the shock resulting from loss of roots and removal
is very great in large trees, while it is not noticeable in small ones. These trees
were 24 to 30 inches high, with roots to inches in length.

The recent extensive planting of trees by many railway companies and private
land owners has given us a basis upon which we may now closely estimate the
expense attending large forest plantings.

The value of land varies with location, quantity of soil, nearness to market,
ete., but good land suitable for timber production can be bought in the South at
from $1.50 to S10 per acre.

We will consider the cost of land at $5.00.

TOGO acress0 £ lanidl Pras ese ha eens Moats S 5,000.00
IRENGING: Gude vca tes Gu ple ean Gee een eee eee 600.00
Plominorat Sec pen day asca eat esea nti: 2,000.00
PURO ITS VOU: Bicis ohh AU A rien 500.00
888,000 EES AU STO PEM, ca 5 bt gece totes 8,880.00
Pil ATHENT Sie neti oe ne eee ose eves inace ates eae 1,500.00
A CuliMVatiOns “TSt VEAL” veces na Gaels 2,400.00
3 sa Bil NCAT cates eed eA waa 1,800.00
2 ‘. BUSCA Jokussen teen iemiane Seale 1,200.00
CutPiie-olt trees 2nd Wear a2 snc aed 500.00
Pruning to single Stem ¢o24s44 sethaneecs 500.00
Pein BC year aaak Be ean Aue aee ioe ce 250.00
Interest on investment 7 vears........... 7,036.40

$34,087.00
 

 

 

 

PLANTING TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND CATALPA TREES AT CARNEY’S, ALA,
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 389

We may name thirty-five dollars per acre as entire cost of land and invest-
ment.

From this plantation we shall be able to sell, in seven to eight years, mine
props, mine ties and timbers and fence posts; one million sticks, being two only,
per tree, three-fourths of all trees being removed to give room for development
to the remaining and permanent trees.

No one can hesitate at placing a value of five cents each, net, upon this prod-
uct, or fifty thousand dollars income at this time. Thus the entire cost will have
been paid, and the land, with a permanent forest, remains for future development.

From the experiences of the past, covering every portion of the United
States, we may confidently expect to realize in cross-ties and timber in fifteen
to twenty years, and with 170,000 permanent trees look for one million cross-ties
at the expiration of the period.

Averaging 60 cents, today, for inferior woods, cross ties may safely be
estimated to be worth as much, or 50 cents each, net, fifteen years hence.

An engineer can readily complete the estimate, and add, if he wishes, a con-
siderable sum to the incidental expenses and yet be safe in final results.

If trees are not planted, how are these articles to be obtained two decades
hence?
390 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

SCIENTIFIC WORK IN PLANTING TREES.

Creditable Achievement of International Society of Arboriculture.

(From Indianapolis Star, February 11, 1906.)

The planting of forests upon an extensive scale in the United States has
never before been undertaken either by any State or by the National Government,
nor yet by individuals or corporations. True, there have been some local plant-
ings done with white pine in the East, and under the timber-planting act there
were many groves planted in the Western States, most of which have failed from
lack of proper information, instruction and assistance, and the moral support of
the United States authorities, although Congress, in enacting this important meas-
ure, intended it to accomplish the re-afforestation of the land.

It has been left to a volunteer society, without either financial or moral sup-
port from the Government, to inaugurate this most important timber-planting
scheme and carry it to a successful conclusion.

The manager of this great international movement is Mr. John J. Brown,
editor of ARBorICULTURE, and Secretary of the International Society of
Arboriculture, whose life has been devoted to study of economic fores-
try. By appeals to the presidents of the great railways, and pre-
senting to them the facts regarding the rapidly diminishing forests, and probabil-
ity of the railways soon being compelled to adopt other materials than wood for
railway construction and maintenance, unless speedy efforts are made to provide
a continuation of the wood supply; and further, by showing the rapid growth,
great durability and usefulness of the Catal/pa speciosa tree, has induced these
railways to begin the planting of great forests of these valuable trees.

OVER A MILLION TREES.

There are now being planted considerably more than one million Catalpa
trees under direction of this society by American railways. Fully as many more
are being planted by farmers and land owners in various portions of the country.
while within the past four years more than ten million trees have been planted:
all through the influence of this society.

Mr. Brown has made a thorough study of economic timber trees and rate of
growth of all species, and has amply demonstrated the importance and value of
Catalpa speciosa, its great range of successful growth and utility in commerce,
manufactures and the arts.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 391

For instance, the white oak, which is so highly prized for furniture manufac-
tire, interior house finish, cooperage, car building and cross-ties, requires from
one hundred to two hundred years to become available and profitable lumber.
Yellow pine, the wood which is now taking the place of oak for many purposes,
as the latter timber has become so scarce, grows very slowly, requiring from
seventy-five to one hundred and fifty years to mature. The same slow rate of
growth prevails with all the woods which are recognized as being of value in the
manufactures. The tropic timbers, which have been so highly exploited as pro-
ductions of the Philippine Islands, and also of Cuba, Central America, etc., are
of most extreme slowness in growth, often from five hundred to one thousand
years maturing.

MVALUABLE, TREE:

In presenting to the world an American forest tree which matures in a frac-
tion of the time required by the commercial woods of the world, and is so durable
as to outlast from five to ten successions of other woods, and to be equal or su-
perior to them in many qualities which give value to timber and lumber, it is not
to be wondered that railways, land owners and farmers should accept the proof
of which this society has adduced, and taking advantage of the knowledge and
information given by its management, plant trees in large numbers for the pro-
duction of cross-ties and car building.

But the influence of this organization does not stop here; it extends to the
farthermost portion of the earth. Trees and seed which the society has supplied
has produced forests in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Honolulu, Mexico,
Central and South America, France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain.

In all these countries the Cata/pa speciosa has proved successful, as reported
by the members of the society in these various countries.

What seems marvelous is that an almost totally unknown tree indigenous to
a small portion of Indiana and unknown elsewhere, until distributed recently,
should be to all appearance so universal in its ability to adapt itself to various
soils and climatic conditions, growing now forty degrees latitude south of the
equator to forty-five degrees north latitude.

The persistent research of one man in the face of strong opposition for many
years has accomplished this achievement.

Professor Asa Gray and many renowned botanists have been mistaken in
describing the Catalpa speciosa, and have not understood it, for the reason
that original trees are small in number and circumscribed in locations, while many
thousands of Catalfa bignonioides have been distributed, as well as innumerable
hybrids, throughout Europe and America, which have misled experts every-
where.

Catalpa speciosa is a tall, upright forest tree, of magnificent proportions,
while Catalpa bignonioides is of dwarf habit, crooked and of unattractive appear-
ance.

There are records of Catalpa speciosa trees that a century ago were common,
which measured twenty-one feet girth, and reached upward one hundred and
fifty feet, Canoes and batteaux were constructed of single logs, which measured
392 PRACTICAL ARBORICULT URE

seven feet across the beam. No one ever heard of Catalpa bignonioides or hybrid
trees of any size approaching these records.

The States of Ohio and Colorado have taken up this matter, and have dis-
tributed many thousands of trees, co-operating with the International Society in
this work, the trees being supplied by the society. The Republic of Mexico, Do-
minion Government of New Zealand and several European countries have also
received seed and trees from the society, and are making extensive experiments
with this American tree.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RED OAK TREE
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 395

TREES OF AMERICAN FORESTS, THE GRANDEUR AND GLORY
OF OUR COUNTRY.

Shall they be Perpetuated, That Posterity May Enjoy Their Utility?

LARCH.
Larix,

The American Larch, or Tamarack, L. Americana, is hardy in the North;
grows quickly in dry soils, even in gravelly, although natural to far northern
swamps. Its value is far less than the European Larch, L. Europea, which latter
is planted for ornament and for timber, being a rapid growing, handsome tree,
with foliage which resembles an evergreen, although it is deciduous.

In thirty years specimen trees in parks have reached the height of 60 feet,
with a diameter of twenty-nine inches. It is safe to base an estimate on the
European Larch increasing an inch in diameter for each year of its growth.

This is the principal tree which is largely planted in foresting tracts of
Europe, and eminent authority has estimated that the profits from European
Larch in fifty years would be $5,000 per acre, after deducting all expenses, taxes
and interest.

Owing to its upright habit and slender growth, it will bear much closer plant-
ing than forest trees which have a more spreading nature. Young trees may be
set four feet apart, if plants are abundant, and the thinnings are of sufficient im-
portance to warrant close planting; this will require 2,704 plants per acre; other-
wise set them seven feet apart each way, using goo plants per acre.

With good cultivation and fair soil, the plantation may require thinning after
the twelfth vear, at which time they should be of value for many purposes, while
at twenty vears the Larch will make good telegraph poles to the value of $2,200
at their present valuation. i

If the greater distance is observed in the first planting, some quick growing
trees should be set between the rows of Larch, for use as fuel, or poles, to be re-
moved in a few years, the object being to prevent the formation of side branches
by the Larch.

While there are so many nurseries in the country from which small plants may
be obtained at very low cost, it is not advisable for any one, not fully experienced,
to undertake erowing Larch, nor Evergreens from seed, as this is a business in
itself which requires far more care than can be given by those who plant trees.
306 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

The European Larch is remarkably durable, while our American Tamarack
is not, and care must be observed in securing genuine plants.

Writers have extolled the merits of the European Larch, both on the conti-
nent and in this country, and there can be no question as to its valuable character.

In Wisconsin, and Northern Illinois, the tree has proven to be well adapted
to soil and climate. It should be largely grown throughout the North and West.

THE OAK.
Quercus.

The Oak Tree has been noted from the earliest antiquity as the King of the
Forest ; its wood as the symbol of strength. With it the ancients constructed their
ships, while the oldest furniture and finishings of which we have knowledge were
made from Oak, and it holds the same position with moderns as it did with earlier
ages.

There are many varieties disseminated throughout the world, adapted to
various soils, climates and conditions; some are natural to swamps in warm cli-
mates: others to wet lands in the far north; and again, it seeks the
high, dry mountain ridges of the temperate region, while in every location and
soil, except the arctic ice, it has adapted itself and established a variety.

Frequently it is a giant in size, but sometimes of dwarf habit, while again it
is a perfect tree, flowering and bearing seed while growing in the tiny flower pot
of the Japanese gardener.

In most varieties, the wood is of great durability; hard, tough, in young
wood, very elastic, strong and of great beauty.

At present, as it was centuries ago, the oak is the fashionable wood for the
finest furniture and inside finish of buildings; its uses legion.

While there are numerous historic trees which have lived for centuries, vet
while young, its growth is by no means slow. Our records show some varieties
to have made a girth of 46 inches in fourteen years and a he ght of 40 feet. Others
in twenty years gained 50 inches girth, 314 inches gain each year, which is almost
an average of other woods.

Oak bark constitutes an important product in the commercial market of Amer-
ica, for tanning, while in Spain the bark of the Cork Oak supplies the world with
corks, and this variety will succeed in the more Southern States.

In wagon spokes the white oak is far the best timber, and almost the only
wood used for the purpose.

In large portions of the country in early davs, the acorns formed the principal
fattening food for swine, and in places there are sufficient Oak trees still to materi-
ally aid in pork production while the acorns are falling.

The Oak does not usually bear transplanting well, as its tap root is injured
by removal of the trees, but one or two vear trees are safely moved, and with
great care somewhat larger ones can be saved.

In forest plantations, the Oak should be alternated with rapid growing soft
wood trees, or shrubs, which may be removed in time, or which will finally be
overtaken by the Oaks.
 

 

 

 

 

AMERICAN LINDEN
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 399

J

Q. Alba, our Northern White Oak. Q. Rubra, the Red Oak. Q. Obdtusil-
oba, the Post Oak. QO. Macrocarpa, Overcup or Burr Oak. Q. Prinns, Chest-
nut Oak. Q. Phillos, Willow Oak. ©. Coccinea, Scarlet Oak; are all valuable
varieties to choose from. .

In the Southern States when a pine forest is cleared and left for alfew years
undisturbed, very frequently Oak trees naturally take possession of the land, and
in a few years become valuable for the second growth timber. It is probable that
in the soft, mellow soil about the decaying pine stumps, acorns dropped by squir-'
rels or other small animals, find lodgment and take root, which would not be the
case in hard soil.

