250 



ARBORICULTURE. 



OHIO KIVKR OVERFLOW, CINCINNATI, OHIO 



nized by railroad men. A prominent 

 ofificial of the Illinois Central stated as 

 long ago as 1871 that the catalpa will 

 make a tie which will last forever ; that 

 it is easily cultivated, of rapid growth, 

 and will hold a spike as well as oak, and 

 will not split. An expert with the Iron 

 Mountain wrote that a railroad once tied 

 with catalpa will find its annual expenses 

 for repairs diminished $200 per mile. 



Telegraph and telq)hone companies 

 will speedily welcome relief from the 

 increasing expense O'f obtaining poles, 

 and this tree, with its tall, straight bole, 

 is peculiarly adapted to this purpose, 

 quickly grown, and an admirable substi- 

 tute for the rapidly-diminishing cedar. 

 For mining purposes, canoes, fence 

 posts, rails, cabinet work and interior 

 finish its lumber is desirable ; it is suit- 

 able for the medium grades of furniture, 

 and as a base for veneering it neither 



warps, swells nor shrinks unduly, and 

 holds the glue well. 



The lieartwood is brown, the sapwood 

 lighter, nearly white ; it is coarse-grained 

 and compact, with the annual layers 

 plainly indicated. Its open grain ab- 

 sorbs filling readily, and it may well be 

 employed for the purpose oi imitating 

 more expensive woods. 



The Hardzvood Record is indebted to 

 John P. Bro'wn, of Connersville, Ind., 

 author of "Practical Arboriculture," for 

 much of the information contained in 

 this article, and for the photographs with 

 which it is illustrated. Mr. Brown is 

 the highest authority on this subject in 

 the United States, and is in charge of a 

 number of plantations which have been 

 established by railroads in this country 

 and Mexico for the purpose oi growing 

 this wood in commercial quantities. — 

 Hardwood Record. 



