TREES AND THEIR VALUE FOR PLANTING 89 



season. The tree is not usually subject to diseases, but is often 

 attacked by insects. 



Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) . The natural range 

 of honey locust is from western New York and Pennsylvania 

 south to Georgia and west to eastern South Dakota and Texas. 

 It does not form pure stands, but is distributed throughout 

 the hardwood forest. It grows to be a tree 140 feet in height 

 and 6 feet in diameter, but usually is about 40 to 50 feet high 

 and i to 2 feet in diameter. The growth is fairly rapid. 

 On favorable sites it makes an annual height growth of I to 2 

 feet and an annual diameter growth of one-third to one-half 

 inch a year. Under less favorable conditions it takes 7 to 8 

 years to grow an inch in diameter. It is intolerant of shade. 

 It naturally produces large clusters of thorns along the trunk 

 and branches, but these can be removed. There is a thornless 

 variety of this species. Often in a grove of honey locust indi- 

 viduals will be found without them. The seeds of these 

 trees can be collected and grown. Those that produce seed- 

 lings with thorns can be thrown away and the thornless speci- 

 mens planted. The wood is heavy, hard, strong and coarse 

 grained, and fairly durable in contact with the ground. It is 

 used chiefly for fuel, fence posts and poles. It is useful for 

 hedges and windbreaks. The soils of the Plains and Prairie 

 region are well adapted to this tree. It will withstand very 

 dry conditions. It seeds abundantly and is easily propagated. 

 The pods should be collected from the ground and the seeds 

 removed and stored in a cool, dry place over winter, and 

 treated with hot water before planting in the spring. The 

 swollen seeds should be removed and planted at once and the 

 operation repeated with the remainder. The seeds should be 

 sown in moist, rich soil in the nursery and covered lightly. 

 They will grow a foot high the first year and will be large 

 enough to transplant to permanent situations the following 

 spring. It should be planted closely together. Two by eight 

 feet is recommended for Prairie regions. For shelter belts 



