268 



ARBORICULTURE. 



train are forcibly thrown from side to 

 side? 



Wooden ties are elastic ; every spike 

 is held in place by a cushion of wood 

 fibers, every strain and blow being re- 

 duced by their elasticity. 



Ho'W will it be with lOO-pound steel 

 rails rigidly bolted to inflexible metal 

 ties with these forces pounding contin- 

 ually ? 



Accidents from broken rails and 

 fastenings must reduce profits, material- 

 ly ; and when they occur, the slow pro- 

 cess of unscrewing nuts, replacing rails, 

 ties and bolts, can only result in tedious 

 delays and great expense. 



It would seem, therefore, that wood 

 is far preferable to anything else, so far 

 devised, for cross-ties ; but wood is fast 

 disappearing, and trees must be grown 

 for supplying this need. 



Besides, oxidation must be considered, 

 and in contact with moist earth, or even 

 in rock ballast, bolts, nuts and wedge 

 fastenings rust rapidly. Electrolysis, 

 now that the use of electricity is increas- 

 ing on every railway, the current reach- 

 ing the earth through rails and ties, if 

 the latter be metal, greatly aggravates 

 the process of decomposition and weak- 

 ening of fastenings. 



(Extract from Arboriculture, Vol. I, No. i, 

 1902.) 



THE CATALPA SPECIOSA AS A RAII.WAY 



TIMBER TREE. 



Paper of John P. Brown, read at a meeting of 

 the National Roadmasters and Maintenance 



Society, Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 9, 1902. 

 It must now be patent to every rail- 

 way official that within a few years some 

 fomi of cross-ties other than wood will 

 become a necessity, unless special eflforts 

 be made to grow trees suitable for this 

 purpose. 



For a third of a century I have studied 

 the problems of railway cross-ties ; even 

 at that early day the disappearing for- 

 ests showed that grave results would 

 follow the wasteful methods of Ameri- 

 cans in wood-craft. 



In 1876 plans for metallic ties were 

 prepared by my attorneys, but upon a 

 fuller investigation of the subject these 

 were withdrawn, as I had become con- 

 vinced that the long lines of our rail- 

 ways, the sharp mountain curves, maxi- 

 mum grades, increasing loads and heav- 

 ier trains, together with their excessive 

 cost, would make metal ties impractica- 

 ble ; and this has been proven to be cor- 

 rect. 



The various native woods were next 

 considered, white oak being the stand- 

 ard wood for ties. But white oak must 

 soon become exhausted, and a new sup- 

 ply could only be produced in a cen- 

 tury. At that time only the choicest 

 timber was accepted, and a critical 

 inspection rejected large numbers wdiich 

 would now be eagerly seized upon. 



General William Henry Harrison had, 

 in 1 818, called attention to the catalpa 

 tree of the Wabash Valley, as being of 

 extreme durability. Mr. James M. Buck- 

 lin, a civil engineer, in 1826 had advo- 

 cated the use oi the catalpa for ties. 



Several railways in the early part of 

 the past century made use of a limited 

 number of catalpa ties, but the great 

 abundance of timber prevented any gen- 

 eral use of this wood, changes in man- 

 agement contributing tO' this result, and 

 causing as well the loss oi most records 

 oi its use. 



Mr. Barney, the car builder, of Day- 

 ton, O. ; Dr. Warder, of North Bend, 

 O., and Robert Douglas, of Waukegan, 

 111., about 1876 created considerable in- 

 terest in the catalpa by various publica- 



