FOREST PLANTING IN EASTERN NEBRASKA. 143 



Professor Miller: I am glad you brought that up. You know it has 

 a very small percentage of sapwood right in the edge. It is remarkable 

 that the catalpa has about the same percentage of heartwood at five 

 years old as it has at fifty. 



Question: When you dry it, doesn't the sapwood turn into hard wood 

 and become as durable as the other? 



Professor Miller: No, it is not as durable; only the last two or three 

 limbs of the catalpa are very sappy — ^it is practically all hard wood. 

 You can lose all the sapwood and still have plenty of material left. The 

 heartwood is exceedingly durable. You know it is a soft wood and 

 doesn't check like black locust or Osage orange. You can always get 

 staples or nails into it. When you consider these qualities, taken to- 

 gether with its rapid growth, you have an exceedingly valuable tree. It 

 is moreovor unusually free from insects and fungus troubles — in fact, 

 in this respect, it compares favorably with red cedar. I would say it 

 is fully as good. 



Question: Does it make any difference which variety? 



Professor Miller: That is an important question. It is worse than 

 time wasted to plant anything else than the hardy catalpa— Catalpa 

 speciosa. As a matter of fact^ so many others have been planted in 

 Nebraska that the whole catalpa name has been brought into disrepute. 

 You go over the state and you will find trees that never amounted to 

 anything; those trees are not the right kind of catalpa, but if you get 

 a genuine hardy catalpa grove, that has had any chance at all, you 

 will find good material. 



Question: Do you mean to say that, Catalpa speciosa will do well 

 along the north line of the state? 



Professor Miller: My faith in the catalpa is growing all the time 

 as to its range. When we first put out a report of it we did not recom- 

 mend it very much north of the Platte river. We stated it would prob- 

 ably do farther north, and I believe it will. There is a plantation in 

 North Dakota, and they also raise it In Minnesota. I believe if it is 

 planted in sheltered places, and you get the genuine hardy catalpa, it 

 will grow anywhere in Eastern Nebraska on good soil. As to the 

 western range — say as far west as Grand Island, and a little farther, 

 I think it is safe also. 



Question: How is it for a shade and ornamental tree? 



Professor Miller: It is not so good. 



A Member: There is a beautiful grove of catalpa in southeastern 

 Holt county, eighteen years old, bearing seed every year. 



Professor Miller.- I am glad to know of it. I had not discovered any 

 plantations that far north in this state. 



I want to say this: If you want to grow a tree for commercial re- 

 turns, it must have good soil. For instance, some of these plantations 

 show a splendid growth. We made calculations for two different planta- 

 tions, and while one on average soil only gave returns of a few cents 



