PAPERS READ BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION. 



durable quality, and because it is not liable 

 to crack. It is very ornamental with its 

 round head, warm colored foliage, large, fan- 

 like leaves, and showy clusters of flowers in 

 spring, somewhat like those of the horse- 

 chestnut. It must not be confounded with 

 the more tender Eastern catalpa, Catalpa 

 bignonioides, which has a less erect habit of 

 growth, and smaller flowers, appearing earlier 

 in the spring. 



Fraxinus Americana (White Ash) Height, 

 seventy to eighty feet, with straight, clean 

 trunk, growth rapid, wood light, but very 

 tough, hard and elastic, and in great demand 

 for agricultural tools, machines, carriages, 

 oars, barrels, tubs, etc. It is also much 

 sought for by cabinet makers, and is coming 

 into use quite extensively for the interior 

 finish of dwellings; it is called for wherever 

 strength, stiffness and lightness are desira- 

 ble. Very ornamental with its broad, round 

 head and handsome foliage. The Green Ash 

 (Fraxinus viridis) is of slower growth and 

 forms a smaller tree, but is valuable on the 

 plains. 



Ulmus Americana (White Elm) Height, 

 80 to 100 feet, growth medium, wood brown, 

 very tough in young trees, light and moder- 

 ately strong in old; always difficult to split; 

 extensively used in the manufacture of hubs 

 and ship blocks; bears well exposure to the 

 atmosphere, and is of high fuel value. One 

 of the most ornamental of trees, with its 

 lofty sweeping gothic forms of great elegance 

 and grace. The red or slippery elm (ulmus 

 fulva) is a smaller tree than the white elm, 

 but of a more rapid, vigorous growth, with 

 reddish, hard, exceedingly durable wood, 

 much used for fence posts and .rails. It may 

 do better in this climate than the white elm. 

 Juglaus nigra (Black Walnut) Height70to 

 90 feet, with a very erect, straight stem, 4 to 

 6 feet in diameter; growth slow for the first 

 three or four years, but rapid and vigorous 

 afterwards; wood of a dark, rich brown color, 

 rather hard and firm, but susceptible of a high 

 polish, and probably more extensively em- 

 ployed for first-class cabinet wood than 

 any other. It is also extensively 

 used for gunstocks, handrails, floors, stairs 

 and inside furnishing generally. It has a 

 long tap root, which is an advantage in this 

 country, helping it to find water at a great 

 depth, but makes it difficult to transplant. 

 Therefore it should only be grown from seed 

 planted where the seed is to grow, in good 

 rich soil. The nuts are gathered in the fall, 

 mixed in soil or sand, and left in heaps ex- 

 posed to frosts during the winter. In the 

 spring they are planted in rows and covered 

 with an inch or two of soil. The bJack wal- 

 nut may be considered the most valuable 

 tree we have, though of rather difficult 



growth in this climate. It should be planted 

 with soft-wooded trees to shelter it. It forms 

 a noble tree, very ornamental with its round 

 spacious form spreading grandly with age, 

 and of marked beauty. 



Populus Monolifera (Cottonwood) Height, 

 80 to 100 feet, with trunk 4 or 5 feet in 

 diameter. Growth most rapid. Wood soft, 

 light, burning rapidly when seasoned, and 

 much used in manufacturing brick. It 

 makes excellent lumber, particularly for 

 inside purposes, not exposed to weather ; for 

 shingles, only pine, cedar and walnut are 

 superior. It is stated that old steamboat and 

 mill men prefer half-seasoned cottonwood to 

 any other, claiming they can get more steam 

 by it. It grows well from cuttings. Al- 

 though it is a short-lived tree, and the wood 

 is comparatively poor, this native tree is so 

 well adapted in every way to this climate that 

 it is more profitable than many other trees of 

 much finer qualities. As a nurse tree it is 

 peculiarly valuable, and should always be 

 planted in a grove with slower growing sorts 

 and gradually cut out as the other trees ma- 

 ture. It is quite ornamental, with its large, 

 glossy foliage, but is too coarse to plant on the 

 lawn or near the garden. All the populars 

 are very valuable for planting in this climate 

 because of their rapid, robust vigorous 

 growth. Besides other native species there 

 is the silver poplar or Abele tree (Populus 

 Alba), which is large and very orna- 

 mental, with silver foliage, and Populus 

 grandidentata a large tree with handsome 

 large foliage, also populur balsamifera, balsam, 

 tacamahsc or balm of gilead, a tall tree much 

 planted on account of its odoriferous buds. 

 Acer negundo, ash-leaved maple or box elder, 

 height 40 to 60 feet, with trunk two feet in 

 diameter; -growth very rapid especially when 

 young; wood, moderately fine, white and 

 makes good fuel when well seasoned. It has 

 a saccharine sap, from which syrup and sugar 

 are made, and in this can be made a substi- 

 tute for sugar maple, which does not grow 

 well here. A very ornamental tree of irregu- 

 lar spreading form and light green foliage. 

 One of the most desirable of lawn trees for 

 this climate, gleditschia triacanthos. Honey 

 locust or three- thorned acacia, height 40 to 60 

 feet; growth, very rapid; wood, heavy hard and 

 rather coarse-grained, and valuable for many 

 purposes; equal to either catalpa or black 

 walnut in construction requiring strength, 

 and for fuel and railway ties; it shrinks but 

 little in seasoning, and contracts and ex- 

 pands but little under atmospheric influences 

 of moisture or dryness. Its clean, healthy, 

 vigorous condition is conspicuous, and it 

 adapts itself readily to any soil or altitude. 

 Thorns appear on all parts of the tree, and 

 very large ones protrude from the main 