Thus Nature tries to cover the bare surface of all the earth with plants and
trees, but is often thwarted by the agency of man, as in case of the prairies where
man with fire has prevented all plant growth save the annual forms of herbs and
grasses.

QUARTER SAWED OAK.

About the year 1887, Black Walnut which had long been the favorite wood
tor Cabinet purposes, having become so far exhausted that a sufficient supply
could no longer be obtained, lumber dealers and manufacturers turned their at-
tention to Oak as the most desirable wood for all kinds of furniture and for
inside finish to buildings, and as many portions of the country still had an ample
supply of oak timber, lumber manufacturers urged its adoption and began in-
creasing their output of oak lumber.

Fashion governs the use of woods in furniture, as in the materials and styles
of other articles, and oak became at once in great demand.

The annual growth of this timber being by additions around the outer portion
of previous growth of the tree and within the bark, each concentric circle of cells
record one year, while from the center, extending to the circumference of the wood
are the rays showing in the cross cut surface. In these medullary rays
is found the very thin sheet of wood growth which makes the silver grain so
highly esteemed by connoisseurs.

Along these rays the wood splits easily under the skillful manipulation of the
workman, who with his frow and mawl rive out barrel staves of exceeding
thinness.

When these rived boards are smoothly dressed with drawing knife or
plane, carefully following the grain, no appearance of this silver grain will be
noticed, the grain showing in straight parallel lines. It is when the instrument
cuts across the grain at a very acute angle that they appear as broad sheets of
silver. Lumber manufacturers endeavor to have as large a proportion of the
boards as possible show this silver sheet.

Owing to the method of quarter sawing, each board requiring to be edged,
there is much waste in the numerous triangular pieces; it is claimed there is a loss
of twenty per cent greater than in ordinary sawing.

Besides there is much of the log which makes very narrow lumber, and join-
ing these narrow boards, so they may be used to better advantage, causes much

extra labor in cabinet work.
400 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Other woods are also quarter sawed; such as Beech, Maple, Sycamore, etc.,
which are used for hard wood finishing.

Quarter sawing adds very materially to their beauty.

The usual process of sawing ordinary lumber is to first take off a slab, and
enough boards from each of four sides, to square the log, after which the squared
timber is sawn into such planks or timbers as may be required.

By this method of sawing the greatest economy is practiced, as the only waste
is in the sappy outer portions and the kerf, or saw cut.

A very few boards immediately at the center exhibit the silver grain, but as
they extend either side, these disappear, becoming straight, parallel and plain
grain, except where a knot has twisted the growth and given it a gnarled or curly
form.

LIVE OAK.
Quercus Virens.

In the early part of the 19th Century this Government made careful exami-
nations of the South Atlantic Coast region, where at that time the Live Oak was
quite abundant, and endeavored to reserve and protect this valuable wood for the
use of the navy and general ship building. The wood is very close grained, tough
and durable, and was formerly in great demand for special purposes in the con-
struction of wooden ships. The old frigate, Constitution, had much live oak
timber in her construction.

The tree, while of slow growth, is a handsome evergreen, and more valued
at present as specimen and ornamental shade trees in the Gulf States, where the
tree is hardy. Usually the long, spreading branches are draped heavily with the
pendulous wild Spanish moss.

I measured the surface occupied by the branches of one Live Oak tree in
Alachua County, Florida, which covered 3,420 square feet, the main limbs being
100 feet in length and extending fully 80 feet high.

Here is one solitary tree occupying an entire acre of land, yet the main trunk
from branching so low, would scarcely make a good 12 foot saw log containing
150 cubic feet of lumber.

As a handsome, noble, shade tree, it is invaluable; it is mentioned to illustrate
the point to be impressed that for economic forest planting, the compact mass of
trees is essential.

THE BEECH.

Fagus Ferruginea.

In Ohio and Indiana, as well as in a few other States, where the original for-
ests are almost destroyed, one tree has been left; here and there a clump of Beech
remains, probably from an earnest desire on the part of the land owners to retain
a portion of the original forests, this being the only tree they could not sell or
make into rails; while the labor of sawing it into stove lengths in order that it
could be split is greater than its value for fuel when so prepared. One by one the
more valued trees have been removed as required for various uses.

The Beech is a very beautiful tree, affords a dense shade, while the roots
forming a network just at the surface, prevents the ground from becoming soft
 

 

LIVE OAK ON LINE OF LOUISVILLE & NASHVILLE RAILWAY
 

 

 

 

AMERICAN PLANE TREE (SYCAMORE)
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 403

with mud, and if not too close and dense, permits a bluegrass sod to form, and so
the woodland is utilized for pasturage.

The enormous quantity of edible nuts produced affords considerable food for
swine and fowls, while squirrels scatter the nuts broadly, and consequently many
Beech seedlings appear, nearly all of which, however, are quickly destroyed by
stock.

The wood is very inferior for most purposes, yet it is utilized to some extent
as lumber and for fuel.

The grain of the beech often grows in spiral manner, making a complete cir-
cuit of the trunk in a few feet.

It is usually cross-grained and tough, difficult to split, and for this reason it
is valued for making shoe lasts, plane stocks, small tool handles, and many articles
which are usually kept dry.

Recently the Beech has been quarter sawed, making a very handsome lum-
ber, which is greatly esteemed for inside finish.

The lumber must be carefully handled while drying, as it is inclined to warp
and twist. If exposed to the weather beech quickly decays, while in some situa-
tions it is inclined to dry rot.

Hillsides with steep slopes in Southern Indiana have been held firmly, with-
out washing, the surface soil remaining deep, rich and mellow, affording good
woods pasture for many years past, by leaving the original beech woods, but
within three years after clearing away these trees, their roots had entirely decayed
and the land completely denuded of soil, leaving only the hard, stiff clay and lime-
stone rocks from which the water flows rapidly, without penetrating the earth,
and when cultivation was attempted, the surface soon washed into gullies and
was unproductive.

Where such timber is standing on rough lands it is far better to plant other
and more valuable trees among the beech woods, allowing the old trees to remain
as a protection to the young growth until they are capable of caring for them-
selves and taking the place of the former woods.

THE AMERICAN SWEET CHESTNUT.
Castanea Americana.

This valuable timber and nut tree is not appreciated as it should be in the re-
gion of its abundance. In but few localities of the Western States has it been
placed by Nature, yet it has been planted by man quite extensively and it has gen-
erally adapted itself to the new conditions and grown well.

The mountain regions from Tennessee to Virginia, and higher lands of New
York and New Jersey, seem to be the places of its greatest abundance.

The Chestnut is of rapid growth, spreading, if allowed ample room, but
straight and upright in dense woods, making a very large tree. Splitting into rails
easily, from its straight, even grain, this is a favorite wood for building the old
rail fences, and besides it is easily chopped and worked.

When not in contact with the earth. it is remarkably durable, and is, as well,
the common fence post in many localities, lasting as such a long time, although

bv no means as durable as Locust.
404 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Chestnut timber is inferior for railway ties by reason of its tendency to
split, not clinging tenaciously to the spikes as do the oaks.

It is frequently sawn into lumber, and for many purposes is quite valuable as
such.

Chestnut wood is largely used as fuel, although inferior to some other woods
for heating.

While the nuts are not so large as the Italian or Spanish, yet they are far su-
perior in quality, and always find a ready market in the cities and towns.

In the open woods, when the early frost opens the burrs, and the winds
shake them to the ground, swine procure the greater portion of their food from
the chestnut.

The nuts grow readily if kept from drying out during winter. It is usual to
keep them in sand until ready to plant.

This tree sprouts from the stump, when cut down, and quickly makes new
growth, coming to maturity much quicker than from the seed.

For the Western farmer the Chestnut possesses several qualifications as a
timber which may well be considered. Its easy culture, rapid growth, admitting
of close planting, being of utility for poles when necessary to, thin out the trees,
even the very voung poles having a value for barrel hoops, making fuel rapidly
and soon growing to a size for fence posts. Still, enough may be allowed to re-
main for a dense wood.

It will quickly form a screen, or windbreak, to protect the home and orchard
as well as to furnish abundant supply of delicious edible nuts.

In planting, the rows should be four feet apart, and from a few inches to four
feet distance in the rows, depending upon the quantity of seeds or plants on hand,
and area desired to be planted.

Eventually, the trees should be left eight feet apart each way. Young trees
of one year’s growth may be bought cheaply from the nurseries, and are easily
transplanted.

OSAGE ORANGE. BOIS D’ARC.

Aaclura.

The Red River country of the South has furnished the Northern and West-
ern States with this invaluable wood. In its native region it is an irregular grow-
ing, crooked and but little valued tree, so hard and iron-like it is difficult to work,
and edge tools are quickly dulled while cutting the Bois d’Are.

On an ancient wood pile in Arkansas a chopping block was used which
showed signs of age, but not of decay. Upon inquiry it was learned that this
block of wood had been used for the same purpose during the past sixty-five years
by the family who yet owned the homestead.

The wood is very dense and fine grained, of a handsome yellow, and useful
for many purposes where durability overweighs the difficulty of manipulation.

It has long been used in wagon work in the South, where the shrinkage of
most other woods make them undesirable.

The wood is so strong, and its fibres so closely woven as to give great flexi-
bility, and, as its name implies. it was the favorite wood for the bow with the In-
dians of the Southwest.
 

 

 

 

 

A CHESTNUT BURR

 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 407

With the rapid settlement of the Western prairies, and the scarcity of timber
for fences, there came a demand for hedges, and suddenly there sprung into ex-
istence an extensive business collecting the oranges and grinding out the seeds,
which were washed free from the pulp and dried for shipment.

Immense quantities of these seeds were thus shipped to seedsmen in the
Northern cities, while extensive nurseries were devoted solely to the growing of
Osage hedge plants, with which thousands of farms are fenced, not only in the
regions which were originally prairies, but also in States which had become prac-
tically treeless, although once heavily timbered.

In places these trees have been planted in solid masses for forest and wind
breaks with excellent results wherever the plant is hardy.

While young, the tree grows quite rapidly, and when forced into an upright
position by close planting, becomes a tall and valuable tree, suitable for posts, tele-
graph and telephone poles, and would doubtless make excellent railway ties,
valuable especially on account of their durability.

A plantation could be thinned, cutting out surplus trees, taking from one-
fourth to one-fifth each year, and as the Osage grows from the old stump it would
renew itself indefinitely.

The voung plant, for a few weeks after its appearance above the ground, is
quite tender, but as it becomes more woody, it is very hardy, and quite able to
take its place with other plants unless smothered with grass.

If the oranges can be secured near where the trees are wanted, they may be
thrown into piles and allowed to decay, strewing the seed with the pulp along the
furrow.

If dried seed are used, they should be soaked a week, and then mixed with
sand, or plaster, so as to separate in sowing, which may be done by hand, or with
seed drill, planting not too deep, and from half an inch to one inch or more apart,
depending upon the use to be made of the plants.

For forest planting it would be better to give them plenty of room in the
rows, so that each tree could have its due share of moisture and nutriment.

Rows eight feet apart, and plants four feet apart in the rows, would be ample
space, and supply large quantities of poles for various uses.

WHITE POPLAR, OR ABELE.
Populus Alba.

No tree exceeds the Abele in tenacity of life under most adverse conditions.
It resists the smoke, gas and dust of city streets, thrives under the treatment that
destroys almost every shade tree, the constant tramping, excavating for street im-
provements, paving, and even when cov ered entirely with asphalt it seems to find
some way of obtaining enough moisture and nourishment to preserve its life.

The persistence with which the Abele sends up suckers, and spreads from the
root is astonishing, and this habit, together with the fact of its roots running along
close by the surface, and forming a dense intricate mass of roots about it, makes
it one of the best trees for steep hillsides, where the land is liable to wash.

On loose rocky hillsides or stiff clay slopes, as well as in good soils, the Abele

seems to be equally at home, having become thoroughly Amer icanized during the

two hundred years domiciliation.
408 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

The leaves have a bright, silvery appearance, as they tremble with the slight-
est breeze, thus presenting the green upper side and the downy white under por-
tion in rapid alternations.

