ARBORICULTURE 



17 



Correspondence and Inquiries. 



This department will be open for correspondence and inquiries upon subjects pertaining to Arboriculture in its 



broadest sense and will be a special feature. 



Mr. Jno. p. Brown, 



Sec'y International Society of Arboriculture. 



Dear Sir: Yours of July 1st, written at 

 Denver, was duly received. I feel under 

 many obligations to you for writing me so 

 fully on the subject of cross-ties and tree- 

 planting. Those who manage our railroad 

 are studying the timber question as they 

 never have before. With the enormous 

 consumption of timber by steam and street 

 car lines, and the wanton destruction of 

 forest trees by fire and many other unnec- 

 essary causes — frequently avoidable— we 

 all must realize that the available timber 

 suitable for cross-ties cannot last many 

 years. We know of no form of construc- 

 tion in this country which will enable the 

 railroad companies to do away with cross- 

 ties, and I fully agree with you, that no 

 metal or composition tie has yet been in- 

 vented which suits all the conditions in this 

 country so well as wood. Some of the men 

 who have given the subject a great deal of 

 thought, seem to think that wood will be 

 the cross-tie material for a great many 

 years, and this will be made possible by the 

 treatment and economical use of inferior 

 timber. 



The idea of growing and taking care of 

 timber in this country does not seem to re- 

 ceive any serious consideration by a large 

 majority of the railroad men. They are too 

 busy to think of waiting for tie timber to 

 grow. Many of the statements you make 

 about growing catalpa trees are new to me, 

 but they have set me to thinking a good 

 deal on the subject, and one gentleman to 

 whom I talked, remarked, " I believe there 

 are places in the San Joaquin valley, near 

 the rivers, where catalpa growing would 

 pay as well as many of our deciduous 

 fruits." 



The trouble is that good land has increased 

 considerably in value and the American peo- 

 ple want to see profitable results so quickly 

 that it is hard to get them interested in 

 timber planting or cultivation. However, the 

 time must soon come when ties will be very 

 expensive; then railroad companies in many 



places will utilize their wide rights-of-way 

 by growing their own timber. I am satis- 

 fied that the catalpa would grow well on 

 many of the lands in the San Joaquin val- 

 ley, where there is plenty of water, and 

 when I go up that way I shall look into the 

 matter. 



I did not know, until I read your letter, 

 of the great difference in the varieties of 

 catalpa. 



We have, I think, a supply of pine tie 

 timber to last the lines on the Pacific Coast 

 a great many years, and I suppose by treat- 

 ing the timber and using tie plates, we can 

 use wooden ties for many years. The same 

 is probably true of the Southern states, but 

 with the enormous consumption of tie tim- 

 ber by the American steam and electric 

 lines, and the recent demand for our tie 

 timber in other countries, it seems as if it 

 will be impossible to adopt any preserving 

 methods or grow timber fast enough to 

 supply the entire demand for ties a great 

 many years. 



On account of the scarcity of redwood 

 ties and their poor lasting qualities, recently 

 our company — the Santa Fe — has been 

 treating a great many sawed mountain pine 

 ties. It is rather soon to say just how they 

 will last, but so far, where we have a good 

 roadbed, they are quite satisfactory. The 

 New Mexico pole tie treated at Las Vegas, 

 is very satisfactory, but this Arizona 

 sawed timber is very different and will not 

 last so long. Ten years ago the redwood 

 ties would last very much better in the 

 ground than the redwood ties we now get. 

 The inspection was more I'igid and we got 

 more butt timber. Recently the redwood 

 lumber is in such great demand not only at 

 home but in the islands, Mexico and Central 

 America, that only the poorest timber is 

 cut for ties. I am of the opinion that the 

 redwood grown within a few miles of the 

 coast lasts better in the ground than the 

 redwood grown in the interior. The red- 

 wood is now getting scarce within a few 

 miles of the coast. 



If you should come to Los Angeles at any 



