1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



241 



very good, but it bears well. You will notice 

 the kind is very small, exceeding even Shannon 

 ;in this respect. It is probably the most valua- 

 ble of all Cherries for the South ; and is very 

 tdesii'able anywhere. Tree grows well." 



"We are much indebted to our correspondent 

 for the opportunity to see this variety. They 

 ihad a curious experience in reaching us — and 

 'that they finally came well to hand after a week 

 of fight with the government, is a great deal in 

 their favor. Our correspondent put up the box 

 in strict accord with the strictest rulings of 

 the post office department ; and not to rob the 

 government even of a penny message, wrote the 

 name on a penny postal card, which was slipped 

 under the wrapping twine, so that all might 

 •come together. The ruler decided that this sub- 

 jected the whole to letter postage. We grumbled 

 •at this heavy sum, for a few chei'ries, whereupon 



j the package was retained by the government. "We 



appealed to the government,protesting that there 

 j was no writing contained in the parcel or on the 

 I wrapper, and that the postal card was entirely 

 ! independent, and could easily have got under 



the string by the motion of a mail bag. Then 

 I we were informed that we were to be 

 I fined, not because the postal card was attached 

 • to the box, but because the box was attached 



to the postal card. Then we took the trouble 

 I to show that this also was untenable, and finally 



our good government acknowledged itself wronw 

 I and the dear little cherries were restored to us. 



It is 4iigh time that this nonsense about writ- 

 j ing on or in a package, when at best the govern- 

 j ment could not be cheated out of more than a 

 I penny postal, was abolished. When a written 

 ; letter cost a quarter, there was some sense in it, 

 ' but it is ridiculous now. 



Forestry. 



€OMMUNICA TIONS. 



YELLOW COTTONWOOD. 



(towa horticultural report.) 

 The opinion is common in central and eastern 

 Jowa, tliat Cottonwood is only valuable on prai- 

 ries for windbreaks, as the wood has little value 

 for fuel or for any uses of the farm or workshop. 

 The variety — if it be merely a variety — abundant 

 •on the Missouri, and also found sparingly on the 

 Des Moines, Iowa, Cedar, &c., in central and 

 eastern Iowa, known as yellow Cottonwood, 

 really has an economic value, aside from its value 

 for shelter-belts, that should be better under- 

 stood by our prairie settlers. Bryant says of 

 this variety: "Its heart wood is of a yellowish 

 color, not unlike that of the Tulip tree.- It grows 

 in the same situation as others of its kind and 

 is split without difficulty into rails. Shingles 

 have been manufactured from it which lasted a 

 considerable time. When sawed into lumber it 

 does not warp like the Cottonwood generally. 

 If Populus angulata, and P. monilifera are real- 

 ly distinct, it is a matter of uncertainty to which 

 this variety belongs. The subject should be in- 

 vestigated." Judge C. E, Whiting has grown 

 this tree extensively for a number of years on 

 the Missouri bottom in Monona county, and has 

 expressed his views as follows : 



"We have in the Missouri bottom both the 

 white and yellow Cottonwood. In speaking of 

 the Cottonwood as a valuable timber, I speak 

 alone of the yellow. I have fence boards of 

 this yellow Cottonwood upon my farm that have 

 been in use for fifteen years, and they are yet 

 good. My house is sided with Cottonwood, has 

 been built ten years, and looks as well as any 

 pine siding in the country, and stays to its place 

 well. It is really better as fencing than Pine, 

 being tougher and stronger. It stays to its place 

 as well, and is equally durable. I need hardly 

 say it has no rival in rapidity of growth, as it far 

 outstrips the Willow. Along the bars of the 

 Missouri are millions of seedlings. They grow 

 up upon these bottoms over a great extent, like 

 prairie grass. There are enough of them to plant 

 groves over every prairie in the State. I went 

 ten miles from home, and in one day took up 

 thirteen thousand, eighteen to thirty inches in 

 height, for my own setting. With ground ready, 

 a good hand can set two to three thousand per 

 day. The fall is the best time to get seedlings 

 from the Missouri bottom, on account of the high 

 water in the spring. I set Cottonwood posts from 

 old trees, on the bottom, in the spring of 1860. 

 I moved this fence last fall, and nine-tenths 

 of them are yet good. The yellow Cottonwood 

 I split up green and put under a dry shed to dry 



