FOREST CULTURE IN IOWA. 563 



onr dry, cold winds. It also does best on porous, deep soils, as long continuous drought 

 seriously injures and even kills the trees on soils with the blue clay too near the sur- 

 face. 



Yellow Birch (BetuJa excelsa). — This tree thrives exceedingly well on deep, rich and 

 moderately moist soils, with porous subsoil. It makes excellent fuel, and is valuable for 

 many manufacturing purposes where a strong, fine-grained, handsome wood is desirable. 

 It is only recommended for variety. It grows readily when transplanted; and the 

 lover of' trees will always be pleased to have it in a general collection. The seedlings 

 are not so easy to grow in our dry air as those of most forest-trees, and the seed, of 

 which there is an abundance in the market, is usually not in a condition to grow. The 

 plants may be bought in any quantity in the pinery regions at low rates. 



Large Aspen {Fo2)nlus grandidenlata). — Unlike the common aspen this tree rapidly 

 attains, under cultivation, considerable size. The wood has no great value for fuel, 

 yet it has a special value for farm-uses that should not be overlooked. 



(1) It grows when planted closely very straight, and the poles — cut in summer and 

 pealed — flattened on one side make very strong and stiff rafters for sheds and even 

 barns. When large enough for hewing-sticks it is fully equal to white pine for frames 

 of barns. 



(2) No timber in our list will attain, under good culture, size sufficient for two rails 

 as soon, that is equally strong and durable, if cut in summer and peeled. In lengths 

 of eight or nine feet nailed on good posts, they keep in place better than oak, and 

 will last fully fifteen years. 



All things considered, it is best to grow this tree from cuttings, yet where seed can 

 be procured the plants grow with as much certainty as the cottonwood or maple. 



We may add that a plat of the aspen on the open prairies is ever an object of inter- 

 est in contrast with other trees. The leaves tremble in the lightest breeze when the 

 foliage of other trees is motionless. 



White Poplar {Populus alba).— This tree is usually voted a nuisance as a shade on 

 account of its wonderful tendency for suckering ; but this tendency to sucker would be 

 no objection in forest-culture. The size which this tree will reach in prairie soil in ten 

 years is a matter of wonder and surprise. It is probable that we have no tree with 

 valuable wood that will reach saw-log size as soon as this. Like the elm, the intrinsic 

 value of this tree has been overlooked. Let us enumerate: 



(1) It propagates from cuttings of any size, even more readily than the willow. 



(2) It is valuable for about the same uses as the famous tulip tree (Liriodendron 

 tulijjifera) of Ohio. It makes very superior flooring, wainscoting, and even finishing 

 lumber for houses. The boards used for siding, or for fencing, are vastly superior to 

 any of the poplar family except it be the yellow cottonwood. For dry -goods boxes, 

 bowls, trays, carriage-bottoms, trunk-making, chair-seats, &c., the wood is counted in 

 Europe superior to pine or white-wood. 



(3) When thickly planted, it runs up very straight, and the poles cut in thinning, can 

 be utilized by nailing on posts for fence, for rafters, sleepers, etc., as with the aspen. As 

 with the latter, the trees for this use should be cut in summer and peeled, when they 

 are quite durable if kept from the ground. 



Wild Red Cherry (Cerasus Pennsylranica). — This is a small-growing tree in its 

 native haunts; but it behaves so well under cultivation, that it deserves a place in our 

 timber plantations. It is peculiarly a northern tree, being found on nearly all soils from 

 the Atlantic coast to the headwaters of the Mackenzie River in British America. It 

 is very nearly allied to the common cultivated cherry, and exhibits in its seedlings a 

 marked capacity for variation and improvement. A variety is in common cultivation 

 in the south part of Benton County, Iowa, which bears heavy annual crops of fruit, 

 which is considered excellent for culinary use. The fruit is fully as large as that of the 

 black wild-cherry, and of pleasant flavor. The wood of this tree is exceedingly hard, 

 fine-grained, and of a reddish hue, aud would be valuable for many uses in cabinet- 

 work, were it not for the natural small size of the tree. Grown thickly in artificial 

 groves, its poles are straight and tall, and valuable for such farm-uses as nailing on 

 posts, fence-stakes, vine-stakes, light fence-posts, &c. If dried before putting in the 

 ground it lasts as well for posts as black cherry. The pits kept in sand through win- 

 ter grow as readily as those of black cherry. It transplants readily, and sprouts can 

 be secured in nearly all parts of the State for setting in groves. It will not pay to 

 grow this timber except for home-use on the farm. 



White Willow. (Salix alba). — Perhaps it may not be proper to include the willow 

 amoifg the timber-trees proper, having a special value for farm-uses or for manufac- 

 turing. Yet where grown thickly the poles are straight and uniform in size, and if 

 cut in summer and bark peeled off, they last for several years nailed on posts for fence, 

 and the fuel if dried under cover has a greater value for summer use than is generally 

 supposed. It is specially mentioned in this connection on account of its combined 

 adaptation for wind-breaks and fences on the bleak interior prairies. If any one 

 doubts the expediency of growing the white willow on an extended scale let him pay 

 a visit to Story County, Iowa. Several years since Col. John Scott, of that county, 



