324 HONEY LOCUST 



and it is equally hardy. If the soil is deep, it will grow on 

 dry ground, and the indications are that it will do well in 

 the Middle West where the rainfall is somewhat restricted. 

 It is light-demanding, and if not crowded will generally 

 branch out low down, and instead of throwing up a single 

 stem there will be several of them straggling for supremacy. 

 In this it exhibits the same objectionable feature as the 

 common Locust. Advantage has been taken of this tend- 

 ency in planting it for hedges and fences. If cut back to near 

 the ground when young, it will throw up numerous branches, 

 and if properly handled will form an almost impenetrable 

 barrier, which is made more formidable by its thorns. It 

 does not sprout from the roots unless they are wounded. 



Its propensity to branch can be easily controlled. Close 

 planting in the forest will cause the lower limbs to die 

 and drop off, and the tree will then throw up a straight 

 stem clean of large limbs. It is a rapid grower, and an an- 

 nual increase in height of two feet and one half inch in 

 diameter is not uncommon in favorable locations, for a 

 score or more years, and in less favorable ones it will 

 generally add a foot or more in height and increase in dia- 

 meter fully one third of an inch. 



The wood is very hard, strong, heavy, coarse-grained, 

 and with a marked difference in appearance between spring 

 and summer wood. The heartwood is a bright red brown, 

 frequently nearly red in thrifty trees, with thin and pale 

 sapwood, the latter seldom over fifteen annual rings and 

 frequently not over ten. The medullary rays are numerous, 

 but small, and are conspicuous for their brilliancy, and if 

 the lumber is sawed radially they add much to its beauty 

 when finished. It is very durable when exposed to the soil, 

 and for all uses where great durability and strength are 

 required, it has few superiors. It is mainly used at present 

 for fence posts, rails, hubs of wheels, and general construc- 

 tion, but must, eventually, be grown for saw timber and its 

 use extended. 



It is a good seeder and bears quite abundantly after 



