82 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[ March, 



cito ftnd Castillo streets. It is an evergreen oak 

 about 20 feet high and covers about as much 

 »rea. At the foot it is 40 inches in circumfer- 

 ence, and at 6 feet from the ground, where it 

 begins to branch, it is 30 indies in circumfer- 

 ence. The leaf is very similar to the California 

 live-oak, except that the underside is whitish. 

 The tree, though carefully watched, has never 

 been known to fruit. As Capt. Trussel does not 

 permit specimens to be cut, wc had to be satis- 

 fied with sticking a knife into the bark ; it pen- 

 etrated readily through a smooth, good quality 

 of cork bark to a depth of an inch and a half." 



A Large White Oak.— A newspaper para- 

 graph tells us that, "a white oak tree recently 

 felled in Michigan, measured twenty feet in cir- 

 cumference, and revealed three hundred and 

 eighty rings in the grain ; soit must have started 

 about the time America was discovered." 



Tree Planting in Minnesota. — A Western 

 paper tells us that over a quarter of a million 

 timber trees were planted out in the prairie dis- 

 tricts of Minnesota last year. 



The Profit of Timber Planting. — We like to 

 give both sides of every question. Here is the 

 black side of timber planting from the Chicago 

 Journal : 



"Now it is very likely that the supply of lum- 

 ber will be much diminished during the next 

 twenty-five years, though it is not true that for- 

 ests are diminishing as rapidly as many state. 

 In some sections of the country, forests are in- 

 creasing very rapidly. To show that it is not 

 ordinarily profitable to set out and tend trees for 

 half a life time in order to have some lumber 

 and wood, we have only to point to the portions 

 of land in this and other Western States that are 

 covered with trees, where land can be bought at 

 a less price than on an open prairie in the vicin- 

 ity. If there was a prospective speculative 

 value in forest timber, aside from pine and a few 

 other varieties, we should see capitalists compe- 

 ting to buy up all the forests in the countrj'. 

 The fact is, however, that investments are rarely 

 ever made in this kind of property. At present, 

 ■wood is little used for fuel in the West, and as 

 improvements are made in the manner of con- 

 suming soft coal, it will be used less than now. 

 As the country increases in age and wealth.more 

 durable material than wood will be used in the 

 construction of buildings." 



Without wishing to prejudice the argument 



we might say to this, that if one carries coals to 

 Newcastle, he would not exi)ect to make much 

 profit. To plant trees where they arc now an 

 incumbrance, and likely to be for some years, 

 would be folly ; but to plant them where their 

 products would certainly be in demand, is an- 

 other thing. 



Preserving Oak Tim her. — It is said that oak 

 ties for railroads are made very durable by being 

 steeped in chloride of zinc or creosote oil. 



The Value of Catalpa Timber. — Positive facts 

 in regard to the durability of Catalpa timber are 

 scarce. The following is from the Railway Age: 



"In the Sf»ring of 1S71, in conversation with 

 Wm. R. Arthur, formerly .superintendent of the 

 Illinois Central Railroad, he stated that Catalpa 

 ties would last forever ; that it wa.s easily culti- 

 vated, was of rapid growth, and when planted in 

 groves grew straight and tall as any forest tree ; 

 that he had several groves then growing on his 

 farm that had been planted but four years and 

 were 20 to 30 feet high ; that he had planted 

 them for fence posts, but had subsequently 

 learned that they would hold a spike as well as 

 oak and would not split. Hence their value for 

 cross-ties. 



" Three years ago I cut from a Catalpa tree, that 

 had been cut down after growing 30 years as a 

 shade tree, two railroad cros.s-ties, and placed 

 them in a track over which trains pass every 

 hour, one under a rail joint. The spikes show 

 no signs of loosening- The Catalpa does not hold 

 a spike as well as oak, but sufficiently well for 

 all practical purposes. It does not split easily- 

 While not as tough as some woods, it should not 

 be termed brittle, as stated in Millikin's essay. 

 I subjected pieces of Catalpa, oak and ash, one 

 inch square, to a breaking pressure twelve inches 

 between supports. The Catalpa broke under a 

 pressure of 703 pounds; ash 890 pounds ; one 

 piece of oak at 577, one at 709, and one at 1,141 

 pounds. The Catalpa deflected three times as 

 much as the oak or ash before breaking." 



COMMERCTAL CLASSES OF FOREST TrEES. — At a 



recent meeting of a Farmer's association in Con- 

 necticut, Prof. Brewer of Yale College, gave a 

 lecture in the evening on " Woods and Wood- 

 lands" of Connecticut. Great Britain, he said, 

 has twenty-nine species of indigenous trees, 

 growing over fifty feet in height; France thirty- 

 three, and Europe only fifty species. Connecti- 

 cut has sixty species indigenous to the soil, grow- 



