ARBORICULTURE 



207 



Recent Railway Tree Plantings. 



Two years ago the Rio Grande West- 

 ern Railway planted 65,000 catalpa trees 

 at Provo, Utah, in a nursery where they 

 have been irrigated and cared for since. 

 This is the nursery which was pictured 

 in Arboriculture for January. Since 

 these trees were planted the Denver and 

 Rio Grande Railway has purchased the 

 Rio Grande Western, and the new man- 

 agement has just completed the planting 

 of these trees as originally purposed by 

 General William J. Palmer, the former 

 president of the R. G. W. 



Mr. C. M. Hobbs, General Purchasing 

 Agent of the Denver & Rio Grande sys- 

 tem, has had this matter in charge and 

 has had the hearty support of all the 

 officials of the road. 



More than half of these trees were of 

 the worthless bignonoides variety and 

 were rejected. Twenty thousand catalpa 

 speciosa were transplanted to station 

 grounds throughout Utah, and to points 

 along the lines wherever an extra wide 

 right of way was owned by the company. 



In the Valley of Utah, from Ogden 

 southward to Springville, between the 

 Wasatch range of mountains and the 

 lakes, Great Salt Lake and Utah (fresh 

 water lake), there is an extensive system 

 of irrigation, the water coming from the 

 numerous canyons of the Wasatch 

 mountains. 



The ditches along the railway are to 

 be utilized in supplying water for the 

 trees. 



At a depth of from 100 to 200 feet 

 about Utah Lake a sheet of water is 

 found, which rises about the surface in 

 flowing wells wherever this underflow 

 is pierced. This furnishes an abundance 

 of water for irrigation, the pipes being 

 driven in one day at a cost of $25. 



In places the trees were planted six- 

 teen feet apart on one side the track, four 

 feet from the limit of right of way. 

 In other localities they were planted on 

 both sides of the road, if width of land 

 permitted. 



Some tracts where a large block 

 suitably located occurs, the trees were set 

 in forest form 8 by 8 feet. 



The phenomenal success of catalpa 



speciosa in Colorado and Utah, under 

 irrigation, at altitudes not exceeding 

 5,000 to 6,000 feet, makes this experi- 

 ment one of great interest to this region 

 where arid conditions prevail. The cit- 

 izens of both Colorado and Utah are 

 greatly interested in the experiment and 

 many have purchased catalpa trees for 

 their own planting. 



Great care has been exercised in se- 

 lecting only the thrifty trees from the 

 nursery, which have the characteristics 

 of the true, hardy catalpa. 



Such trees with their upright habit will 

 not obstruct the view to passengers on 

 the trains, nor yet for engineers or train- 

 men who must see the signals. Care was 

 taken not to plant inside curves. nor very 

 close to telegraph wires. 



The soil is usually quite fertile, much 

 of it sandy loam, only requiring water 

 to produce bountifully. 



In a few places there is much "sale- 

 ratus land," as the ranchers call it. It is 

 not known how well the catalpa will suc- 

 ceed in these alkaline spots, but with an 

 abundance of water it is believed that 

 the soda will be washed out. 



The editor of Arboriculture has had 

 charge of this work and has made sev- 

 eral trips through Colorado, Utah and 

 New Mexico studying conditions and 

 planning the work, and it" was through 

 the same influence that the nursery was 

 established. 



It is this practical method of tree 

 planting that the International Society 

 of Arboriculture has for its object. 



Twenty thousand trees have thus been 

 planted by one railway as an Arbor Day 

 contribution to the memory of J. Sterling- 

 Morton, who heartily endorsed the pro- 

 ject when the writer visited him at Ar- 

 bor Lodge in 1900. 



OFFICE OF ARBORICULTURE, 

 CONNERSVILLE, IND. 

 To the Press : — The office of Arbori- 

 culture is at Connersville, Ind. All 

 mail and exchanges should be sent to this 

 office. The publication is printed in Chi- 

 cago, and entered as second-class matter 

 at Chicago. 



