ARBORICULTURE. 



279 



Tech. ought to move the watertable. It 

 is of no use anyhow. One with the 

 higher techmcal education ought to be 

 able tO' accompHsh this much. 



May be, if allowed to grow, the catalpa 

 will do this. They have a habit of mak- 

 ing swamps dry up, drain away, or, fail- 

 ing in this, they just grow. 



SOIL TOO RICH FOR THEIR BLOOD. 

 "A further instance may be cited of the plan- 

 tation made by the IlHnois Central Railroad at 

 Harahan, La. The soil consists of a rich allu- 

 vial deposit, and was formerly employed for 

 agricultural purposes. Louisiana is outside the 

 natural range of catalpa, and the tree when 

 planted in this region, where the growing sea- 

 son is long and the soil very rich, made such 

 rapid growth that the wood was so weak and 

 "cheesy" that it was unable to support the heavy 

 foliage of the tree. Winds have broken the 

 weak stems, and many trees in the plantation 

 have become mere broken poles. On less fer- 

 tile soil the tree might have grown successfully, 

 but under existing conditions the plantation is 

 not a success." 



Tech. had better go intO' the swamps oi 

 Louisiana and Texas and see some of the 

 native catalpa groves ; he would not blun- 

 der so in his assertioins. It is unfortu- 

 nate for Louisiana that the Delta soil is 

 so fertile as tO' displease a technical stu- 

 dent. 



ERROR IN JUDGMENT OF C. D. ROBINSON. 



"Various other instances where extremely 

 poor judgment has been exhibited might be 

 mentioned, and in nearly all cases the signifi- 

 cant fact is evident that the physical character 

 of the soil has been disregarded in the '^election 

 of sites for catalpa plantations." 



What a misfortune that C. D. Robinson 

 had not called a pro'fessional tech. tO' ad- 

 vise him before planting his twenty-acre 

 catalpa farm ! We never should have had 

 the privilege oi recording the financial 

 success of the Pawnee City plant. 



THE TRAINED FORESTER. 



"It is scarcely credible that a body of men 

 tisually conservative in business afifairs should 



be ready and willing to expend, freely, large 

 sums of money upon projects about which they 

 are not properly informed. A study and analy- 

 sis of the propositions placed before them, or 

 consultation of any trained forester, would have 

 saved them from needless expense and costly 

 mistakes, because any one acquainted with tree 

 growth, and especially with the catalpa, could 

 have informed them that the latter can not be 

 grown profitably on all classes of soil and over 

 a very wide range of climatic conditions. Some 

 railroads have discovered the mistakes they 

 have made, and now appreciate that the large 

 profits and quick returns promised from catalpa 

 plantations partake too much of the nature of 

 our present 'get-rich-quick' schemes to place 

 much reliance upon them." 



The recorded statements of many 

 thousands of most reliable people in ev- 

 ery Stafe of the Union and throughout 

 the world at large proves that the catalpa 

 tree does succeed under the greatest 

 range of climate and soil of any tree 

 known among men. 



AN ANCIENT LOCUST TREE. 



Recently, while visiting an old friend, 

 Tom J. Erwin, at Mt. Vernon, Indiana, 

 I took a photograph of probably the old- 

 est locust tree in Indiana, if not the 

 West 



This tree, as a little switch, was 

 planted by Mr. Thomas Mills in the 

 spring of 1829, and has just completed 

 its seventy-eighth year's growth. The 

 old gentleman who' planted the tree is 

 still living, tO' give its history. 



This tree stands on the grounds of Mr. 

 Elijah M. Spencer, corner of Main and 

 Fifth Streets, Mt. Vernon, Posey Coun- 

 ty, Ind., which city is near the point 

 where the Wabash River joins the Ohio. 



The tree branches a few feet from the 

 ground. At one foot from the ground 

 its girth is 15 feet 2 inches. The largest 

 branch is 9 feet 3 inches, and the smaller 



