1880.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



307 



fered largely, — no more of those huge trees are 

 to he found that once adorned the forests of 

 the Susquehanna, Monangahela and Alleghany. 

 The forests of the Eastern States contain hardly 

 wood enough for their proper demand. The 

 woodless 'plains west of the Mississippi.^are en- 

 tirely dependent on the Northwestern States. 

 The annual consumption for railroads, telegraph 

 poles and fences is enormous. 



According to the Railroad Gazette, 27,561 miles 

 of railroad have been built in 1872-79, making a 

 total of 86,263 miles for North America. The 

 sleepers for the new roads and the repairs for 

 the old ones consume annually the timber of 

 150,000 acres, besides which a great quantity is 

 needed for the very large number of locomotives 

 that fire with wood exclusively. The railroad 

 fences have a total length of 125,000 miles, and 

 25,000 tons of wood are annually needed for 

 telegraph poles. The total value of fences is 

 given by the last official census at $1,700,000,000, 

 the annual repairs of which amount to 

 000,000! 



(To be continued.) 



red cedar, locust or mulberry ; that there was 

 great difference in its lasting qualities, ranging 

 from say, ten to twenty-five years. Many farm- 

 ers here say there is a yellow and a white catal- 

 pa ; that the former is very durable, and the lat- 

 ter not durable. It appears from investigation 

 that what is called the yellow is a mature tree, 

 or a tree growing very slowly, and the white a 

 tree in thrifty growth, and consequently with 

 more sap wood ; hence it would seem that the 

 only difference lies in different conditions of 

 growth. Investigation does not seem to decide, 

 however, that the mature tree is more durable 

 than the younger. 



I do not undertake to account for the differ- 

 ence in durability of catalpa, but mention it 

 simply as a fact. It is true that those who con- 

 template extensive planting should have all ac- 

 curate information. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



CATALPA POSTS. 



BY G. M. ALVES, HENDERSON, KENTUCKY. 



At this time there seems to be quite a" boom" 

 in the Catalpa tree. In current literature on the 

 subject the impression seems to prevail that Ca- 

 talpa wood placed in the ground for posts, &c., 

 is practically indestructible, so far as decay is 

 concerned. Notably, in your July issue you 

 quote from the Boston Herald an article on tree 

 planting, in which the statement is made that 

 catalpa wood " although soft, is almost inde- 

 structible when placed in the ground." The 

 fact is, catalpa is by no means indestructible. 

 Posts of it frequently decay in ten or twelve 

 years, and at the same time thej' frequently last 

 double that time, or longer. This county (Hen- 

 derson, Ky.), is situated in a scope of country 

 where the catalpa tree is indigenous, and abounds 

 in some considerable quantity. The country 

 was settled about eighty years ago, and from the 

 best information the wood has been used since 

 the county's settlement, and as a consequence 

 information derived from this section is entitled 

 to weight. 



My attention during the last few months was 

 particularly called to the subject. The informa- 

 tion obtained waa in general that catalpa was 

 esteemed for posts, though not so much so as 



Poplar for Paper. — In a recent trip through 

 Southern Pennsylvania, we saw repeated hand- 

 bills that "Poplar was badly wanted." We sup- 

 posed that this referred to the true Poplars — 

 Populus — but a friend, who had been in the 

 paper-making business, assures us that the Tulip 

 Poplar, Liriodendron, is the wood required. 



A Tall Gum Tree. — An Australian paper says : 

 "A tree 325 feet high, in the neighborhood of 

 Stockton, Cal., has hitherto enjoyed the reputa- 

 tion of being the tallest in the world; but an 

 official of the Forests Department in Victoria, 

 Australia, lately measured a fallen Eucalyptus in 

 Gippsland, which was 435 feet long. Another 

 tree of the same species in the Dandenong dis- 

 trict of Victoria, still standing, is estimated at 

 450 feet." 



Forestry in Canada. — We learn from a cor- 

 respondent that the movement among farmers 

 to set apart an acre or so for timber planting on 

 their farms is growing in popularity. 



Wood for Paper Makers. — In the report of 

 the Fruit-Growers' Society of Ontario, as made 

 by the Canadian Horticulturist, is the following: 

 " It was stated that in many places a demand 

 had sprung up for soft woods, such as Basswood 

 and Poplar, for the manufacture of pulp for 

 paper, and that often broken land which cannot 

 be profitably tilled could be planted with these 