In America the wood has never been highly esteemed because of the former
abundance of native timber of highest quality ; even for fuel, like all poplars it is
of inferior grade, its principal and onlv use being for street planting and shade.

In many portions of Europe, however, where heavy forests are not so exu-
berant as they have been on this continent in previous times, the Abele is utilized
for lumber and greatly appreciated.

Were these trees growing in abundance, and in thickets, so as to extend their
trunks in height, there would be a demand and a commercial value to the lum-
ber; doubtless, far beyond that of cottonwood.

The Abele is equally as hardy as the cottonwood, is easily cultivated, being
free to grow from cuttings, suckers or pieces of root, while its persistence under
great difficulties commend it as a forest tree or for a nurse, on the prairies and
plains of the West, while it should be given thorough trial in the arid belt.

The wood is white, soft, with an open grain; the fibers are very tenacious,
giving the timber great toughness.

We have mentioned the Abele as a suitable wood for paper — and pulp. It is
well worthy extensive planting for this use.

 

TYPICAL ELM
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 409

 

TYPICAL “ELM

THE ELM.
Ulimuts.

There are four varieties of the Elm native to America, and others of Euro
pean origin are grown in the nurseries for ornamental planting.

Ulmus Americana, or White Elm, is the most abundant and better known.
The beauty of the Elm for street trees, for park and ornamental purposes, is well
known, and it is so highly valued that unusual efforts are made to protect the
trees from insects which of recent years have threatened its destruction.

In the fine parks of Cincinnati and along the Limestone hills of the Ohio, large
numbers of old and greatly valued trees (Elms) have died recently, presumably
caused by excessive droughts several vears in succession, and it is feared that all
these noble trees will succumb unless there should be a decided change in the cli-
matic conditions of Ohio and Indiana.

In the mechanical arts the Elm plays a very important part. It is quite light,
strong, flexible to a considerable degree, and possesses in a remarkable extent the
quality of remaining in any position or shape to which it may be bent while in a
heated and softened condition, afterwards becoming hard.

It is thus used in various bent forms for wagons, carriages and sleigh works,
for agricultural and other machinery, and similar uses.
410 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

The inferior portions are used for crates where some cheap, rough lumber
is required. The best barrel hoops are made of elm, being far better than hoop
poles of young hickory, chestnut, etc.

Besides, it is an extremely wasteful practice to destroy millions of young
thrifty trees which, when split, make but two poles each, of five trees to every
slack barrel made, when one Elm tree will supply enough hoops for a carload of
barrels, as well as being superior.

Another important use is for carriage hubs, for which it is well adapted; also
barrel staves, heads, etc.

Naturally the Elm prefers a moist, rich location, and it is commonly found
along the banks of streams. Here the seed, which is small and winged, is blown
by the winds and carried by the water until it finds lodgement in muddy or moist
places, soon springing up and making several inches growth the first year. The
young tree grows quite rapidly, and if planted closely in rows four feet apart, and
thinned by cutting out from time to time, will make tall, upright trees of consid-
erable value in two decades, the thinnings being of utility for fuel, hoops and
other uses.

Young trees may be purchased very cheaply at the nurseries, but if it is pre-
ferred to grow them from seed these should be thickly planted in good garden soil
in rows one foot apart, covered very slightly, and kept free from weeds and grass
by frequent hoeing.

It would be well to allow the seedlings to remain in the seed bed two years.

The Elm is easily transplanted, even when quite large trees. Under no cir-
cumstances should forest trees of any kind be neglected, for if weeds and grass
once get a start they absorb the moisture and impoverish the ground, soon chok-
ing and stunting the young tree. It is far more important that a young forest
be well cultivated and kept free from weed growths than it is for an annual crop,
such as corn, potatoes, etc., because of its greater value and permanence.

TREES FOR THE PRAIRIES AND SEMI-ARID REGIONS.

Any portion of our prairies, and a large area in the semi-arid belt, may be
brought into cultivation and a variety of forest trees grown, if an effort is made
and proper conditions maintained.

Because certain plants have not grown wild in such locations is no argument
to discourage their cultivation; neither is it convincing to say that there is insuf-
ficient moisture for anything but sage brush and cactus. The prairies are such
simply and solely on account of the annual prairie fires with which the Indians
were accustomed to drive the game to points where they could slay them in multi-
tudes, and frontiersmen have kept up the custom to enable the young grass to
spring up and afford pasturage for their stock, and, as well, to protect their homes
from fire which might come unexpectedly.

This is shown by the fringe of timber and brush along the banks of streams
and on damp or dry rocky places on which but little wild grass would grow, not
enough to burn out the growing shrubbery. In damp places and along the bot-
toms where timber is found, the annual grasses could not be burned. or but
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 411

slowly, and with little heat, and here the young growth of timber encroached on
the prairies in proportion as the moisture extinguished the burning grass.

Almost every plant has been strewn by nature in such location as it is found,
but apparently by accidental circumstances. If a squirrel did not happen to carry
the nuts and drop them in good soil there might not be hickory, walnut, oak or
beeches in that particular place; or if the birds did not have a good limb to perch
upon while eating the fruit, there might not be fruit-bearing trees or shrubs there.

But this is no reason that nut and fruit trees should not be planted where they
are wanted, for man has succeeded everywhere in growing them when he pro-
vides the necessary conditions.

China, Japan, India, Australia, Europe, as well as America, have vegetation
peculiar to each location, and found in nature nowhere else, yet the botanist, the
nurseryman, the fruit grower, have brought many thousands of our finest trees and
plants from their distant lands and acclimated them in America, where the soil and
climate are very different from that of their native habitat.

And so if proper efforts are made by the general government, the States, the
railwavs and land owners, the Western prairies and the ‘desert plains” may be
made to produce abundant vegetation.

Some of the great nurseries of the West have large orchards in full bearing
on the arid lands of Colorado and other States without artificial irrigation.
Simply a thorough cultivation by stirring the surface soil during the summer
months. Where the apple, pear and peach grow, most forest trees will thrive,
but neither will succeed if neglected.

How shall the proper condition be secured ?

The land, of course, should be fenced against stock. If it has a dense sod of
grass, that must ke subdued by plowing and allowing the sod to decay. If in the
arid lands, the deep-rooted sage should be destroyed to admit of cultivation with
the plow. The land should be prepared as for a farm crop. There is always
moisture present in the atmosphere, and to some extent in the apparently dry
desert sands, and if the surface is frequently stirred, it will absorb moisture from
the air and deeper soil, so that plants may obtain nourishment.

If water can be brought to the locality and irrigation practiced, a moderate
supply will be beneficial, but will not take the place of cultivation entirely.

In some locations there is insufficient vegetable mould for many plants, and
the burning sands, without shade, will soon destroy tender vegetation, while in
winter the strong winds and driving storms may greatly injure the young trees.
In such localities it may be necessary to have “nurses,” or hardy shrub growth that
will in time form a soil by the action of the network of rootlets penetrating the
surface soil, and the mulching and fertilizing secured by the falling leaves, while
these “nurses” shade the small and valuable trees, break the force of the storms
and temper it to them.

There are many plants of easy growth having little valuation perhaps in
themselves, but important, as they provide those conditions required by succeeding
trees.

Sumach, Ris, a common, low-growing shrub, which spreads rapidly from
the roots that run near the surface, forming a mass of rootlets and growing in
nearly all soils where it obtains a foothold. In Europe this Rhus is an important
412 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTUOURE

plant, the leaves being gathered for tanning, and it might be found useful for the
same purpose in this country.

Easily propagated by divisions of the plant. As the sumach thrives in lands
underlaid with gravel to great depth where many plants dry up during long, dry
summers, it would seem more than probable it could be grown in the dry, sandy
soil of the West.

Aesculus Californica—Dwart Buckeye. There are several varieties of the

suckeye which may be grown to advantage in dry locations; one in particular, a
dwarf-growing sort, is abundant along the lower foothills of the Sierra Nevada in
California, in such locations that have but little moisture.

While this does not make a tree, and is considered as without value, yet it
might be one of the best “nurses” for the semi-arid lands where it would probably
succeed.

The Ailantus, or Tree of Heaven, so much disliked for the strong, disagree-
able odor of the flowers when in blossom, would doubtless grow there, as it rap-
idly covers high dry rocky points and very poor soils, growing in gravel in the
Middle States, as well as in rich, moist locations.

It is propagated by seed or by suckers, both of which it produces in great
abundance. The Ailantus is used in Russia in the semi-desert lands to fix the
sands, which are so shifting under desert winds.

It is not generally known that the Ailantus has a beautiful grain, taking a
fine polish, and were there a sufficient quantity of the wood to supply a market it
would sell at a high price for some kinds of lumber. The tree naturally grows
upright for about sixteen feet, and then forms a round head with tropical foliage.
As a timber tree it should be planted thickly, which would force it into a tall, up-
right body, but as a “nurse” for other trees, it would be better to keep it headed
very low or cut off at the ground to force out more suckers. This is one of Chi-
na’s contributions to America.

The Barberry grows readily from seed and offshoots, is verv hardy, of quick
growth, and might adapt itself to dry regions. It spreads from underground
stems, which would be increased by layering, if desired.

The Box Elder—Negundo. This tree prefers a moist location, growing
freely along the margin of streams in all Western States, occasionally making
quite a large spreading tree, although usually not more than twenty feet high, and
of little value for timber, as the wood is quite soft.

It grows well under cultivation all over the West, and would do its part in
paving the way for something better.

It seeds freely and is thus propagated; is of rapid growth and being of the
family of maples, its sap contains sugar, for which it is grown in some localities.

Among wild fruits, the numerous wild plums are quite useful in supplying
shade, shelter and vegetable mould for future trees of greater value, besides sup-
plying fruit for birds and some for familv use.

The Chickasaw Plum, Primus Chicasa; Wild Plum, Prunus Americana; Wild
Red Cherry, Prunus Pennsylvania; Wild Black Cherry, Prunus seratina, all grow
readily from seed, or may be obtained from the nurseries. The two latter trees
make valuable lumber.
 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 
 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 415

Crataegus Pyracanth, or Evergreen Thorn, is of easy culture, grows from
seed, making a spreading shrub, very thorny, and as it grows well on dry, gravelly
soils, will probably succeed in the Western dry regions.

The Missouri Wild Currant—Ribes Aurewin—grows wild from Missouri to
the Pacific Coast, and might be utilized as a “nurse.” It grows rapidly from cut-
tings which root quickly, making a shrub 6 to 10 feet high.

Of the Mulberries, several grow well on the prairies. Russian Mulberry
succeeds and furnishes a small, pleasant fruit, as well.

Sassafras is worthy a trial in the farther West. In the older States it occu-
pies the poorer soils, often takes possession of abandoned, worn out fields, spread-
ing over them completely. The roots run rather deep. Many mills are engaged
in extracting oil from the sassafras roots and stumps for medicinal purposes, while
thousands of men are employed in digging these roots in the regions where it
abounds.

HACKBERRY IN COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA.

In a recent visit to South Carolina's Capital we were impressed with the
beautiful avenues of hackberry (Celtis occidentalis), which line many of the
streets.

Southern cities, as a rule, are noted for the absence of shade trees upon the
streets, and also for the want of care they should receive, and considering the
protracted hot weather and the pouring sun, shade is needed far more than it is
farther north.

In our extensive travels we have never before seen such a number of hack-
berry trees on the public streets as there are in Columbia, fully three-fourths of all
trees on the city streets being of this species.

When we consider the cleanliness of the hackberry, the few insects which at-
tack it, the beauty of the foliage, the great quantity of nutritious berries which it
produces to feed the birds, and the agreeable shade which the foliage affords, we
only wonder that a tree possessing so many good qualities should have been neg-
lected, as a hardy, healthy, handsome, easily grown tree suitable for both shade
and ornament, and one so universally successful, is not obtained so easily as is the
hackberry, while none are better suited for general use.

We commend the authorities and citizens of Columbia for the excellent ex-
ample which they have set for other cities, both South and North, and for their
choice of so grand a tree for their streets.

PLANTING A FOREST.

