PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 127 



PLANTING WHERE NOT INDIGENOUS. 



i 



It has been claimed by certain persons that as the walnut was not indige- 

 nous to New England, it follows that nature never intended it to grow there, 

 and that it would not succeed in such localities. 



Of course this is but the vagaries of short-sighted individuals. Many 

 instances are recorded of fine walnut trees which are growing in Massachusetts and 

 other States, from seed planted by man, and which have proven the profitable 

 character of this tree. 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY. 



Prof. John Gifford, in his "Practical Forestry :" 



"The simple fact that a certain species (tree) may be found growing only 

 in a very limited range is no reason for believing that it will not grow else- 

 where. Many species which have been moved from their native place have 

 met with new enemies and have perished ; others, however, in being moved 

 have escaped their foes. . . . The day is passed when we should concern 

 ourselves exclusively with the species of our own country in spite of their 

 abundance and great variety. We should search the world for those species 

 cf the greatest value, which will grow to the best advantage in various parts 

 of this country. . . . Natural distribution of species, as it stands to-day, 

 is mainly a matter of accident. The locust, red oak and Douglas fir are as 

 well, if not better, known in Europe than in their native land." 



We commend these thoughts to our friends in New England who reject the 

 black walnut because it was not indigenous and who are losing much by refusing 

 to plant it by the millions. The application may also extend to the Catalpa speci- 

 osa, which a century ago was only known in the valley of the Wabash River, cov- 

 ering not more than 150 square miles, while to-day it is found in every portion 

 of the globe. 



AN IMMENSE FOREST TREE. 



In the North Carolina exhibit of forestry at the World's Fair was a walnut 

 loer. 52 inches in diameter, 12 feet 4 inches long, attached to which was a card 

 wh.'ch read : 



"The big walnut tree of the Moore Cove was for many years a famous 

 tree, standing in the Moore Cove, Jackson County, North Carolina, until it 

 was bought for the Williamson Veneer Company and shipped to Baltimore to 

 be cut into veneers. The log on exhibition is the second one from the tree, 

 which made altogether eight thousand feet log measure." 



Fifty years ago there were many such trees in Indiana, fully as large as 

 the one on exhibition. 



Many of these trees were made into rails with which to fence the fields 

 of Indiana pioneers, and until a few years ago there were a hundred miles of 

 worm fences, built of walnut rails, in Indiana. 



The wood was not valued at that time, except as a convenient, easy split- 

 ting timber that could most easily be made into fencing. 



