536 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



were once made for the wood. When American ships were gaining 

 victory after victory over English vessels in the war of 1812, it was 

 asserted in England that the cause of American success was the locust 

 timber in their ships. The claim may have been partly true, but other 

 factors contributed to the phenomenal series of successes. 



The locust craze died a natural death. Too much was claimed for 

 the wood. Possibilities in the way of growth were over estimated. It 

 was assumed that the tree, if planted, would grow everywhere as vigor- 

 ously as on its native mountains in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 

 Virginia, where trees two or three feet in diameter and eighty feet high 

 were found. Experience proved later that nature had planted the locust 

 in the best place for it, and when transplanted elsewhere it was apt to 

 fall short of expectations. Outside of its natural range it grows vigor- 

 ously for a time, and occasionally reaches large size; but in recent years 

 the locust borer has defeated the efforts of man to extend the range of 

 this species and make it profitable in regions distant from its native 

 home. The tree is often devoured piecemeal, branches and twigs break- 

 ing and falling, and trunks gradually disappearing beneath the attacks 

 of the hungry borers. No effective method of combating the pest is 

 known. The planting of locust trees, once so common, has now nearly 

 ceased. 



Within its native range, and beyond that range when it has a 

 chance, locust is a valuable and beautiful tree. It is valuable at all 

 times on account of the superior wood which it furnishes, and beautiful 

 when in bloom and in leaf. A locust in full flower is not surpassed in 

 ornamental qualities by any tree of this country. It is a mass of white, 

 exceedingly rich in perfume. It blooms in May or June. During the 

 summer its foliage shows tropical luxuriance with exquisite grace. Its 

 compound leaves are from eight to fourteen inches long, with seven to 

 nine leaflets. They come late in spring and go early in autumn. The 

 tree's thorns, resembling cat claws, are affixed to the bark only, and 

 usually fall with the leaves. The fruit is a pod three or four inches long, 

 and contains four or eight wingless seeds. They depend on animals to 

 carry them to planting places. The pods dry on the branches, and 

 rattle in the wind most of the autumn. The tree spreads by under- 

 ground roots which send up sprouts. A locust in winter is not a thing of 

 beauty. It appears to be dead ; not a bud visible. It black, angular 

 branches lack every line of grace. 



Locust wood is remarkable for strength, hardness, and durability. 

 It is about one pound per cubic foot lighter than white oak, but is thirty- 

 four per cent stiffer and forty-five per cent stronger. Its strength 

 exceeds that of shagbark hickory, and it is doubtful whether a stronger 



