in^ 



THE PAPAW RAPIDLY SPREADS 



Whether planted or wild, the papaw spreads rapidly by means of suckers from the roots, 

 which sometimes prove to be a great nuisance. At the right of the above tree, near 

 the comer of the shed, can be seen a number of these suckers. If unmolested they 

 will soon form a thicket, as shown in the succeeding illustration. The tree above is 

 located near Maytown, Lancaster County, Pa., and is aljout 35 years old. It measures 

 35 inches in circumference at 2 feet from the ground and bore 13^2 bushels of fruit last 

 August. Photograph from Mrs. Joseph P. Draper. (Fig. 13.) 



F. C. Jordan, Allegheny Observatory, 

 Pittsburgh, Pa., 35 inches. 



Helen L. Trice, R. F. D. No. 7, 

 Helton ville, Ind., a double tree which 

 measures 62 inches in circumference at 

 6 inches above ground. One fork is 37 

 inches in circumference, the other 33. 

 It is not clear from the photograph 

 whether this represents one tree which 

 has forked, or two trees which have 

 grown together. 



The wood is light yellow, with a 

 specific gravity of only about 0.40. 

 Dendrologists invariably describe it as 

 weak, soft, and worthless, but W. T. 

 Coleman, of Bono, Ark., writes that he 



28 



knows of a house in which all the rafters 

 and joists are made of papaw, and that 

 in earlier times it was much used for 

 barn logs. The inner bark is said to 

 have been used for making nets. 



LIFE OF THE TREE 



The tree is generally described as 

 short lived. W. D. Hewitt believes 

 that the trees on his property at Bur- 

 lington, N. J., are at least 80 years old. 

 "I know of one patch," says R. R. 

 Bane, of Wellsburg, W. Va., "the trees 

 of which must be nearly 100 years old, 

 as I am 59 myself and the trees were 

 large when I was a boy." James 



