1870 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



23 



have <iiven attention to the mattor, of the ut- 

 most importance. Other States will doubtless 

 follow our example, and it is altogether possible 

 that our Lireat Pennsylvania Railroad may take 

 tlie question up and appoint one or more Forest- 

 ers of their own, who shall examine all that per- 

 tains to the enormous supply needed for their 

 gigantic work." 



We heartily approve of such a measure as 

 this. It would be one of the cheapest invest- 

 ments the State or States could make. Our 

 only fear is that the Legislature could not be 

 brought to see the full importance of such an 

 •oflSce, and be perhaps inclined to look on a 

 small salar}' as a full equivalent. Nothing less 

 than $2,000 a year, or if the forester is to bear his 

 own traveling expenses, and he ought to travel 

 the State extensively, $^3,000 a year should be 

 thought of; and it ought to be higher, and doubt- 

 less would be made so in a few years, when the 

 full importance of the work should be seen. 



And then again there are difficulties in getting 

 the proper persons into the office. If such a 

 person as Prof. J. T. Rothrock, for instance, 

 who has been brought up to agriculture, and yet 

 has a thorough knowledge of arboriculture and 

 botany, and is a clear writer and admirable 

 teacher, could be induced to take such a position, 

 there would be no mistake about the value of a 

 ■State Forester. 



The Blue Gum. — The Eucalyptus in Cali- 

 fornia is pronounced not a success as a street 

 tree, though still in great demand where wood 

 is scarce. It goes up like a rocket well enough, 

 but too soon it comes down " like a stick," un- 

 der comparatively moderate breezes. It is said 

 that no buildings near which they are grown are 

 safe from the grand smash at any time. 



The Lumber Trade iisr the East. — From 

 all accounts, the trade in lumber shows no de- 

 •crease. The American Cultivator tells us that 

 " Up to Nov. 1, there were 3,000,000 feet more of 

 lumber surveyed at Bangor than in 1877 to that 

 date, and 5,000,000 feet more than in 1876. As 

 on the first of August the amount surveyed was 

 7,000,000 feet less than last year, it will be seen 

 that for the three months since, there have been 

 10,000,000 feet more surveyed than in the cor- 

 responding time last year." 



The White Pine. — Among the many trees, 

 spoken of for timber planting, the White Pine is 

 rarely named. And yet it has some points well 



worth remembering. Speaking of some eastern 

 experiences, the American Cultivator says : 



"We have accounts of many White Pine trees 

 that were 250 feet in height and six feet in diame- 

 ter. One in Lancaster, N. H., measured 264 

 feet. Eighty years ago several trees growing 

 on rather dry land in Blandford measured, after 

 they were felled, 223 feet. In the Summer of 

 1841, a mast was made on the Penobscot River, 

 Me., which measured, after being hewn to an 

 octagonal shape, ninety feet in length, thirty-six 

 inches in diameter at the butt, and twenty-eight 

 inches at the top. Many masts have been hewn 

 on that river in former times, from seventy to 

 ninety feet in length. The roots of the White 

 Pine, even in the old trees, of seventy to one 

 hundred feet in height, rarely penetrate more 

 than two or three feet, taper rapidly, and extend 

 twelve or fifteen, not often twenty, feet on every 

 side. In trees of not over twenty-five or thirty 

 feet the roots do not penetrate more than fifteen 

 or eighteen inches." 



Felling Trees. — Mr. Gladstone, the distin- 

 guished statesman, as our own Horace Greely 

 was, is fond of the axe. He has been giving a 

 correspondent some leaves from his note-book. 

 He considers Yew the most difficult tree to fell ; 

 next come Beech and Ash ; Oak, though very 

 hard, fells well ; but the easiest of all is Spanish 

 Chestnut. 



Growth of Trees in America. — The Gar- 

 dener^s Record says : " Mention is made of a 

 Weeping Willow fifty feet high, after five years 

 growth in New Jersey soil. Astonishing rate of 

 growth, if true." 



We think it is not improbable that there may 

 be a tree in New Jersey that has done this, 

 although it is doing extra well. The growth of 

 trees in this country, as compared with England, 

 is amazing. The writer of this had a dozen 

 posts made from an English Oak, twelve years 

 old. It makes three growths a year here, and 

 annual shoots five feet long are not unusual. 



Catalpa bignonoides speciosa. — Mr. E. 

 G. Teas writes to the Rural New Yorker^ " Mr. 

 Meehan, of the Gardener's Monthly, seems 

 to doubt the existence of this distinct species of 

 Catalpa." 



It would be interesting if Mr. Teas would 

 give the evidence for this statement. It is 

 remarkable wiiat can be the object of all the 

 misstatements and ultra sensitiveness about this 



