Issued January 10, 1907. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



FOREST SERVICE Circular 75. 



GIFFORD PINCHOT, Forester. 



FOREST PLANTING LEAFLET. 



HACKBERRY (Celtis occidentalis). 



FORM AND SIZE. 



Hackberry is not a commercially important tree, but throughout 

 the Middle West it is widely planted for a shade tree, and it is suit- 

 able for mixture with other species in windbreaks. In form, hack- 

 berry is usually characterized by a single stem with warty bark and a 

 broad conical crown. In good situations the tree often attains a 

 diameter of 2 feet and p height of 80 feet 



RANGE. 



The natural range of the hackberry extends from Massachusetts 

 to Oregon and from Canada to Mexico and Florida. It seldom forms 

 pure forests, but grows in mixture with elm, walnut, bitternut 

 hickory, pecan, ash, oak, and many other broadleaf trees. Although 

 widely distributed, its natural range of economic importance is chiefly 

 limited to the river bottoms and creek valleys of the Middle West. 

 It may safely be recommended for planting on the plains and prairies, 

 from Texas to Canada, but the low economic value of its wood, ex- 

 cept for fuel, makes its use inadvisable where better timber trees can 

 be grown. It is an excellent shade tree and rivals the white elm in 

 many of our western cities. 



HABITS AND GROWTH. 



The hackberry will, of course, thrive better on a fertile soil than on 

 a poor one, but its ability to grow on almost sterile soils is one of its 

 best. qualities. It is characteristic of the tree to live and bear seed in 

 situations where almost any other tree would die. In the more humid 

 regions it grows on dry and sometimes almost barren soil, while in 

 the semiarid plains it thrives best along the watercourses. A lime- 

 stone soil seems to be especially favorable. 



Its great hardiness where there is a scarcity of moisture makes it 

 one of the best trees for planting. in the semiarid regions adjacent to 

 the Rocky Mountains. It will not endure swampy soil. 



It is tolerant of shade and consequently thrives in mixtures. In 

 rich alluvial soil the annual diameter growth is sometimes one-third 

 17075 No. 7507 M 



