98 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



Another dread of the fruit grower is rambling stock, which is 

 generally vicious or breechy, and constantly breaking into the en- 

 closures of fruit growers and door yards, and in a few minutes 

 destroying or marring the work of years. I would favor the enact- 

 ment of a law prohibiting stock from running at large within the 

 State. As the question of damages is entirely inadequate, — for 

 who can estimate the value of a nice ornamental tree (evergreen or 

 deciduous) standing upon the lawn, especially if it is a tree planted 

 by, and, perhaps, the only legacy of, a departed friend. 



Since coming here I have been told that one dealer in Chicago 

 has brought five thousand five hundred barrels of apples from 

 Canada without duty while potatoes pay fifteen cents per bushel. 



Without making this a political subject, I will say I am in favor 

 of protection for home products. 



Mr. James T. Johnson read the following: 

 THE CATALPA AS A TIMBER TREE ON THE PRAIRIE. 



HY L, C. FKANCIB, SPEIJSTGFIELD. 



My experience with the Catalpa Speciosa as a timber tree, is still 

 very limited. In a former report 1 gave an account of my planting 

 several groves with it. The first one was planted in an adjoining 

 county (Macon) early in the spring of 1881. The trees came from 

 Robt. Douglass, Waukegan. The spring was very wet and the 

 trees did not get the cultivation they should have had. A majority 

 of the trees have started once or twice from the ground, in conse- 

 quence of the severe barking given by the rabbits; but few of these 

 trees are large enough for posts. 



A grove planted later in the season on my home farm has done 

 better. I have, as yet, made no cuttings from this grove, though 

 there are a great many trees large enough for posts. The next spring 

 two more groves were planted. One of these has done finely, the 

 other has been injured by fire from the railroad which runs by all 

 the groves. The trees planted at home were from Danreith, Indiana. 



This fall I cut from the grove that had done so finely, some two 

 hundred posts and about the same number of poles for spiking on a 

 barbed wire fence. They take the place of a wire and make the fence 

 conspicuous to stock. I have been somewhat disappointed in the 

 growth of the catalpa. These trees had the same cultivation as my 

 corn for three years, and yet there were none large enough for posts, 

 till this fall, the sixth season's growth in the grove, and seventh from 

 the seed. A grove planted near Atlanta, Logan county, by another 

 person the same season as my last planting, and from the same order- 

 ing of trees, has done wonderfully; two years ago the trees appeared 

 as large as those in my best grove this fall, with two years more of 

 growth. These trees had no better cultivation, the soil is prairie, 



