ARBORICULTURE. 



331 



THE CATALPA SPECIOSA FOR TEL 

 EGRAPH POLES. 



THE PIXE BAKiREXS OF XEVV 

 JERSEY. 



In our July issue ^ye presented a view oL 

 a catalpa tree ■which would make a super'j 

 telegraph pole 70 feet in length, and hav- 

 ing a diameter of a foot at the top. 



We ' show in this number another tree 

 growing in Gibson County, Indiana, ^^■hieh 

 in twenty years has grown so straight and 

 tall that it would surpass any telegraph 

 pole now in existence. 



A firm in Ohio, operating an extensive 

 telephone system, is planting a large for- 

 est of catalpa speciosa for the special pur- 

 pose of securing poles for this system. 



Short poles of white c-edar are still o)> 

 tainable in the swamps of j\Iichigan. l)nt 

 long poles are brought from Idaho and are 

 of pine. 



It will be but a few years when both t he- 

 great telegraph systems and the variou- 

 te]e])hone lines will he obliged to use iron 

 poles, unless some speedy planting is done 

 to supply wood. 



Companies desiring to provide a supply 

 of polos ma,y secure ITO poles per acre in 

 twenty years at a cost of twenty cents \)( r 

 tree, including original cost of iuml and 

 expense of planting and mainteniince. 



The present price of poles may averag? 

 $0.00 each — some costing three times as 

 much. 



Railways are now creosoting v\o^t of 

 their poles, but catalpa wood is already 

 treated while growing and needs no chem- 

 icals to make them last three times as lonii 

 as creosoted timber will last. 



The Western Union and Postal Tele- 

 graph Companies would do well to care- 

 fully consider this matter and make sucli 

 'provisions as will insure poles in tiinc 

 v/hen other timber will have disappeared. 



irOM' THEY MAY BECOME PRODUCT IVl^ 



The Xew York Tribune recently pave a 

 vci-y vivid description of these barrcu^. 



from which we make some extracts : 



•'Those who have gained tiheir knowledge 

 of the New Jersey "pine harrens" from a few 

 weeks' sojourn at. Barnegat, Tom's River or 

 other towns along the coast, supplemented by 

 sundry glimpses from the car window as the 

 train rushes along, may yet have but a faint 

 idea of what the real pine barrens are like. 

 To see them at their best — which in this case 

 is also their worst — one must get further 

 away from civilization than the railway will 

 carry him. But before one leaves it, indica- 

 tions of what is to come are not wanting. 

 The railroad dwindles from four tracks to two 

 and finafly one. This is ihe end of the road 

 and the few house« which constitute the last 

 village are clustered about in a spot whose 

 fertiliity, although slightly above that of the 

 currounding country, is still sufficient to 

 make it a veritable oasis in this all but 

 desert land. In all directions from its 

 borders the gray sand extends, Tenanteri by 

 stunted specimens of pUch pine whose stems 

 are little more than poles, with a brusih cf 

 yellow-green foliage at top which scarcely 

 shades the small oaks and huckleberry 

 bushes forming the principal underwood. 



As much rain falls upon this part of New 

 Jersey as upon any other, but the thirsty 

 sand rapidly sucks up the moisture and in a 

 few sihort hours after a stomi, the earth is 

 dry again. These arid conditions have a 

 very noticeable effect upon the few other 

 species that here and there struggle with the 

 pines and oaks for existence. For the most 

 part they are heaths or heath-like plants 

 with thick leathery leaves that are slow to 

 let their scanty supply of moisture go. The 

 wintergreen and trailing arbutus are com- 

 mon as is their near relative the bearberry. 

 This latter is a prostrate shrub with small 

 shining leaves and a profusion cf red berries, 

 very attractive to the sight, but conltaining a 

 juiceless mealy pulp within. 



The cactus is the only green thing in the 

 region that seems absolutely happy even in 

 the dryest weather. Its thick stems act as so 

 many reservoirs storing up water during wet 

 weather against a time of need ana parting 

 with its very grudgingly in dry times. This is 

 probably the only plant that can produce 

 fruit no matter how dry the season. In June 

 and July thie plants are fairly full of the 

 dark red '•prickly pears." 



It i.s sometimes difficult tO' understand how 

 certain species of sand planits are able to 

 exist, at all until the underground portions 

 •are examined. It is then seen that the top is 

 but an insignificant part of the ^yhole plant. 