Nature employs many agenc‘es in distributing forests. Some seeds, as edible
nuts, are carried by squirrels and other animals to their homes, often at a consider-
able distance. A portion are scattered while gathering their winter supplies in
a verv irregular manner.

Verv manv have wings, and are impelled by the winds which soweth them
without system, whithersoever it bloweth.

Other seeds, contained in berries, are eaten by birds which may fly to distant
points, dropping them from whatever branch they may chance to perch.
416 PRACTICAL ARBORTCULT ORE

Streams of water bear such seeds as fall upon their bosom, depositing them
along the shore; in places dense thickets result, while elsewhere only a seed here
and there finds lodgement.

Ocean currents transport trees, plants and seeds, casting them upon the sands
it may be many thousand miles from where they were grown, some of which take
root and become established in new lands.

Man eats the fruit, throwing away the stone at random; and it is not unlikely
that the Indians were as fond of nuts and fruits as we, and carried them to dis-
tant camping grounds, where the seeds were strewn.

The results are obvious. The weak, often most valuable, are strangled by
thorns. One acre may have a dozen trees of straggling growth, while another is
covered with dense timber.

System must be observed in forestry if lands are to be made profitable and
as a rule, varieties should be planted separately, although with certain more valua-
ble timbers of slower growth, there may be planted other more rapid growing trees
to afford shade, shelter and temporary protection, and which may be removed as
necessary. .

It should be remembered that trees in forests, to be used for economic pur-
poses, require entirely different treatment from those which are grown as specimen
trees on lawns and in parks. In the specimen single tree, its value and beauty is
in the open, spreading head, with limbs growing close down to the ground, hiding
the trunk almost entirely, while the value of a forest tree is in the length and sub-
stance of the trunk, together with its freedom from knots or absence of low-
growing branches.

It is of great importance that every foot of space in a forest plantation be oc-
cupied, in order that each tree shall make an upright stem, be long bodies and free
from knots. Thus, in the early stages of growth, the groves should be dense, and
as the trees increase in size, requiring greater space, systematic thinnings should
be made. Poles for various uses about a farm, fence posts, and much fuel will be
secured as these successive thinnings are made, while some kinds would supply
hoop poles.

It would be advisable to plant trees of one vear’s growth, except in the case
of nuts and rapid growing seeds, in rows seven feet apart, for convenience of cultt-
vation, with the ordinary farm implements, and the plantation should receive the
same care and attention which would be given a crop of corn, and this to be con-
tinued three or four years or until the strength of the plant, together with the shade,
would be sufficient to prevent the growth of grass, as when young trees are once
stunted and overcome by turf, the plantation is irretrievably ruined.

It is much to be preferred that a forest grove should be in a compact form,
rather than scattered in narrow belts about the farm, as the outer lines of trees
lean outward to the light and become crooked, never making straight bodied valua-
ble timber, although for wind breaks they may be planted in belts.

In the largest and finest forests of the Puget Sound region, the trees stand
very thickly, while some young thickets of fir, spruce and cedar are almost im-
penctrable.

Eleven million feet of sawn lumber have been cut from one quarter section
of land in Washington, nearly seventy thousand feet to the acre.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 417

In order that such an incredible quantity of lumber should be obtained in a
small area, the trees must stand very thickly. They must also be of large girth,
perfectly straight, to avoid waste in sawing, and reach high up from the ground.

While it is not expected that such cnormous growths may be obtained in every
locality, yet it forcibly illustrates our argument as to close and systematic planting.

In a state of nature, where these dense thickets occur, the main stem of each
reaches upward to the light, while the side be crowded, for want of sun-
shine, die and fall to the ground. A comparatively small number of the trees,
stronger than the others, push their heads above the weaker and smother them
out, so that only as many as can find nourishment and sunlight remain. “The
survival of the fittest.”

The object of close planting is twofold: by crowding the tops into a
compact shape we may prevent the formation of numerous side branches along
the lower trunk, thus enabling it to grow into a long, upright stem, while the forest
makes a quick shade so dense that herbage cannot grow to smother the young trees.

As soon as this has been accomplished, thinnings should be made at once,
by cutting out the surplus plants, in order that the roots of the permanent trees
may have ample room to spread, otherwise those which are of a temporary char-
acter greatly interfere with the nourishment and growth of the ones which are to
remain and they are dwarfed thereby.

This is especially important where moisture is deficient, whether from ex-
cessive drainage, as in gravelly soils, or steep hillsides, or from light rainfalls, as
the intermediate trees continue to absorb the moisture needed for the full devel-
opment of the permanent plant.

If the land to be occupied by wood is rough, hilly or mountainous this plan,
which is only suggestive, may be modified at will. The planting of young forest
trees is rapidly accomplished. With a thorough preparation of the soil by plow-
ing and harrowing, it is laid off one way by running deep furrows.

One person carrying plants drops them at proper intervals, depending upon
the kind of trees, quantity of plants on hand and system adopted. Another per
son follows with a shovel, covering and straightening it, moving rapidly along the
row: or, if nuts or seeds are used the furrows should he shallow, and seed covered
very lightly if they are small. |

Evergreens require very careful treatment for a few years, the seed bed
shaded and sheltered, and if the voung seedlings are transplanted often it is better.
as the roots are shortened with each transplantation, giving them an abundance
of fibrous roots when thev are to be finally set in permanent forest.

As this all requires special knowledge and care, no one should attempt grow-
ing evergreens from seed who is not thoroughly acquainted with the nursery busi-
ness, but trees transplanted should be purchased of some reliable nursery.

Trees which have grown several years in the native forest usually have long,
slender roots, and but few of them. When such trees are removed but little of the
root is secured, and a very large percentage of such trees die in a few weeks.

As small trees are so very cheap it is far better to purchase the nursery
crown, although it is often expedient to procure very young trees from native
woods where natural seed beds are provided, and seed is difficult to gather. These
deciduous seedlings often succeed admirably.
418 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

THE BLACK LOCUST.

Robinia Pseudacacia.

We have received many letters from correspondents who ask for advice and
information as to the desirability of planting the locust.

It is not generally known that the locust-is a native American forest tree,
growing upon the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and extending on the high-
lands in other states.

It has long been a favorite street tree for certain locations, but is falling into
disuse, largely on account of its sucking habit, sprouts coming up among the grass
of lawns which are very persistent.

Botanists recognize but one form of the locust, and the closest observation I
have given fails to discern any material difference other than what results from
soil and location. Yet there are many who claim yellow locust and black locust
to be two distinct varieties.

Some years ago I visited Long Island, where yellow locust was being sold as
a distinct variety. I found material difference in size and density of the wood
grown on the north shore from the timber of the West, but in the flower and
every detail decided there was but one species.

In rich loam and ample water the growth is very rank, while in the impov-
erished soil of the north shore the slowness of growth caused it to be more dense.

DURABILITY.

The wood is close grained, quite durable, and makes excellent fence posts.
It is quickly renewed from the stump and from suckers when the trees are felled.
When once planted the trees become permanent. Thus it is of value for the hill
lands along the Ohio Valley and similar localities.

It cannot be made into lumber on account of its habit of growing in folds as
it becomes old. There are comparatively few uses to which the locust can be
profitably put—fence posts being the principal one.

The well matured wood is very durable: fence posts made from very old trees
are among the most durable of our American woods. Young, sappy and im-
mature trees, however, are of short life when placed in the ground.

Density. The wood of locust is very hard, close grained, heavy, and when
seasoned is difficult to penetrate with nails, staples or spikes.

Straight Grained. The timber is remarkably straight grained, being readily
split into fence posts, which are the principal uses for which the timber is suited.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 419

While it is impracticable to saw the locust into lumber, and even to saw it into
shapely fence posts, yet an expert axman may work up a large tree into eight-
foot posts without difficulty or material loss.

This quality of straightness of grain combined with hardness tend to cause
splitting when spikes are driven into the wood, and when the wood shrinks in sea-
soning. Every farmer who has used locust posts knows from experience that it
is impossible to draw a nail from locust after the timber has seasoned, while man-
uracturers of nails and staples are obliged to make specially thick, short and heavy
nails and wire staples where locust posts are to be used; so dense is the wood ordi-
nary nails and staples will bend and double up but cannot be driven into the wood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A LOCUST GROVE, SPRINGVILLE, UTAH

NOT FOR RAILWAY CROSS-TIES.

It is possible to bore the wood before driving spikes, and thus enable the
fastening to enter the wood, but here again, with a square iron spike forced into a
round hole, the tendency to split as the wedge enters the wood is very great.

If it is safely secured without splitting, then, in case of accident to a train
or from any necessity for changing the track, the spike must be cut or broken
off, since it cannot be withdrawn.

Practical engineers will recognize this feature when great haste is often re-
quired in building a track around a wreck, or, in fact, in any railway operation.
420 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

In hanging gates, with screw eyes for strap hinges, we have often bored
locust posts to receive the screw eyes. The screw form of spikes may be used
instead of the present method of driving spikes. Still, this requires previous bor-
ing and occupies far greater time than to drive the spikes, in other wood.

There is much land which is rough, steep, rocky, mountainous, which will
produce black locust better than almost any other trees.

The demand for locust posts will always be great, and the waste can be used
for fuel. Hence it is a good investment to plant such tracts with locust, but as
a railway investment, for the purpose of securing cross-ties, it will be a doubtful
experiment.

There are many places where the locust is more desirable for forest planting
than a majority of other trees. On clay soil, among rocks and gravel, and on
poor lands which will not maintain a good growth of timber, the locust will often
succeed while failure would result from planting better timber.

Every farm should have a part of the rough land in some kind of post timber.

The borers sometimes destroy entire groves, but as it gains in root power and
vigor it overcomes these attacks.

The beauty and fragrance of the locust blossoms are well known. Good,
rich land may be more profitably employed by planting walnut, oak, catalpa and
trees which are valuable as lumber, cross-ties, etc., for which the locust is not
suited.

In time of wooden block pavements, this wood was largely used, but round
paving blocks have been quite unsatisfactory, except in Chicago, where they give
employment to many in their frequent renewals and supply of fuel in time of coal
famine.

Wagon hubs are sometimes made of locust, and on the sea coast it is utilized
for knees and other boat timbers, belaying pins, etc. Telegraph companies use it
for pins, for insulator supports on cross-arms, for which there is an increasing de-
mand. The durability and strength of the wood make it specially valuable for this
purpose.

For country telephone lines where extreme length and straightness are not
required, the young poles are useful.

The locust does not increase in value rapidly after it has attained a diameter
of twelve inches, when it should be cut and new growths permitted.

Our. illustration is a grove of locust in Springville, Utah. The growth of the
locust under irrigation, with hot, dry atmosphere, is very good. The bark has a
character quite different from that in the East, being more roughly furrowed.
The value of the locust for rough lands, unprofitable for cultivation, can scarcely
be overestimated, since our farm fences must be maintained in all parts of
America.

GROWTH OF BLACK LOCUST.

We have referred to the peculiarity of the locust in its mode of growing in
folds, thus preventing it from being sawed into lumber. We present a figure of a
cross section of a locust tree from drawing made with accuracy. This tree, as de-
termined by annual circles and also from historic record, was fifty years old, and
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 421

was not unlike thousands of similar trees, but this one was cut down and made
into posts, enabling us to make exact reproduction of the stump.

Its longest diameter was 28 inches. During the first ten years its increase
was regular, reaching a diameter of six inches, after which the tree made rapid
growth in direction of each main root. For twenty-five years the tree increased
regularly, being then 22 inches longest diameter, but the subsequent increase was
extremely slow.

This is the usual manner of growth, the wood spreading out around each
principal root. It is the practice of woodsmen to take advantage of this pe-
culiarity and with maul and wedges split apart these several lobes in the direction
which we have indicated, after which each section is split so as to make the
largest number or fence posts. Occasionally this operation is carried out at a
small saw mill, thus securing one or two face sides.

Since the young growth of locust is immature it is not very durable, and
only the old, well matured trees possess this extreme duration,

 

MANNER OF GROWTH OF LOCUST

The difficulty of securing commercial lumber, on account of this splitting up
into folds, and of having squared timbers or ties from the old trees, and the lesser
duration of the young poles, detract from the value of the locust and limit its
practical usefulness, except for fence posts.

