178 



THE CANADIAN H0RTICDLTUEI8T, 



by these able men has already been pub- 

 lished, but as forest tree planting is 

 becoming almost as much of an object 

 as stock raising these facts can not be 

 too often presented. In one of Mr. 

 Barney's publications we learn that 

 Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison knew the 

 valuable qualities of the catalpa, and 

 forcibly called attention to its import- 

 ance and urged its extensive planting 

 for timber in an able address at an 

 agricultural fair near Cincinnati, more 

 than fifty years ago. Speaking of its 

 lasting qualities he told of a catalpa 

 foot log over a small stream in the 

 Wabash country that had been in use 

 more than one hundred years ; he chop- 

 ped into it and found it to be sound. 

 He spoke also of the old French fort 

 built at Vincennes, Ind., in 1702, being 

 largely of catalpa, and in 1808 (moi'e 

 than one hundred years afterward) 

 while he was Governor of the North- 

 western Territory, and located at the 

 same place (Vincennes) he found much 

 of the timber in this fort sound enough 

 to u.se for other purposes. Perhaps it 

 was this cii'cumstance that first called 

 his attention to its lasting qualities, for 

 in fencing the ground about his mansion 

 at that time (180S) he used ])rincipally 

 catalpa posts. 



This fact was called to the attention 

 of D. C. Burson, of Topeka, Kansas, 

 by Dr. Jno. A. Warder a few months 

 before his death, and as Mr. Burson 

 wished to gather all tlie positive proof 

 he could of its lasting qualities, he went 

 to Vincennes in the summer of 1883, 

 and called upon Mr. Pidgeon, who has 

 been living in the Harrison mansion for 

 some twenty-five years, and also upon 

 Mr. E. Tink, who owns a portion of 

 the Harrison estate. This gentleman 

 showed him some of these old Harrison 

 posts, and very kindly gave him per- 

 mission to remove one from the fence ; 

 also a portion of a picket post which 

 was us(id by the General as a stockade 



against the Indians before his treaty 

 with Tecumseh. 



Another additional value in connec- 

 tion with the lasting qualities of this 

 tree is that it is a fast grower, making 

 on an average three-quarters to one inch 

 in diameter per year ; consequently it 

 will take but five or six years to make 

 a good fence post, or but eight or ten 

 years to make a good railroad tie. 



Besides what is said of its value as a 

 timber tree in the foregoing article, it 

 may also be added that it is a veiy 

 handsome ornamental tree, bearing 

 lai-ge panicles of showy flowei's, suc- 

 ceeded by long, pendant seed pods that 

 give to the tree a singular and at the 

 same time attractive appearance. 



EARLY PEAS. 



N. Y. Agricultukal Experiment Station. 



The obtaining of an early crop of 

 peas is not only a satisfaction, but often 

 a profit, and it is hence desirable to ex- 

 amine into various methods whereby 

 earliness can be increased. Two sys- 

 tems of management are at once sug- 

 gested, the one the treatment of the 

 seed, the other the selection of the 

 seed. 



On March 21 a few American Won- 

 der peas were placed to sprout in a box 

 of moist sand in the greenhouse. Ger- 

 mination soon occurred, and it was 

 soon evident that we had commenced 

 operations too early for transferj-ing the 

 seed to the soil, hence when the radicle 

 was about an inch long, the box con- 

 taining the seed was removed to the 

 cellar in order to check further develop- 

 ment. On Ajjril 14, a row was plant- 

 ed in the garden of these peas, selecting 

 the most advanced, and at the same 

 time a second row was planted with 

 unsi)routed seed for comparison, the 

 seed of each row taken from the same 

 package. The sprouted seed vegetated 

 April 25, the unsprouted seed April 



