ARBORICULTURE 



195 



English Opinion of "Practical 

 Arboriculture" 



"practical arboriculture" 

 Here is a large work on a large and important 

 subject. It has reference particularly to the 

 forests of America, but is applicable to forestry 

 everywhere. There was a time when the greater 

 portion of the United States was covered by a 

 dense forest, then supposed to be inexhaustible; 

 but now, after the passing by of a hundred years 

 or so, the supply of timber in many regions may 

 be said to be practically gone. The extravagant 

 and wasteful destruction of forests, not only in 

 the United States but apparently all over the 

 world, is having its effect. Manufacturers of 

 paper, for example, are now crying out for pine 

 forests no longer attainable. Other manufactur- 

 ing industries are closing down from the exhaustion 

 of timber from the great mountain ranges. "It is 

 time," says the author, "for America to stop and 

 think what we are going to do when the forests 

 have become exhausted, and this after the first 

 one-third of the twentieth century has passed. ' 

 The author's object is to counteract this continued 

 exhaustive process by extensive planting; and to 

 aid the American people, and these of the Old 

 World as well, in providing a supply of timber 

 for the coming generation by showing them what 

 to plant, where to plant, and how to plant, more 

 especially for the rapid production of lumber 

 cross-ties, telegraph poles, etc. The author has a 

 full grasp of his subject, he writes well, with 

 great modesty and good sense, and his work 

 deserves the attention of Governments every- 

 where, and of all those who take a serious interest 

 in a subject which affects the future well-being 

 of all countries. The volume is well printed and 

 contains numerous illustrations of trees and scenes 

 taken by the author. 



Practical Arboriculture. How Forests in- 

 fluence Climate, Control the Winds, Prevent 

 Floods, Sustain Natural Prosperity. A text-book 

 for Railway Engineers, Manufacturers, Lumber- 

 men, and Farmers. Roy 8vo. pp. 454, cloth extra. 

 (Connersville, Ind.) Agents for Great Britain 

 etc.; Wm. Dawson & Sons, Ltd., Cannon House, 

 Breams Buildings, London, E. C. 



An Iowa Letter 



Dewitt, Iowa, October 20, 1906. 



Mr. J. P. Brown: 



I wish you could see my trees you sent me in 

 1905. I think they have done remarkably well; 

 have some that have made a growth of ten feet and 

 some three inches in diameter. Plenty of six and 

 eight feet and two inches in diameter. There 

 was quite a number broken last winter, and where 

 they have sprouted from the root have made a 

 growth of four to six feet. Now I would like 

 some 200 plants to replace where they are gone, 

 and I do not know of any one that will be as 

 likely to get me the genuine speciosa as you. 

 Now if these prove to be the hardy variety, they 

 will be a joy forever and the neighbors will stop 



laughing about Oatman's freak. Now wouldn't 

 you let them grow another year before cutting off; 

 get a strong root growth now? I was gone all the 

 fore part of the season, so they did not get the 

 care they should have had; the man on the farm 

 did not have time to care for them. I have been 

 all through, trimmed all side branches off, but 

 some are quite crooked; but on the whole, they 

 are fine. 



If you can send trees, let me know, and obliged. 



A. G. Oatman. 



Yes, it will be as well to let them grow another 

 year before cutting off, and then only those which 

 are deformed. 



Boston Transcript 



Aug. 27. 1906 



We had occasion some time ago to call attention 

 to the good record made in the West by the 

 catalpa speciosa, as a timber tree, and the efforts 

 that wejre making to introduce it into New England 

 as a part of the redemptive forces to be applied 

 to our old and abandoned farms. The special 

 qualities which recommend the tree are its quick 

 growth and its availability for all sorts of purposes, 

 among them being the manufacture of furniture 

 and easy conversion into durable crossties for 

 railroads. In this latter respect the railroads are 

 being considerably embarrassed. The engineer 

 of maintenance of way on a West Virginia rail- 

 road announces that he has just been authorized 

 by the company to plant from 50,000 to 70,000 of 

 these trees by way of experiment. This is sig- 

 nificant because the railroad is located in the 

 center of the white oak region that has furnished 

 crossties, not only for the local roads but for those 

 of Ohio and other nearby States, But the supply 

 is beginning to show signs of exhaustion, hence 

 the movement in favor of catalpa speciosa. 



A Righteous Judge 

 Fined for Mutilating Trees 



MEN EMPLOYED BY TELEPHONE COMPANY 

 PUNISHED IN CRIMINAL COURT 



Thomas Hood and Jesse Imbler were fined by 

 Judge Alford of the Criminal Court yesterday for 

 cutting down three trees on Emerson avenue, 

 Irvington, to make way for telephone wires. The 

 New Long Distance Telephone Company engaged 

 them to trim the trees, but it was shown that the 

 company did not authorize the cutting of the trees 

 and that it later refused to pay a bill for cutting 

 them. Hood, who was in charge of the work, 

 was fined $30, and Imbler, who actually did the 

 cutting, $10 and costs. 



Judge Alford said that he would have given the 

 men the limit under the law but for the fact that 

 he knew that they were poor men and that the 

 fines assessed would be hard for them to pay. He 

 said that an example should be made of some- 

 body. — Ind. Star, Nov. 14. 