As we have repeatedly stated, there are vast tracts of waste land upon which
the locust will thrive better than any other variety of timber, and it should be ex-
tensively grown for posts.

It is well known that on very dry, poor soil, where the locust grows more
slowly, the wood has greater durability and is sometimes called yellow locust, sup-
posing it to differ from black locust in variety, but this is a mistake. There is
but one Robinia pseudacacia.

In Europe, where the locust borer has not yet become injurious, the locust is
far more successful than in America.
422 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

The seed must be scalded, or subjected to heat to soften the heavy shell cover-
ing the seed.
Seedlings are better than suckers for a plantation. :

THE ASPEN.

This is essentially a production of high altitudes and Northern latitudes,
growing in the higher Rocky mountains, covering many slopes and filling the
valleys at the head of every water course.

The seed is produced with the same profusion as that of the cottonwood,
which is of the same family, and the young growths are very dense where the
location is favorable, often more than a million to each square mile. For this

 

 

ASPEN, 32 INCHES DIAMETER

reason the Aspen is usually of quite small size, seldom attaining a diameter of more
than six inches in such thickets. As the groves become thinned in time they in-
crease rapidly in size, and where the trees are isolated, they become fine, large
trees.

Our cut shows a thicket of Aspens, among which spruce and fir are protected.
The one Aspen in foreground is thirty-two inches in diameter, having a long trunk
carrying its size to a great height. This is upon the lands of the Colorado Fuel
and Iron Company, on the Sangre de Christo Range, Colorado, at the elevation
of ten thousand feet.

Nearby are groves estimated to contain 640,000 trees per square mile, rang-
ing from eight to sixteen inches diameter—each of which would make from three

to five lengths of mine timbers.

 
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 423

An unwarranted prejudice exists in the mountain region against the Aspen,
and it is seldom used except for fuel.

The old adobe houses, some built half a century ago, have flat roofs, covered
with Aspen poles, upon which is a foot of earth. The melting snow moistens
these poles in winter, while in summer they are thoroughly dry.

Fences are made of the long poles, laid up in the fashion of the rail fences,
and in both situations the wood 1s remarkably enduring.

Where the trees are twelve or more inches in thickness Aspen may be sawed
into lumber suited for boxes and all purposes where a white, soft, light wood is
required. There are numerous uses for this lumber in the West. /

Where so many mine timbers are used as in Colorado, the Aspen should be
utilized to preserve the more valuable spruce and fir for future growth. The
small coniferous trees now being cut for mine operations, often but five inches at
the stump, should be spared; they will be of much greater value in a few years.

For mine timbers the Aspen should be impregnated with chloride of zinc—a
portable treating plant being constructed for the purpose.

Probably not more than fifty spruce timbers are secured from an acre. Long
hauls over abrupt mountain roads, with but a few sticks on the wagon, make it
quite expensive getting out these small timbers, and being immature they decay
in two years. Aspen of a larger size can be treated quite cheaply, the plant heing
located in the valleys below the thickets, all the haul being down the slope. From
one small valley which I examined there can be obtained three millions mine tim-
bers. A hundred millions could be secured on the tract which I was investigating
tor the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

Should the Aspen be adopted for mine timbers it would result in the perpetua-
tion of the coniferous forests of that region, which through the unwise policy of
an unworthy employe are now being exterminated, losing forever all hopes of fu-
ture forests.

The Aspen thickets should be thinned severely, but not entirely cleared away,
as there is one provision of the Aspen which is seldom considered. The decay
of such a quantity of deciduous leaves each year makes a deep rich mould in which
seeds of pine, spruce and fir trees lodge, germinate, and protected by the Aspen,
become valuable forests.

Intelligent persons now recognize the importance of these Aspen thickets in
holding the snow, preventing too rapid melting, and thus the season of water
supply is prolonged for the inhabitants of the lower valleys.

The wonderful Stone Wall, an immense mass of rocks rising perpendicularly
out of the mountains to great height, extends many miles. The high, snow-
capped mountains in the distance are of the Sangre de Christo Range referred to,
and upon the summit and slopes of which are millions of acres covered with As-
pens. It was on one of these peaks I obtained the photograph of the big Aspen tree.

INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF FIRE.

It has been solely from the action of fires that the great plain and prairie
regions are treeless. ' Evidences are abundant that in former times all the now
arid regions of our continent were covered with dense forests, some of monster
dimensions. Of this we have more to say elsewhere.
424 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

The subject we now have in mind is the destruction of all vegetation by an-
nual burning, throughout the sandy plains of the West, and also in other localities
farther south and east.

The Pan Handle of Texas, New Mexico, Western Kansas and Nebraska and
Eastern Colorado are instances, while Florida is another illustration.

For ages the grasses and herbaceous growths have been burned off each year,
destroying all vegetation which otherwise would become incorporated with the
sand and form a true soil of great fertility.

The total productions of every manufacturer of artificial fertilizers spread
upon the surface, without admixture of soil, would produce a growth of vege-
tation. Sand, without vegetable mould added, makes a very poor farm.

All the sandy plains of the West contain potash and other mineral constituents
in ample quantities to produce immense crops when water is supplied by irriga-
tion.

But these sands, with all their mineral combinations, are subject to frequent
loss by burning, during periods of drought, because of the absence of vegetable
composition.

This is seen in Florida, a land of sand, that has been burned over by the abo-
rigines, and afterwards by the cattle men, the pine needles destroyed; nothing
has been added to the sand to form a soil. [ut in thousands of depressions
where moisture prevented the burning, rich hummock tracts have resulted, with
a deep, rich, black productive loam.

These annual fires are destructive of all young forest growths as well, and
prevent the natural spread of forests, besides the great losses each year of ma-
tured timber.

This practice of setting fires upon the prairies and plains, as well as within
the forests, should be speedily abandoned.
 

 

 

 

 

 

MT, ST. HELENS, WASHINGTON
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 42

NI

THE COTTONWOOD.
Populus monilifera. Syn. Carolina Poplar, Ete.

This well known tree is widely disseminated throughout the Middle and
Western States, is very abundant in the Southwest throughout the Mississippi
Valley, and extending to the Rocky mountains along the streams, appearing in
numerous dense thickets on the river sand bars and wherever there is enough
moisture to germinate the seeds and prevent annual fires from destroying the
young plant. .

The influence which this pioneer tree has exerted in building up the great
States of the West can hardly be estimated. For hundreds of miles along the
trails leading to the region of gold since “49 it was practically the only tree from
which the pioneers could obtain fuel with which to cook their meals and warm
themselves after a tiresome day's journey. There were no streams between the
Missouri river and the Continental divide but which had groves of cottonwoods
and isolated trees lining their banks, and while there were some willows, box
elder and various shrubs, yet the cottonwood was the only tree in large numbers.

Along the Platte, Missouri, Yellowstone and other Western rivers the groves
of cottonwood trees proved to be of vast importance to the pioneer, who made
settlements in the far west, as but little wood beside was found from which fuel
and building material could be obtained.

The dense thickets of Cottonwood along the Mississippi river for very many
years supplied almost the only fuel used by steamboats on the long trips between
New Orleans and the cities of the North.

Its seed, which is formed in vast quantities, is furnished with a bunch of cot-
tony down so light and buoyant that it is wafted by a slight breeze to great dis-
tances, this being the one principal cause of its extensive distribution. The
young tree, in fertile soil, makes rapid growth, while its extreme hardiness enables
it to withstand treatment which would destroy many less hardy trees.

The profusion of its seed is remarkable. The downy appendages to the seed
enabled the wind to carry them in immense numbers to every nook and corner
of western America. Why were there not vast forests? And why confined to
low vallevs and water courses? The answer is simple and fully explains the
total failure of the numerous tree claims under the Congressional Timber Cul-
ture Act, and the reason for the abject failure of that well-meaning taw.

The cottonwood cannot exist without large quantities of water. Its roots
must be bathed in water constantly to maintain a vigorous growth. Like the elm
and the willows, its habitat lies in moist places along water courses where its roots
may drink freely during the growing period.
428 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

When trees of this character are removed to dry locations, as on the high,
rolling plains, the insufficiency of water merely maintains life, but all vigor is lost.
There are places on the prairies where water exists within a few feet of the sur-
face. Here the cottonwood sends its roots deep and finds moisture. As a city
street tree it has passed its days of usefulness, and wherever it exists other and
better trees should be planted, selecting such as survive with less moisture and
have roots of an entirely different character from those of elm and cottonwood.

 

 

 

 

 

A WESTERN COTTONWOOD

The moist lands along the Mississippi river are favorable to the growth of the

cottonwood, and dense thickets formerly existed along the river's banks.
Before the extensive coal mining period, the author, as a steamboat clerk, has
eften watched the shores of the Mississippi for the well-known woodvards where

the supply of fuel must be replenished from the cottonwood groves, since the prin-
cipal fuel was from these trees.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 429

As the elevation increases at the base of the Rockies and we reach 6,000 feet,
the form changes—the broad leaf cottonwood disappears and the narrow leaved
variety succeeds it. «Again at about 7,000 feet the aspen, Populus tremuloides,
takes its place.

The wood is soft, white, and at times roughs up under the workman’s plane,
or the saw, and is not a favorite as lumber—although it is sometimes more easily
worked and is used in place of Yellow Poplar for boards.

The location in which it is grown has much to do with its character for lum-
ber, whether grown rapidly, or otherwise.

Some trees of known age have increased in girth almost seven inches each
year, obtaining a height of sixty feet and girth of ninety-six inches in fourteen
years.

Considering the many qualities which the Cottonwood possesses, hardiness,
rapid growth, enduring great extremes of dryness and excessive wet, being easily
transplanted, readily obtained from wild thickets, making fair fuel and good lum-
ber, this tree will always be a favorite for western planting, and, if planted in large
quantities, with a systematic method, it would prove amply remunerative.

One acre should contain 676 trees at eight feet apart, which would supply a
farmer with fuel and much fencing after a few years.

If far from coal deposits and some distance from railway station, a farmer
may on one acre grow cottonwood trees for fuel in five or six years, and still have
a permanent forest of that area.

CAROLINA POPLAR FOR STREET TREES.

The so-called Carolina poplar is a fraud upon the public, since it 1s only a cot-
tonwood, with all the defects of this tree, all its insect enemies and innumerable
iungoid diseases. It was given another name by designing men to impose upon
the public.

It is extremely unfortunate that the American people are not fully advised as
to the worthless character of the cottonwood, under whatever name, as a street
tree, for wherever the poplars will grow (except the aspen), other and better
trees will succeed.

The seriousness of the subject is seen when we realize that the oaks, elms,
fine hard maples, sweet gum and other elegant trees are no longer planted, the
cottonwood entirely taking their place, because of its fancied quick growth, which
is its sole recommendation.

For wood pulp the cottonwood will serve a good purpose and should be ex-
tensively planted, but only on rich, moist, low-priced land, where it cannot fail to
become profitable.

Our illustration is from one of the best specimens in the entire country, few

cottonwoods having so perfect a form.
430 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

PAULONIA IMPERIALIS.

We have received several inquiries regarding a blue (purple) Catalpa from
the South. This is not a Catalpa, but a Chinese tree, very similar to the Catalpa
in many particulars.

The leaves are large and much like the Catalpa. The tree sends up rank-
growing shoots from the stump after it has been cut down. The flowers re-
semble those of the Catalpa, except that the color is purple. The seed vessels,
however, are of conical shape, and are held upright upon the twigs, while in the
Catalpa family the seed vessels, shaped like elongated cigars, droop or are pendant
from the branches. The seed also are very different from Catalpa, though both are
winged.

The bark of the Paulonia much resembles that of ailantus.

It is strictly a Southern tree, thriving at Atlanta, Ga., and southward. This
tree is found at Washington City, probably its northernmost limit, but. sel-
dom blossoms, the buds being winter-killed.

The trees are quite abundant at Knoxville, Tenn., but seldom bloom. As the
flower buds are formed in autumn, they are liable to injury during winter frosts.

So far we have been unable to learn of any economic value of the wood, but
yet that might develop if the trees were grown in forest in Gulf States.

