288 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 



So many forms of ties have been devised, some with considerable men;, 

 the element of cost will govern the extent to which they will be used in 

 experiment. 



So long as suitable wood can be secured at reasonable cost, this will be 

 the material used by the great majority of railways. 



In planting trees for sleepers the cost of production is very largely in 

 favor of catalpa wood, providing proper judgment be used in selection of 

 stocks, care in planting, and subsequent management. 



That there have been many grievous failures is true, but this should 

 not prevent a continuation of experiments under more intelligent manage- 

 ment and with the light of recent information. 



There is not at present any supply of this wood in existence, nor will 

 there be until the trees shall be planted and grown. 



Trees planted in a single row along the track of a railway, surrounded by 

 a dense grass sod, the tops cut out by telegraph linemen, utterly neglected 

 by the company, even were they of the proper variety, will never make profitable 

 timber, and should not be taken as a gauge with which to measure a forest 

 for cross tie purposes. 



In considering the catalpa for cross ties there should be added the cost 

 of tie-plates, about sixteen cents per pair, for each sleeper, since the wear In- 

 grinding under the rails will be prevented by the use of plates. 



And while adding the cost of tie-plates to catalpa wood, it must not be 

 forgotten that all wooden ties of the future will demand the use of plates, for 

 oak has practically ceased to be a timber for general use. and heart yellow 

 pine will not long be in the market. Most other woods are softer than catalpa. 

 especially when the latter shall have been grown quickly, and thus very 

 much harder than that which has had a slow, suppressed growth, from over- 

 crowding. 



TIME REQUIRED FOR PRODUCTION. 



To produce timber suitable for sleepers of white oak will require from 

 seventy to one hundred years. Yellow pine, such as is used largely in the 

 South will take an equal length of time. Pinns pondcrosa, the bull pine of the 

 West, grown from the seed, will take from sixty to seventy years. Red wood 

 of California is also of very slow growth, while chestnut, so largely used 

 in New England, may require thirty years, although old trees of sixty years 

 make the more enduring timber. Black locust makes a rapid growth for a feu- 

 years, but it is sappy and not enduring. The old trees of locust are very 

 dense and durable in the ground. 



Catalpa spcciosa is recognized as making the quickest growth of any 

 valuable American forest tree. There is no other tree which can confidently 

 be recommended with which to reafforest the land within the time of the 

 present generation. 



This essential qualification should count rer\ high in comparative tests. 



The mesquite of Mexico and quebracho of the Argentine Republic are 

 instances of very dense woods which require centuries for their production, yet 

 they do not equal the catalpa for durability. 



