144 iNEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETlc. 



per acre, the other one gave returns something like these I have stated 

 here. You must have good soil, if you expect good returns. 



Question: How about valley land? 



Professor Miller: Valley land is better, though these grew upon the 

 upland. I could give you one or two groves that did some better than 

 these, but I take these because it represents what can be done under 

 average conditions in Southeastern Nebraska. 



Question: What did you learn as to its usefulness for ties? 



Professor Miller: I don't know as to that. I have not very much 

 faith in the catalpa for ties. I don't think it would do. That is, I 

 don't think you would get a large enough percentage of tie timber to 

 make it pay. I think, with the demand for posts, it is a better propo- 

 sition. It is essentially a post timber. 



Question: Have you tested its endurance for a post timber? 



Professor Miller: Yes, it has been thoroughly tested. 



Question: VvTiat does your record show in that respect? 



Professor Miller: I have no specific record — perhaps more than 

 twenty to twenty-five years though. I have no specific example in mind 

 now, but as matters go, twenty to twenty-five years would not be out 

 of the way. Perhaps Mr. Scott can give us some information on the 

 subject. 



Mr. Scott: The only record I can give you regarding catalpa posts 

 is where I saw some in Southeastern Kansas in the region of Hutchin- 

 son, v/here there is an extensive plantation; they have over twelve hun- 

 dred acres there. I saw catalpa posts there that had been in use in a 

 fence for eighteen years and only the sapwood was decayed. They were 

 posts that measured, perhaps, three and a half inches at the top. 



Question.- How can you distinguish the hardy catalpa from the other? 



Professor Miller: I am awfully sorry to hear that question. I was 

 afraid it was coming, and I meant to get up early this morning and 

 look up that question. 



Mr. Harrison: Perhaps I can help you with a word. The best dis- 

 tinguishing feature I know of is, when in Northeastern Nebraska, at a 

 place where you find a catalpa grove doing well, and making a good 

 growth, you will know that it is the hardy catalpa, and if you collect 

 seed from that grove and plant you will get a tree that will stay 

 with you. 



A Voice: I have seen them growing in Missouri and in Indiana, 

 where they grow catalpas as large as balloons. If yo"u plant these you 

 are pretty sure to get a soft catalpa. 



Professor Miller: This I think will possibly answer the question. I 

 do not believe it is hardly possible to distinguish them absolutely. 



Mr. C. S. Harrison: We make this distinction. There are two classes 

 even of the speciosa. You will find the Catalpa bignonioides very seldom 

 in this state. You will find it in Kansas, and it is marked so you can 

 tell it. If you will take seed from the northern belt you will get very 



