WHAT TO PLANT. 65 



other claims to attention. While it is of very 

 rapid growth, it is one of our most valuable 

 timber-trees. It is compact in structure, close- 

 grained, very strong and durable. No other 

 wood will bear a greater strain. It is especially 

 valuable for fence-posts, resisting decay, when 

 used for this purpose, better than any other 

 wood except the cedar and the catalpa. It has 

 long been sought after for treenails for ships 

 and for the floors of vessels, and it is adapted 

 to many other uses. It is easily propagated, is 

 at home throughout a wide belt of country, 

 reaching from the New England coast to the far 

 West, and will grow in comparatively poor 

 soils. Owing to its peculiar foliage, grass will 

 grow under the shade of this tree more freely 

 than under that of most trees, and cattle may be 

 pastured in locust-woods with comparative im- 

 punity to the trees. It has been extensively cul- 

 tivated on Long Island for a century, and its 

 cultivation has been found profitable. The prin- 

 cipal discouragement which the planter meets is 

 the attack of the borer, but in many localities 

 there is comparatively little trouble from this 

 source. 



