82 



ARBORICULTURE 



PAULONIA TMPERIALIS. 



We have received several inquirie.-' re- 

 garding a blue (purple) Catalpa from the 

 South. This is not a Catalpa, but a Chi- 

 nese tree, very similar to the Catalpa in 

 many particulars. 



The leaves are large and much like the 

 Catalpa. The tree sends up rank-grow- 

 ing shoots from the stump after it has 

 been cut down. The flowers resemble 

 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 elon- 

 gated cigars, droop or are pendant trom 

 the branches. The seed also are very 

 different from Catalpa, though both are 

 winged. 



The bark of the Paulonic much resem- 

 bles that of ailanthus. 



Tt is strictly a Southern tree, thriving 

 at Atlanta, Ga., and southward. This 

 tree is found at Washington City, prob- 

 ably its northernmost limit, but seldom 

 blossoms, the buds being winter-killed. 



The trees are quite abundant at Knox- 

 ville, 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. Unfortunately the 

 habit of the Paulonia is to form a spread- 

 ing 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 im- 



ported from China about 1850, and dis- 

 tributed by the Botanic Garden at Wash- 

 ington. 



The Paulonia is placed by botanists 

 in the Figwort family, while Catalpa is 

 classed among the Bignonia family. 



PLANTING A MILLION TREES. 



The editor of Arboriculture does not 

 confine his efforts to the merely literary 

 pursuit of writing articles for his journal. 



He is actively engaged in directing the 

 work of planting forests, to bring them 

 into a successful timber-producing stage. 



Swiftly moving from one plantation to 

 another, selecting the lands, procuring the 

 trees, employing labor, planting the for- 

 ests, his time is fully occupied. 



The work is going on in the South all 

 winter, j^lanting ten thousand trees daily. 

 Bv the 1st of April there will be consid- 

 erably more than a million trees planted 

 in twenty different locations and in twelve 

 States, besides the great number of trees 

 being planted by individual land owners 

 through his advice, amounting to almost 

 as many additional trees. 



A better idea may be had of the quan- 

 tity by estimating how ic ig it would take 

 one man to count these trees. 



Working eight hours a day, .r-d 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, farm- 

 ers, 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 



