Dendrology 89 



or from stump sprouts and consists almost entirely of 

 sap wood that is creamy white and very tough. This 

 wood is very valuable for all sorts of handles and for 

 repairing parts of farm implements and machinery, and 

 for any purpose requiring a piece of exceptionally strong 

 and tough wood. 



The locusts 



The term " locust" applies to several kinds of trees, two 

 in particular, which are very different. In the northern 

 states the name applies equally to the black locust, also 

 called the yellow locust, and to the honey locust. These 

 two trees, however, are very different, but are both known 

 as locust. The black or yellow locust is a very valuable 

 farm tree and grows abundantly in many parts of the coun- 

 try. The honey locust is less valuable and is not so abun- 

 dant. Both trees are ornamental and produce very fra- 

 grant clusters of flowers coming in early summer after the 

 leaves are all fully developed. The black locust may always 

 be distinguished from the honey locust by the nature of 

 the thorns, which are in pairs, and very short, one on each 

 side of the bud in case of the black locust, and very long 

 and three-pronged in case of the honey locust. The latter 

 frequently has thorns on the trunk of the tree three and 

 four inches long. The black locust grows well from 

 the seed and develops so rapidly, producing such hard 

 and durable wood, that few trees excel it for farm pur- 

 poses. The one great drawback to the extensive growing 

 of this tree is the fact that the locust borer burrows in 

 the wood of the trunk and large limbs, destroying the 

 tree and rendering the wood worthless. No satisfactory 



