178 



ARBORICULTURE 



Letter from a Prominent Lumber 

 Dealer 



Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 6, 1906. 

 Editor Arboriculture. 



Dear Sir: — I am in receipt of your two copies 

 and thank you for the same. 



I am acquainted with the catalpa wood, my 

 attention having been called to it by the superin- 

 tendent of the Baldwin Piano Factory of this city 

 (Mr. Perry). He has shown me samples of it 

 and praised its qualities, also told me of making 

 some wall bookcases out of catalpa which were 

 placed above the steam radiators in his flat at 

 Norwood. If it stands that, it certainly must be a 

 remarkable and neglected wood. I was surprised 

 to learn that such wood existed so close to the 

 markets, and predict a large demand if it could be 

 brought to the attention of the lumber industries. 



I believe it would replace butternut or chestnut, 

 which are becoming extinct. It does not seem to 

 be subject to worms like the chestnut. 



At the present time there is five times as much 

 veneering done in quartered oak as there ever has 

 been in the last twenty-five years. 



Quartered oak is now cut on a slicing machine 

 to 1-20, 1-30 and 1-40 part of an inch. It is 

 veneered a great deal on poplar, chestnut and 

 basswood. This catalpa wood I think would be 

 adaptable for this work, having a straight grain 

 and of such texture required for building up wood- 

 work of all kinds, such as panels, wainscoating, 

 car ceilings, pianos, organs, coftins, sewing machine 

 cases, desks, etc. 



I often suggest timber owners to replant their 

 lands, knowing the waste that is now going on, in 

 our desire to get sufficient timber for the market. 

 Some I have referred to the nurseries of Tennes- 

 see, but the trees shipped from the South do not 

 seem to prosper as well as those shipped from 

 the northern and cooler climate. 



I have been all through Mexico, from Progresse 

 Yucatan to Western Terminos at El Paso, and am 

 just now wondering what the catalpa would do in 

 a tropical climate. It seems to me it would 

 assume immense proportions in a short time, 

 especially in the region at Tabasco and Laguma, 

 Mexico. 



In the last few years we have been receiving 

 red wood from the west, showing that the lumber 

 trade is now being forced to reach out further to 

 obtain lumber of wider and clearer proportions 

 than we are able to obtain here. I think from 

 what I saw that the catalpa is equal to the red- 

 wood of California. 



At the first Cincinnati Fall Festival I had an 

 exhibit of all the woods used in this vicinity, but 

 the wood you advocate seems to be one that I 

 missed. I hope and believe it will be cultivated 

 to a greater extent. 



Yours truly, 



(Signed) R. E. Becker. 



Young Trees Need Tillage 



ground should be worked to 

 hold the moisture 



The younger the trees the more often should 

 they be tilled, they have especial need of a vigor- 

 ous growth when young, and are more affected by 

 lack of water than older trees, says the Garden 

 Rlagaziue. Obviously, trees loaded with fruit 

 should be tilled more often and later in the season 

 than barren trees; the fruit is mostly water. The 

 dryer the season, the greater the necessity for 

 tillage. 



1 have seen a thrifty and profitable unirrigated 

 home orchard in a region which had only eight 

 inches of rainfall; it was tilled until the surface 

 soil was like road dust. No good gardener tills 

 his fruit trees the same nunaber of times each 

 season. The infallible guides are the dryness of 

 the soil and the growth of the trees. The only 

 general statement worth making is that most home 

 orchards in the humid sections of the country 

 should be tilled from five to ten times during the 

 season. Wherever a crust is formed on the 

 surface, especially after a beating rain, it is a sign 

 that water is escaping and tillage is necessary to 

 break it up and restore the mulch. 



Florida is a Great State 



The distance from Chicago to Mobile is 910 miles. 



The distance from Pensacola to Key West via 

 Jacksonville is 944 miles, or 34 miles greater than 

 from the Lakes to the Gulf. Did you know it 

 before? 



Only 3 per cent, of the land in Florida is under 

 cultivation. 



This 3 per cent, yields a larger net return per 

 acre annually than in any other State. 



Her orange crop the past season was 1,500,000 

 boxes, which means over $2,000,000 returns to 

 the growers. 



The pineapple crop on the East Coast the com- 

 ing summer is estimated at least 4vSO,000 crates, 

 which means another half million dollars poured 

 into the pockets of the growers. 



A little settlement in St. Johns County, on the 

 East Coast, has over 3,000 acres in Irish potatoes, 

 which the farmers wili market in a few days. 

 New potatoes are quoted at $8 per barrel in 

 Chicago to-day. These farmers average 40 barrels 

 per acre Figure it out yourself. They will net 

 $3 to SS per barrel, after deducting all expenses. — 

 Tlie Ilomcsccker. 



Ninety-seven per cent, of this great State is 

 better suited for forests than for anything else, 

 and if this could be retained in timber of suitable 

 character, it would be productive of a greater 

 income than that of any State in the Union. 