The flowers are quite handsome, and for these the trees are grown. The
wood is formed rapidly, and might become a profitable investment. Unfor-
tunately the habit of the Paulonia is to form a spreading head and short trunk.

Our object in this brief sketch is only to disabuse the minds of any who
think it one of the Catalpa family. It was imported from China about 1850,
and distributed by the Botanic Garden at Washington.

The Paulonia is placed by botanists in the Figwort family, while Catalpa
is classed among the Bignonia family,
‘(SACIOINONDIA) VSOTAAANIS VAIVLVO

 

 

 
 

PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 433

PLANTING MILLIONS OF TREES.

The author does not con..ic his efforts to the merely literary pursuit of writ-
ing articles for his journal.

He is actively engaged in directing the work of planting forests, to bring
them into a successtul timber-producing stage.

Swiftly moving from one plantation to another, selecting the lands, procur-
ing the trees, employing labor, planting the forests, his time is fully occupied.

The work is going on in the South all winter, planting ten thousand trees
daily. By the first of May, 1905, there was considerably more than a million
trees planted in twenty different locations and in twelve States, besides the
great number of trees heing planted by individual land owners through his
advice, amounting to fully as many additional trees.

A better idea may be had of the quantity by estimating how long it would
take one man to count and handle these trees.

Working eight hours a day, and merely picking up one tree at a time, ten
each minute, it would require eight months’ constant labor to thus handle and
count a million trees.

And vet this enterprise has only made a beginning. The land owners,
farmers, railways and manufacturers are just awakening to the fact that trees
must be planted if we would have lumber and ties and wood to continue the
industries of this great country a few brief years hence.
434 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

CATALPA SCRUBBIOSA.

There are a great number of Catalpa trees in St. Louis, but after two
months’ careful search I failed to find any Catalpa speciosa, except a few quite
small specimens of young trees.

At the Missouri Botanical Gardens, Mr. Shaw had planted several long
avenues with Catalpa bignonioides from the south, but most of these have been
destroyed during recent years, on account of their inferiority.

Dr. Trelease has made some recent plantings of Catalpa speciosa, but they are
yet quite small. :

A physician from Kansas who was attending the World’s Fair, noticing
the number of these southern trees, and being asked what they were, re-
plied, “They are Catalpa scrubbiosa.” This is a far more suitable name than
the ones given by early botanists. .

There is nothing descriptive or modifying by a repetition of the specific
name for one of a sub-variety, as Catalpa Catalpa, although Catalpa bignonoides
would indicate that the flowers of this variety resemble those of the bignonia
or trumpet creeper.

Catalpa scrubbiosa describes those innumerable mongrels of low strag-
gling habit, much branched, very short trunk, and productive of immense
quantities of seed, which are easily gathered. These trees have been distrib-
uted throughout the world through the carelessness of nurserymen and seeds-
men.

The vast number of these scrub trees in the United States have caused
public opinion to be formed adverse to the Catalpa speciosa and this has been
extremely difficult to overcome.

As an illustration for one state—\While I was in California, four years
ago, on a visit to the California State University at Berkeley, I found on the
Campus two Catalpa trees as specimens — one was speciosa, but was labeled
bignonoides, the other was labeled speciosa, but was plainly the southern
variety.

Many seeds or trees of this inferior scrubbiosa had been sent out to various
parts of the state, and supposed to be ‘speciosa.

On the Insane Asylum grounds at Stockton were long avenues of scriubbiosa
which had been sent from the University.

No wonder the people of California hesitate to recognize the merits of
this important tree which might be of immense value to the western coast region.

During the past winter, 1905-6, I have through several members of the
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 435

International Society of Arboriculture, procured several hundred samples of
seed labeled Catalpa speciosa, and from seedsmen in various portions of the
country, all guaranteed to be genuine.

Not a single sample was true, while most of them were the vilest of the
vile.

We do not believe that all American seedsmen who have sent out this
stuff in vast quantities are dishonest, but it shows a woeful ignorance on their
part.

Some seedsmen, upon learning the character of their Catalpa seed have
discontinued its sale, while the cost of pure Catalpa speciosa is so great they fear
to handle it.

Better have a few seeds of the right kind than a large quantity which
will only prove a disappointment in future years.

At Westwood, a suburb of Cincinnati, there are several thousand scriub-
biosa trees while not a single specimen of pure speciosa was found. These
trees are probably forty or fifty years old and very much resemble the photo-
eraph which we give of the bignonoides elsewhere.
436 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

GROWING CATALPA SPECIOSA FROM SEED.

Probably no forest tree is more difficult to grow from seed than is Catalpa
Speciosa, vet in none are the seeds more generally fertile.

A heavy rain may wash the seeds out of the ground, or may cover them
so deeply as to prevent their breaking through the crust of earth.

Since the seed are very scarce and difficult to obtain, in purity, care should
be observed in planting to economize the seed.

The germ, or seed proper, consists of a pair of flattened discs, one-eighth
inch diameter, which are connected and are enveloped in a light winged cover-
ing of fibrous nature, each end terminating with a broad pencil of filaments as
in Figure 1.

This covering is quickly dissolved by moisture after planting, when the
germ or true seed emerges as in Figure 2.

The two discs open out like a bean, and form the cotyledons or first pair
of leaves as in Figure 3.

The radicle or root extending downward is connected with the discs by a
crook-necked, tender stem, like that of a Lima bean. The stored energy of the
plant pushes the seed upward with such force that many seed are destroyed
by breaking the crook-neck stem. This occurs when too great a depth of earth
covers the seed.

The soil should be, preferably, a fine sandy loam, prepared as carefully
as for small garden seeds.

Shallow, broad furrows may be eighteen inches apart for garden, or three
feet apart for horse cultivation.

The seed may be strewn in the furrows, twenty-five or thirty seeds to the
foot, covering carefully and quickly as they are strewn to prevent the wind
from carrying them away.

The covering must not exceed one-fourth inch depth.

The critical period is during the first two weeks after the plants appear.
Hoeing should be promptly done to prevent choking with grass and weeds.
After the second pair of leaves have been formed the plants will be perfectly
hardy and may be plowed.

Clean, level cultivation is necessary to promote good growth.

When the leaves fall in autumn, they should be taken up, tied in bunches
of probably one hundred, and heeled in for the winter, or shipped as may be
desirable.

In heeling in, avoid wet locations, place the bunches in shallow trenches
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 437

3

and cover the roots and part of the tops with fine earth filling in all crevices.
Here they are safe until wanted in spring for planting.

Where frost does not occur to such extent as to heave plants out of the
ground, as in the south, planting may be done in autumn.

With all the caution we may give and all the care in explaining how
seed should be planted, there are many who are so careless as to fail entirely
in growing plants.

We furnished large quantities of Catalpa seed, which was very scarce
and expensive, to certain nurserymen who claimed to know all about growing
seedlings. This planting was a failure and the seed lost.

There are other instances where want of proper care has resulted in al-
most entire failure.

One correspondent who failed was asked how deep the seeds were covered,
his reply was, “About an inch.”

 

This will usually explain the cause of ill success.

A noted Pennsylvania forester is the last to admit of his failure and attrib-
utes the result to poor seed.

In order to test the vitality of Catalpa seed, we made a test at the World’s
Fair, twelve seeds from same lot of seed as that furnished the nurserymen, were
planted in a six inch flower pot and twelve strong plants were produced. Everv
seed made a plant.

One-fourth inch is as deep covering as the seed can break through.

Loose sandy or mellow loam is the best soil in which to plant the seed.
438 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

Those gardeners who have grown Lima or butter beans, know how fre-
quently the curved neck is broken in twain because the heavy, fleshy first
leaves cannot be drawn out of the earth as rapidly as the radicle expands.

A similar difficulty is experienced with Catalpa seed.

The embryo consist of a pair of flattened circular discs, connected by a
thick membrane, which, when the seed germinates, bursts through the film
of tissue and becomes the first pair of leaves.

Under a thick covering of earth or a dry compact clay covering, this is de-
stroyed and the seed fails to reach the surface.

If we would succeed in growing Catalpa trees from seed, these two facts
must be remembered: First, plant in sandy loam, or loose garden soil, and
next cover the seed, barely enough to prevent the wind from blowing them
away, not to exceed one-fourth inch deep.

One pod produces one hundred seeds. There may be a pound of ten
thousand seeds on a single tree in a good season.

Why this prodigality of seed in nature is difficult to understand, when
we see how minute is the proportion which becomes trees. There are re-
markably few young Catalpa trees in the forests. Catalpa forests do not in-
crease. The pods fall to the earth and are floated away by the waters, grad-
ually becoming water soaked and sinking into the mud are destroyed. Others
bursting open the winged seed are scattered. If one seed, perchance, alights
in soil which is suitable, it becomes a tree, the others are lost.

But with skill and patience man may produce a tree from every seed
which he gathers.

NUMBER OF SEEDS IN A POUND.

From careful counting we determined the number of seeds in an ounce
and thus obtain the number. A pound of Catalpa speciosa, the largest and
heaviest of all varieties of Catalpa, contains 10,000 seed.

Bignonioides has 20,000 seed, while kempferit produces 40,000 to a
pound. Various hybrids have seed of different weight, ranging from 12,000 to
40,000, according to the source of the mixtures.

The U.S. Forestry Bureau publish the number as 20,000 seed per pound,
which is still another evidence that the bureau has investigated bignonioides
in Washington, supposing that to be the Indiana tree.

The crop of Catalpa speciosa seed for 1905 was very short, many of the
best trees having no seed whatever. We spent considerable time in the
Catalpa region about the lower Wabash River, having twenty men at work
gathering the seed, and secured some 700 pounds of pure seed, whereas we had
fully expected to collect 1,000 pounds or more. At the same time almost
every tree of bignonioides or hybrid catalpa has been full of seed, more than
the usual crop.

The cause of this situation, which is the same to a less extent every year,
is that at the blossoming period for Catalpa speciosa in the Middle States bees
and other insects have not yet become active, and the flowers fail to become
pollenized, while two weeks later, when the inferior varieties open, the insects
are abundant and pollen is carried from flower to flower in great abundance.
 

PRACGHICAL ARBORTCUET URE 439

Severe rain storms which occurred in early spring also tended to prevent
complete fertilization of the Catalpa speciosa.

At no time is speciosa as free to seed, nor does it ever produce nearly as
much as the hybrid sorts or bignonioides, and it can never be sold at the prices
quoted by the U.S. Forestry Bureau of twenty cents per pound. For several
years the seed has cost from $2 to $3 per pound, some land owners demanding
fifty cents per pound for privilege of gathering the crop.

As an instance of the difficulties in the wav of procuring pure Catalpa
Spectosa seed, at Evansville, Ind., | was told by a gentleman in Vanderberg
County that upon his farm were a thousand Catalpa seed, and that I could
load a steamboat with the seed pods.

This farm is just opposite the mouth of Green River, in Kentucky. I
took passage on a small Green River steamboat and went to see the Catalpa
trees. I found just what the gentleman had told me, several thousand trees
so laden with seed that I could in two or three days have loaded the steamboat
twice over. But they were bignonioides and hybrids.

From far up the headwaters of Green River, in Macon and Summer Coun-
ties, Tenn., only a few miles from the Cumberland River where Catalpa big-
nonioides was found by the French and called “Bois Shavanon,” in 1725, the
seed has floated down the Green River, catching, here and there, and as seed
from those trees again floated downward, generations of trees sending the seed
further down stream, they finally reached the Ohio River, and were cast upon
the shore where my friend’s farm is located.

Only five miles away were native forests of pure Catalpa spectosa, a few
of the trees still remaining.
449 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

MANAGEMENT OF FOREST PLANTATIONS.

In response to numerous inquiries we give the following brief directions:

The land should be plowed deeply, harrowed as for a farm crop, and
marked out both ways in rows seven feet apart. One way the furrows may be
merely marks, but the other way they should be as deep as the plow can run.

Trees are set at the intersections, thus being 7x7 feet, or 888 to the acre.

Not later than the seventh to tenth year 666 of these trees must be re-
moved, and may be used for fence posts, leaving 222 trees for permanent
forest.

On fairly good land, with reasonable care and proper trearment, the per-
manent trees will make from five to seven sawed ties each in twenty years.

