258 THE IRR1GA TIOX A GE. 



ade. Along the line of the Evansville & Terre Haute road there are 

 still standing posts of catalpa that have been in the ground fifty 

 years. 



.1. W. Cooper, engineer of maintenance of way of the Big Four, 

 expresses the view that the catalpa tie in good ballast will last thirty 

 to thirty-five years, whereas the average life of the ties now in use is 

 but one-fifth that number of years. With all its excellence for homely 

 and rude usage, the catalpa takes a polish as rich as that of walnut 

 and cherry. It is not hard to find a grain of striking beauty in the 

 wood. 



A desk made of polished catalpa was on exhibition for two months 

 recently in the State House at Indianapolis. It was pronounced the 

 most beautiful desk in the capitol. The tree from which the lumber 

 was taken had grown in twenty -five years to twenty two inches in 

 diameter and it produced 250 feet of lumber, board measure (twelve 

 inches wide and one inch thick.) Indiana farmers like the wood for 

 plow beams, single trees and tool handles because it is light and dura- 

 ble. 



Forestry planting by the railroads was an informal subject of 

 much interest at the recent meeting of the National Wholesale Lum- 

 ber Dealers' Association in Chicago. John J. McKelvey, general 

 counsel for the association, is particularly well informed on the sub- 

 ject of the lumber situatiou. He said: 



''It is quite clear that the future of the lumber industry will de- 

 pend upon the success in establishing some intelligent system of forest 

 care and culture." From the Brooklyn (N. Y.) Daily Eagle. 



