ll) 



AKI'.oKRTLTrKK 



attacks of insect enemies than any other 

 tree of my acquaintance. Only one worm, 

 the catalpa sphinx, attacks it. and that is 

 easily controlled l>y sprayinjj. while the trees 

 are never seriously injured by the sphinx. 



9. The wood has the .same texture as 

 butternut, firm enough for tie purpo.ses, and 

 holds a spike well. 



10. For inside car finish it is admirably 

 adapted, partakes of hi^'h jtolish. has a hand- 

 some prain and is a superlt wood for furni- 

 ture and inside finish. 



11. It is eiisily manipulated with edge 

 tools. 



12. Its strenjith is ample for all re(iuire- 

 ments in railroad work. 



SOMK OB.IK(TI()NS TO CAT.ALPA CONSIDERED. 



In proceedings of Engineers' M. of Way 

 .Association, Chicago. 1900, the engineer 

 of F»»rt Scott and .Memphis Railway men- 

 tioned Karlington plantation. 



I agree with the gentleman, the money 

 spent has been lost. Twenty-seven hun- 

 dred trees cannot be grown on one acre 

 of land. Yet that is the number on 

 the 1200 acres, :-{.(X)0,000 trees, enough 

 to cover 17,0(X) acres. Had they been 

 properly thinned fifteen years ago there 

 could now be taken from this tract one 

 million first-classcros.s-ties, worth to any rail- 

 way cognizant of their value a million dollars. 

 .\s it is they are worthless. I'^very farmer 

 within ten miles or more of the P\'irlington 

 plantation gives the same verdict, " entirely 

 too thick." Trees must have space in which 

 to expand their roots and secure moisture 

 and sustenance. The farmer who wouM 

 sow his corn with drill as thickly as 

 wheat, would fail to secure a crop. 



Intelligent supervision is as necessary' in 

 growing trees as in maintaining a railway. 

 The engineers for the I'enn.sylvania lines 

 said theirexperiment had been disappointing. 

 A sad fate of too nmch lineman. The most 

 fatal disease of street and railway trees is 

 the lineman's butchery. In the history of 

 this experiment something may be learned. 



Gen»'ral .1. V. Miller, while superintendent 

 of this division of the I'enn.sylvania roads, 

 planted 2<'M).0()0 ratalpa trees, about 1S8.S, 

 setting them along the right of way. Soon 

 afterwards he was promoted and others had 

 charge of that line. Neglect has been their 

 ]»ortion ever since. I'nfortunately a large 

 majority were of the Southern or worthless 

 catalpa, yet some were Kf)fciosa. 



' If telegraph lines must be on both sides 

 of the track and linemen are sujtreme in 

 their influence, then it is folly to plant any 

 tree on right of way. A special tract for 

 forest will, in sueh case, be the better. 

 Vet there are thousands of miles of right 

 of way where they may succeed, and should 

 be utilizing the ground. 



The estimate formed of any object 

 depends upon the point of view. If the 

 vision be narrow, then only an imperfect 

 knowledge is obtained, while if the subject 

 be examined broadly, investigating from 

 every source of information, a correct oi)in- 

 ion will be formed. 



The Pennsylvania engineers have based 

 their estimate upon wrong premises. 



Mr. Curtis, in California, had experience 

 with many catalpas from the South. Had 

 he known the Wabash valley catalpa tree 

 and seen those which I ob.served in the 

 San .Ioa(iuin valley and about San .Jose, he 

 would not have condemned the best friend of 

 the railway. However, Mr. Curtis was right 

 in that the catalpa needs moisture. In Cali- 

 fornia irrigation would be a prime necessity. 



To secure seed of C. speciosa from trees 

 sixty to one hundred and more feet high, 

 with few seed pods, is a very costly opera- 

 lion. While to drive along the rows of low 

 branching trees of C. bigiwnioides, haul 

 the pods down with a garden rake into the 

 wagon is an easy matter. 



About half a century ago the Iron Moun- 

 tain Railway Company planted 200 acres in 

 southeastern Missouri, with catalpa trees 

 for cros.s-ties. It was not known at that 

 time that more than one variety of catalpa 

 existed. When they i)roduced seed a 

 western firm of seedsmen collected a 

 thousand pounds of this seed, which was 

 distributed all over the United States. After 

 waiting many years and realizing no benefit 

 from the plantation, most of the trees were 

 destroyed. 



I visited the place in autumn of 1901 to 

 procure seed, and upon investigation found 

 the trees to be kirmpfrri, from .Tapan, and 

 bifjnnriioidis, from the South, with many 

 hybrids, but not one was speciosa, the large 

 forest tree of the Wabash valley. 



And so a vast majority of trees spread 

 thntughout the I'nited States are worthless 

 scrubs. To this fact one may trace most of 

 the failures urged as objections to this tree. 



.\n avenue of (\ spcciond trees in Topeka, 

 Kan.sas, is one of which any city might be 