The trees should be cultivated two or three times during the first, second
and third years, using shallow-running harrow or cultivator.

After a plantation has been made, the trees grown two years, and estab-
lished a strong system of roots, unless they have been very carefully managed
many of the trees will be crooked, some will be low-branched, others have
double trunks, etc. It makes little difference what the shape may be at this
juncture, all crooked and deformed trees should be cut off at the ground and
allowed to form a new head, with one straight upright stem. I consider the
first and most important and pressing requirement to be the cutting back of
all the trees which are too crooked to make good ties and telegraph poles.

This should be done as soon as possible, before the leaves start too vigor-
ously.

Catalpa speciosa is naturally a straight and upright growing tree, and the
object should be to assist nature in producing a tall, straight stem. This can
not be accomplished when two or more branches divide the vigor of the tree.

In no case is a double head permissible, much less three branches on the
trunk, except near the top of a high tree.

If you aim to produce telegraph poles, you will have timber suited for any
purpose.

Where skillful pruning will preserve the present trunk, it may be best to
cut off branches. Otherwise cut the tree down near the ground.

A sharp ax may be used if the workmen are skilful, by a swinging upward
blow, never by a downward stroke, which will split the trunk.

Smaller trees may be cut with clippers, or hedge shears.

During the summer a watchful care should be observed, to prevent the
growth of branches along the trunk.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 44l

Every branch formed detracts that much from the vigor of the trunk.

Grasp the tree with one hand, rubbing downward, to remove all growing
buds, not allowing them to form a woody branch.

Keep all vines from the tree, especially while young. These weigh down
the head and cause the soft, immature wood to become crooked.

Two or more branches, with the large leaves, separate the branches and
cause crooked trees.

In cutting off the trees, cut as near the ground as possible, and stick a
small branch upright midway between the trees, to define the rows and guide
the plowman.

If these branches grow, no harm will result. These will be trees to take
up for filling in gaps next season.

Irom time to time, during the season, workmen should be set at removing:
extra shoots which start from the stump.

The Catalpa will not grow from the roots, but does grow from the stump
very persistently.

This is the critical period with these trees. They should be watched
carefully all the season.

There is no excuse for workmen allowing singletrees or doubletrees to
strike the tree trunks and knock off the bark. The foreman should be held
personally responsible for such mutilation. The trees now have very strong
roots, and will push upward a straight, strong stem, if not prevented by bad
treatment.

PRUNING A FOREST.

The financial value of timber trees and the uses to which they may be
adapted depends entirely upon the length of the trunk, its freedom from
objectionable knots, its straightness of body and soundness of the wood, and,
withal, the number of available trees on the tract. Small, short-bodied trees,
and those which are crooked and knotty have a value for fuel purposes only.
and that is the lowest grade of wood values, and which are measured by their
bulk, or cord prices, while good, merchantable timber possesses the highest
value for lumbering purposes, and are measured by board measure. Hence it
is important that the timber land owner should give consideration to the
character of his young forest, and not depend upon Nature to perform the
work which man only can do economically.

In some things Nature is a most excellent guide, while in other directions
Nature can only be followed at the expense of time and a long period of in-
terest accumulating capital.

There are many species of forest trees which under natural conditions will
not make long, straight, branchless boles, vet by judicious manipulation, with-
out great expense, may be trained into ideal milling timber. Others require
so long a period to accomplish this object, under the methods of Nature, that
as a cash investment they become very unprofitable.

There are three methods of obtaining straight trunks, free from knots, in
forest trees:
442 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

(1) By planting very closely; some advocate 4x4 feet, or 2,700 trees, per
acre.

(2) By giving them considerably greater space, as 7x7 feet, 888 trees per
acre. After a certain season they are thinned out, leaving 222 permanent trees
per acre to grow into lumber.

(3) By planting as in Method 2, permitting them to grow without prun-
ing, yet cultivating thoroughly, and after the trees have formed a strong root
eystem, in from two to four years, cutting off the entire plantation, leveling
the trees with the ground. As young shoots spring from the stump all save
one are removed, permitting the entire energy of the roots to push this one
shoot forward rapidly.

The first method requires four times the number of trees which serve for
either of the other methods. It costs four times as much to plant them. which
is a very serious matter where trees and labor are expensive. Worse than all,
the owner is tempted to leave them, year after year, in hopes of realizing some-
thing for the thinnings, while all become hopelessly stunted in growth.

Of the two latter methods both have their advocates, beth may be con-
sidered safe methods; either will make a good forest. There is no method of
eliminating side branches and preventing the formation of knots, which is so
economical or so sure as the use of the knife or chisel.

Side branches may be removed in an instant while they are a half inch
in thickness, and none ought to remain to grow much larger, along the trunk
to a height of sixteen feet.

In a natural forest where the trees stand irregularly, just as the wind or
some bird or animal dropped the seed, many of the trees will be weeds, or
trees of little value, and the ground will be covered without regard to man’s
economy. But with an artificial forest every foot of surface may be made
productive, the greatest possible number of trees on a given area.

With straight, regular rows the workman may perform the labor of prun-
ing in a systematic manner with least expenditure of time.

Cutting and hauling out the timber may be accomplished with greater
ease than in the irregular natural forest.

There need be no vacancies or waste land to pay interest and taxes upon.

\When the product is to be sold every tree has a value, and the lumber-
man will pay full value, since he can use economically the entire produce.

The branches should be removed close to the trunk of the tree, never
leaving even quarter of an inch of the stub attached, as these short dead stubs,
dying, permit the germs of decay to enter the body of the tree, and eventually
the treeis destroyed.

Cut off close to the trunk, even paring away a little of the living bark,
perhaps. Nature at once begins to callous this wound and a new growth of
wood soon covers it.

Under no circumstances or conditions is a double headed tree permissible.
On a lawn the beauty and symmetry of the tree is destroyed by having two
leading branches to four heads. While as a timber tree the total value of the
tree, for lumber, is lost.
 

GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
The Discoverer of Catalpa Speciosa.
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 445

GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

General William Henry Harrison was born at Berkely, on the James
River, Virginia, twenty-five miles from Richmond, in 1773.

He attended college at Hampton Sydney, and at age of seventeen began
the study of medicine in Philadelphia, but the call for a campaign against
the Indians of the west decided his destiny. General Washington gave him
an ensign’s commission and he started for Fort Washington, now Cincinnati.

At the age of twenty-four he became secretary of the northwestern terri-
tory, and when Indiana was created a territory, Mr. Harrison was appointed
its first governor, entering upon the duties at Vincennes, in 1801.

General Harrison was closely identified with the early history of Indi-
ana territory in its government and the Indian wars.

In 1814 he resigned and retired to his farm at North Bend, Ohio, near
Cincinnati.

In 1839 General Harrison was nominated by the Whigs and elected Presi-
dent of the United States, taking office March 4, 1841; but death claimed him
after one month's service as president.

It is not to his service as a military commander, nor yet as a statesman
in governing a territory or as president, that we specially direct attention, for these
are well known to every American student, so much as to his interest in agri-
culture and the forests of the Nation. While at Vincennes, in 1801, General
Harrison discovered the value, durability and great importance of the Catalpa
tree which was then so abundant on the banks of the Wabash River. He dis-
tributed seeds and plants of the tree to many localities, urging the pioneers
of Ohio and Indiana to plant it extensively.

As early as 1814 General Harrison delivered an address before the Ham-
ilton County, Ohio, agricultural society, in which he advocated the planting of
the Catalpa tree, and called special attention to the numerous qualities of ex-
cellence which the wood possessed.

As the existence of several varieties of Catalpa was not known at that
period, large numbers of trees were also planted in Hamilton County, from
seed brought from the South, and seed again collected from these trees were
distributed through Europe and America, which accounts for the vast num-
bers of these inferior (bignonoides) trees found in every region of the globe.

To General Harrison belongs the credit of discovering the Catalpa speciose
and bringing it to the attention of the world.
446 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

ELIAM E. BARNEY.

Eham E. Barney was a native of Jefferson County, New York, and was born
October 14, 1807. In early life he was a school teacher, first in New York State,
and afterwards at Granville and Dayton, Ohio, where he made his final home.

In 1845 the railway car works were established which have since become
so noted as the Barney & Smith Manufacturing Co. Mr. Barney was inter-
ested in many other business enterprises, banks, railways, etc.

In handling vast quantities of fine wood used in car construction and rail-
way operation, Mr. Barney was alert for any wood possessing unusual qualities,
in this way learning the value of the Catalpa.

He found it to be of extraordinary growth and of remarkable durability ;
and thus induced others to consider these important characteristics and culti-
vate the trees. He wrote many articles for The Railway Age and other papers
upon this subject, and advocated the planting of Catalpa trees by railways.
Mr. Barney’s experiments to test the strength of Catalpa wood are worth
much to the corporations which use so much wood for ties and timbers.

The pamphlet published by Mr. Barney in the 70's is still a standard work
upon this subject, and has supplied many articles, from which ARBorICULTURE has
taken extracts freely.

Mr. Barney expended large sums in securing specimens of wood, in col-
lecting and distributing seeds, and in disseminating valuable information upon
the subject of Catalpa. His death occurred December 17, 1880.
 

\

SLIAM E. BARNE

E
 

 

 

 

 

¢ AM Cardle
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 449

DR. JOHN A. WARDER

Dr. John A. Warder was an author of note, an authority upon American
trees. His home was at North Bend, Ohio, some twenty miles from Cincin-
nati, on the high bluff overlooking the Ohio River.

His thorough investigation prompted him to visit the Wabash Valley and
study the Catalpa tree in its home, and there discovered the wonderful char-
acter of the tree which grew in this very restricted location, and gave it the
name Catalpa speciosa.

The subject of Forestry was one with which Dr. Warder was familiar,
and he delivered numerous addresses upon the subject which proved him a
man of great foresight, as he pointed out to the people of Ohio that in a very
tew vears the forest would be gone from that State.

Dr. Warder’s work on apples will ever be a standard authority,
450 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

J. STERLING MORTON.

J. Sterling Morton was president of the International Society of Arbori-
culture, which office he held at the time of his death, on April 25, 1902.
Mr. Morton was too well known by his countrymen to need any word
of commendation at our hands. The best that can be said of any man
may be said of our former president, he was an honest man. Among
Americans none has done so much to create a sentiment in favor of forest
perpetuation and the planting of trees, as the author of Arbor Day. His
motto, “Plant trees,” will be retained by this society. Public men, after their
career has closed, are often soon forgotten, their names remain as a faint mem-
ory in history. Mr. Morton, the politician, the Secretary of Agriculture, the
editor, and as private citizen, will in a few years have faded from our view,
but so long as a public school exists children will be taught to observe the
beautiful custom of annual tree-planting, and the name of J. Sterling Morton
will be revered as the father of Arbor Day,
 

 

 

 

 

J. STERLING MORTON
450 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

J. STERLING MORTON.

J. Sterling Morton was president of the International Society of Arbori-
culture, which office he held at the time of his death, on April 25, rgo2.
Mr. Morton was too well known by his countrymen to need any word
of commendation at our hands. The best that can be said of any man
may be said of our former president, he was an honest man. Among
Americans none has done so much to create a sentiment in favor of forest
perpetuation and the planting of trees, as the author of Arbor Day. His
motto, “Plant trees,” will be retained by this society. Public men, after their
career has closed, are often soon forgotten, their names remain as a faint mem-
ory in history. Mr. Morton, the politician, the Secretary of Agriculture, the
editor, and as private citizen, will in a few years have faded from our view,
but so long as a public school exists children will be taught to observe the
beautiful custom of annual tree-planting, and the name of J. Sterling Morton
will be revered as the father of Arbor Day,
 

 

 

 

STERLING MORTON

 

 
 

BIENDAMIN TEX RRISON
PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 453

BENJAMIN HARRISON,

Twenty-third President of the United States.

We are privileged to present our readers with an excellent portrait of
General Harrison, who was a firm advocate of arboriculture. It was through
the substantial aid, words of encouragement, and constant friendship of Sena-
tor Harrison, a quarter of a century ago, that the author was enabled to pur-
sue the study of American forests and lay the foundation of the work in which
he is now engaged. His death occurred March 13, 1901.

