146 xNEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Illinois; it is not worth much here; and so it is with the catalpa. I 

 have watched that thing closely, and there is no difference except in the 

 degree of hardiness. 



Mr. Emerson: I was going to make a remark something along the 

 same line as Mr. Harrison. Although there may be no specific difference 

 in the form of the tree or the leaf, still there is a difference in the 

 hardiness of the catalpa. Take the black walnut over the various states; 

 you cannot tell them apart by any technical markings, yet some winter 

 kill, while others stand the winters; some are hardy and some are 

 tender, and the difference is due to the region from whence they came. 



A Member: Just a word in regard to the hybrid catalpa — I don't 

 suppose we should bring it in here because it is not a forest tree. It is 

 a pretty fair ornamental tree. Here in Lincoln it is hardy. Take any 

 hybrid, which is a hybrid between equally hardy species — take them 

 from the same belt, and they are hardy, but if you take a hybrid, even 

 of the same species, from the southern belt, or warmer climate, they 

 are more tender, even though they are the same species. We have 

 seedling hybrids in the nursery, and some are hardy and some are 

 absolutely tender. 



A Member: I had some experience about twenty years ago with 

 catalpa. I planted a number of trees in Sherman county. I bought 

 those trees of a nurseryman and he guaranteed them to be hardy catalpa; 

 they killed down in the winter and finally died out. Now, I would like 

 to know what kind of protection a planter has got in buying catalpas 

 from the nursery. 



Mr. Harrison: How far west do you live? 



Answer: Sherman county. 



Mr. Harrison: Well, that is a trifle too far west. The catalpa is not 

 a dry weather tree. I noticed one grove I put in eight feet apart and 

 was well cultivated, that was alive, but you cannot grow catalpa too far 

 west in a dry season; if you have three or four years of drought you 

 will lose them. I think it is the drought more than the winter that 

 kills them. They cannot endure dry heat. 



The President: While this is a valuable discussion, and I am very 

 much pleased to hear you discuss it so thoroughly, as that is one of 

 my standbys — I like to see discussions in print, but I wish you would 

 confine your discussion closely to the subject, as we have so much to 

 do, and do it in just such a time. We have Mr. Emerson to hear from. 

 Mr. Emerson has been crowded out of our meetings the last year. I 

 would like to hear from him this time. 



Mr. Harrison; That is all. I understand it is the difference in the 

 character of the tree. I certainly agree with the idea that seed should 

 be brought from as far north as possible. And I would like to make a 

 suggestion, that we catalpa growers in Nebraska ought, if possible, to 

 collect our seed in Nebraska, and get them from groves that you know 

 to be thoroughly hardy, where the trees are well formed, then you know 

 you will have trees, if you plant them within reasonable range. 