As president of the United States, Mr. Harrison was foremost in adyo-
cacy of forest perpetuation. Several large reservations of forest lands were
selected by him and withdrawn from public sale. Upon the organization of
the International Society of Arboriculture, the ex-president was first to join
it and give us encouragement in our work.

Benjamin Harrison was a great and useful citizen. His career was a tri-
umph of intellectual industry, inspired by the best and highest ideals of rugged
honesty. He was a patriot rather than a partisan. For his country he periled
everything cheerfully, jeopardizing life in the defense of the union, the con-
stitution and the flag. But for his party he never gave up a single conviction
nor surrendered his manly right to think upon and conclusively determine for
himself those constitutional questions involving the welfare of the republic.
He was not popular with partisan politicians, who pursue public callings for
pay and prominence. Mr. Harrison was, however, esteemed as a safe lawyer
and an honest and patriotic public servant by the thinking citizens of all the
States of the Union. His influence was for good. His life made those who
knew him and were influenced by him better than they might have been with-
out his example. His robust integrity, his defiant courage in the discharge of
duty and his fidelity to what he believed the best interests of the country,
make him a model for all American youth who wish to be honest citizens and
serve their fellows with fidelity and efficiency.
454 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE

WILLIAM J. PALMER.

General Palmer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1836. His
mother’s name was Jackson, and his descent was English, German and Irish,
through the lineage of both parents. He was educated for business, and four
years before the Civil War was employed as the private secretary of J. Edgar
Thompson, president of the Pennsylvania Railway. He entered the Civil
War as an officer of a troop of cavalry, becoming colonel and then brigadier-
general. He served in the army of the Cumberland with General George H.
Thomas. After the war he resumed employment in connection with railway
construction and operation. In 1865, as managing director of the Kansas
Pacific Railway, constructed the last division of that road from Kit Carson to
Denver, constructing one hundred and fifty miles of road in as many days.

He then perfected a scheme of building a railway along the base of the
Rocky Mountains from Denver into Mexico. The Denver and Rio Grande
Railroad, with its intricate system of lines through the Rocky Mountains, was
General Palmer’s conception. He was president of the road from 1870 for thir-
teen years.

General Palmer founded Colorado Springs, and so organized it that no
saloon can ever be permitted for the sale of intoxicants.

General Palmer has been foremost in Colorado business enterprises, and
a philanthropist, which endears him to every citizen of the State.

General Palmer has done much to promote the cause of forest perpetu-
ation, maintaining at his own expense very large areas of natural forest, and
the planting largely of native coniferous trees in the mountains. He is president
of the International Society of Arboriculture in which he takes great interest.

It is a matter of congratulation that General Palmer is still in excellent
health with a prospect of many years of life with continued opportunities for
doing great good.
GENERAL WILLIAM J. PALMER

 
 

JOHN P. BROWN
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
INDEX

PAGE
PNT DORTCULEUEG? 55 wea Praaup mise tal se aenets mhaatslada 2 te corie a ea desecete a fe lage earevone ia vi REIL Acai seroma oes as 9
TIM PO REAMCE: GT. FO TES (Se as nee, xtc cect ace aaa: a caaesdy ina ries Hams etre MaaaHeke aonb tv eee eSeiaye sn Thee. Baie ea neva vaen 12
From Whence Shall’ World's: Lumber Be Obtained tc. cs eca kaa s scl deuiaeee esau mead eee s 16
‘Bhe Sage -Brushivor the Plains: 44 Aotien se hsna sb has end Cates Bae Sa hee eaeea goaaee 21
Phenomenal Meteorological Conditions—Do Forests Control Them?............. 2.00... 22
Disastrous River Floods Effects of Forest Destruction—Rise and Fall of the Ohio....... Bi
hiniprovemeit: of News England, POrésts- 4 ctw achimdeie dna 4 hecanta wlth Be et bag A eeenetinte 33
‘he Dwart- Oak of theROcky avian tarts or. s.xseoylse he ecu de keeacelea eas sce Gee wie Som eats 33
To What Extent May the Metals Supersede Woods? .......... duonalt 9 a rerenacncn a aero w 41
American. Hickory; the: World's: Vehicle Timber is ccc.ve jp ecnsvacnnere seaee wens Kaew 45
NVi@ OG! PRES STAC ta: fs eee ctec eeoteeetrr Reece aie bt yee asta anaes Si retontoinn og tts Bcd NAL EO SG cau en du nterclalnloes Mars 48
SDE = WOSEMIMILE™ NEA CN a hond fee Nog AR Banter Seemteas oat eraser eB. ata Rave ER & dnshap sane aaknele okipamss Raison ioe 50
Releeraphy wROleS! aise aes ted aie hncmaen aa ei era ok eA Ser aa elo t en ai eAtia eOOS
History Wirittén.ima, Trée Trunk—=A White Ash Story 202s exis ne cguh dine ve eee res 61
TPPEeSe LOL | COlOTAGOy SPIN SS: widen cin gsvm arnt nalonen aes tmittiedn ls a ERAN ants CORE Nh demancta tenance a 65
WoodsPulpand: Papert) sea uaia was eiiin Mag Atantcatae eaigic Mereya aneniaht ay at deipeaemiasiots 68
Congressional Achon Bavorable tor Borestry: a. s yous rete Ae Ene eae eae Mista 71
Presétve the Borests Protect: the Binds: «cain steepest eie eae G sea aseba un gabe 73
Transportation Influenced by Forests... c.c6.c.sedsenese cee gue nee nets pase ened ne ee pane 76
(ie Retion Ob -birdseand. ib Onestsns.s/... 4h. sanene ater A Raowilacdtt cer etm alate Ae orto
Forestry in New Mexico.—The Maxwell Land Grant...... 00.0... eee e eee e eee 90
Vallowe Pine HOD ther VWeSts aig as estes ee aN ohh eek a Bi ere nts Som tere eee luna ene 97
The Honey LOGst..cnecess Sheers eee ere tiG eed emo eames een aaa one 105
FS ACGOTELINCIA EA LING: Aaees eeu veneers arcsec srmerar cs hath Nee te Raho Saran ay hank Ml Rally sue aai 110
RSS BCE UNCALLED cia ch-vuse oe cncheuarie Un cirds meee dca ate anes tase aimee aah Seager ae ase gaa iatens eco Mepneatand. ge Sharabe 121
heU bate vopuNiaoatas 5.24 es tena uaie tt wccnoe senate: renee a PRR a eeeh eine eo ayer arenes ei 137
Tiifluence ot Forests Upon a People: vai. amity. rena tinn ei areee oan nad Bie peeled eee 139
The Control of Wind by Honest Belts’ s.uemeusualecicses hanna peuangua teeny sada aiekenunltraaen mous 144
TOTO TIS weostA a Re IS ek RN et eas wD RR ut ay Med ec ere eA re rxceGrestaea ts Se Re ea aa nen ei 149
Petrified Forests of America and the Lessons They Teach ................0.00.0 cece ee, 154
[esilencesofs Climatic Changes... vrm a tidisteins mt eee ind emer ae aae eta ta 162
Gontrol vol” Shittimes Sands wae coy seh eaten aie pirirons oebalaN etn abit tans Renee erent 171
Planting Sand Duties: ...cccievene a retae neki as pore tener un eats nee were 175
Horeste Probl eins: iL) MlOnidas Aer estas Aka anstnds heat tb mgtsenatentilien Atk hoi heat ieMiar rd heehee 180
The Cypress of Commerce ...... 0.00 cere cent eee eens 188
Pennsylvania Forestry ......-0 00 eee e teeter ees 194
ASE Fer TE ale Wa bits: cerned e pera m crn rds ONE great ie ee Sonne A Huta ote ane u 202

Address Before the Montgomery (Ala.) Commercial and Industrial Association, May

Sh POMS ese ge donee oe ae apt ahs aa PRRs wram made ame nee aie ween Sea NN EME eel ge 206
INDEX

 

Gatalpa Spectosa-tor the Gulf States: 2. cay ees yec dawerrees cade eek Seeman nee aS

he: Elarddy Amvenrean: ds Onests Gree 2.4.5.5 Sud acite nce tuanrnnne gametes Qi aueseh ch aaah phbed aetna nnn
ite Catalpa ree tt (Cross Lise 5 a.c.dc-s deidls.duacewdransstidyescsaeraeosinnn tater ane aa mua MMNNeaaarts eece baud 256
How to Distinguish Gatalpa: Speciosa. ..2194..2s¢s eases nd pede eka eeesuwamags deed 268
Sir Walter Raleigh and Fraucis Bacon Admirers of the Catalpa ....................2004, 274
Appeal to American Farmers.—Provide an Income for the Future .....................280
Quality Essentials tor Railway SIGGpers: cua cs bec ee Re oe eee HE Gee e Gla wade 286
What Trees: Shall We Grows... see anadennaaeeted aduatvie ay in emumonmonn: aa smclde aeeion ceo O
‘Rimalberim ans: “RLODl EMS! cnx snagediamantnntocnewunten ne thon aicing diate nt onmeieaminnn em vamos Kamin MOO
SERED WAISIGE SO aCliey WO SC Sns sal nk sete gm sha cigte flay fete eaetencte © lceeleane te cust badeaabuactsniyl tools ohsednaee eed OOS
A, Repetition of Histoty scscevs svacseeemes eax eee Be el hehe ieee date pean ave urn ene Tey
Ae Waitt to: “Olidi IMPGxaI COM sisal obtain asecatance mend testa ana ta cana annie ai OOM aus Madera ein meee OO)
The: Byerglades: of Blomdd: for DROPS occurs cncowsaniudws aaaaanoaarce me ounK tt die raeedO:
FSIS CAV CLV SES vast casey ane cise covet uahese bas eeaentens tetas nant oes beats ceed cearnue Cau erat see kta armen neaaS 351
ECkOry sxrkckvagremnd aise Se pase ee eee SaaS eres amen tse eeweseaeas 360
Grand Prize to the International Society of Arboriculture ............ 0.00 cece cece eee 362
Bo een it oe ERA tL Way OOS US: 5 Seca od asstn ee tlt 2) 8 fo Sostcucy tte gest bos ites ieuactcsaysh tea te ke enniede eel tons awvaheee ch 382
Scientine Work im Plantiio: Trees: sures ning eee nae Sere oy Hada Sadan Sanson 390
Trees of American Forests, the Grandeur and Glory of Our Country ................... 395
SPS BAC Re ISO CUTS teat shy ost erie satire ease cat erat oreo tal kes Teeth ah tcl ta caog cusp ee iste tae dn yee es 418
PIE GOttOnwOOull eta as Ae te eters eee ar ee ade i Nai Sree) arte a SNS aby Macon nculatacncsea 427
Planting Millions: ot Drees. ansekmundonire an sca ih eaan We nateareermeu none Monee Wien Rn aces 433
Sait py ays CTU Bnd OSA cette ars espe get sheet Nessus eee PN go aL BOR VA clic cock dean ele EN aA ee 434
Growin Gatalpa: Speciosa trom 4Seeds | § cot 3.dasaiucy woah ec eensucato Mactst ain aiaatn aedotReiwiatetahysmn 436
Manacementof BHorest: Plantations: xcs acaamenne neue ba meemnuema ty taneeee ine weiasaweens 440
General. Wialhiaint Elen ty? Ua htisOn vec sravezra yp ootntonion manttedenprec eine eA orisinn amin eeroeeme nee 445
Fe liaitate seis AB arias cantik cetasct cat Sotey Secaseseta ctu te Sk guacutece tate asi aataet voeeaeac yay remcierana One S ckna hearet ene hae 446
Wr. Joli Aw “Warder vos 2 = Wperen tonne nope he a ena ele In rarer aie el ee ee 449
Jie Sterling Orton, sink ase shace &sreran adn rrrereee aacarmdien ce icitetiee st apastoreeebenanennhel a eva eae ne ae meres Ae 450
BOTATIIIN: TELARI SOM + eeu tete cyciclesicaed catahoee ttc site creche dud ese suas WA ents Utne necea anne emnee pets eee 453
WallianicJsPalinér sca sectemnareesd eansacase tans abe ptebaumman pages wsueausktewncain 454

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