1870.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



99 



THE CATALPA TREE. 



This tree is becoming the subject of exten- 

 sive cogitation in our conntry witli reference 

 to its cultivation ; and Mr. E. E. Barney, of 

 bayton, Ohio— and, perhaps, also otliers— has 

 been laborirg for years to test its adaptability 

 to rapid culture and growtli, as well as the 

 quality of its wood and the uses that can be 

 made of it. Bless us, how very long it is 

 since we saw tlie first catalpa tree — threCr 

 score years at least. There it stood before 

 the door of the "apothecary" in our native 

 town, solitary and alone; and O, how beauti- 

 ful it looked "in its summer bloom. AVe then 

 knevi' no other name for it than the "cigar " 

 tree. No very favorable opinion of the quality 

 of its wood was then entertained, and next to 

 nothing was known about its cultivation. It 

 was a iong time before a second tree appeared 

 in the town— not during our boyhood, any- 

 how — and we are not clear as to how it was 

 produced ; but we think the base of a scion 

 was surrounded with earth and bandaged, 

 and kept wet until it threw out roots, when it 

 was sawed oft and planted. There are, or 

 were, plenty of them, apparently, growing 

 wild, on each side of the Pennsylvania Rail- 

 road near Philadelphia. A forest of catalpas 

 would be a " thing of beauty and a joy for- 

 ever," especially in their blooming season. 



Mr. Barney, during the past season, has 

 placed examples of the wood in the hands of 

 Prof. C. S. Sargent, the distinguished arbor- 

 ist, of Harvard University, "at Cambridge, 

 Massachusetts, in order to bring the qualities 

 of the Catalpa to the notice of the public ; 

 and after a careful investigation, tlie Pro- 

 fessor submits, in part, the following as his 

 report thereon, which we copy from the Jour- 

 nal of Forestry, London, England : 



"I find tliat the specific gravity of the 

 wood of the common Cntalpa bignonioides is, 

 when perfectly drj', .40.5 ; and that the specific 

 gravity of the wood of the early blooming 

 variety. C. B. spednaa, also perfectly dry, is 

 .462. The ratio of the weight of any wood 

 to the weight of an equal body of water, that 

 is its specific gravity, gives in many respects 

 the surest indication of its value for construc- 

 tion and fuel. But to show the relative value 

 of Catalpa it will be well to compare its 

 specific gravity with that of some better 

 known or standard woods. 



Speclflc gravity of common Catalpa, - - .405 



" " earlv blooming Catalpa, .46! 



" " Wild ChPiTV, - - - .488 



" " Canoe Bfrch, - - - ..539 



" " Black Walnut, - - - .577 



" " Ailanthus, - - - .614 



" " American Elm, - - - .649 



" " White Oak, - - - .662 

 " " Rock Elm, Ulmiis racemosa, 



(Thomas,) - - - .832 



" " Eastern Hickory, - - .838 



"By this comparison it will be seen that 

 Catalpa is inferior in weight, and consequent- 

 ly in strength and heat-giving qualities, to 

 even such soft woods as the black -walnut, 

 the canoe birch, or even the wild cherry, 

 which up to this time is the lightest of Ameri- 

 can hard woods which I have examined criti- 

 cally. It is remarkable that so soft and light 

 a wood as the Catalpa should possess tlie 

 power of resisting decay to a degree almost 

 unknown in the hardest and heavie.st woods. 

 It is unnecessary for me to dwell at this time 

 on the indestructible nature of this wood, for 

 so many examples of its wonderful durability 

 have of late been brought to public notice 

 that the fact is now establi.shed byond question. 

 But why the soft wood of this fast-growing 

 tree, which is traversed with large open ducts, 

 nearly as broad as those of red oak, a wood 

 which notoriously rots very quickly, should be 

 able to resist decay to such a degree, is not 

 clear; and this fact presents an interesting 

 problem, which the chemist or the vegetable 

 physiologist may perhaps be able to .solve. 



"The Catalpa can be safely planted in 

 strong, rich soil, in any portion of the United 

 States south of the 42nd parallel. Farther 

 north it often suffers in severe winters, especi- 

 ally when young ; and in the New England 

 States, unless in a few favorable situations, 



the soil is not rich enougli to make the plant- 

 ing of this tree as profitable as that of many 

 others better suited to reach maturity in this 

 section of tlio country. For that portion of 

 the treeless region of the west, south of the 

 42nd parallel, especially for Kansas and South- 

 ern Nebraska, I am satisfied that no tree 

 which has yet been suggested for general 

 planting there will at all equal the Catalpa, 

 either in the rapidity of its growth or the 

 value of its woo(i, with the single exception, 

 perhaps, of the Ailanthus. 



"The growth of ihu Catalpa in the rich 

 prairie soil is simply astounding. I liave now 

 before me a specimen cut from a tree which 

 grew at Brown.sville, Nebraska, and which 

 shows but four annual layers of growth from 

 the seed. It is 9J inches in circumferem e, 

 and the growth of the first two years, IjJ incu 

 in diameter, is already changed into heart- 

 wood. 



"During the autumn of 1S77 the Missouri 

 River, Fort Scott and Gulf Railway Company 

 commenced experimental plantations of vari- 

 ous trees on their land near Fort Scott, in 

 Kansas. The Superintendent of the railway, 

 in his report to the President on the condition 

 of these plantations, at the end of their first 

 year, says : ' The Catalpa has certainly proved 

 to be the strongest grower, and most tenacious, 

 standing the dry weather better than the 

 other varieties, and at present rate will come 

 to maturity years before other varieties are of 

 sufticient size to be of any utility.' " 



"Professor Sargent considers that the speci- 

 osa variety of the common Catalpa, Catalpa 

 bkjtwnioides, is the one to be preferred by the 

 planter. This variety is distinguished "from 

 the common type by its earlier flowering habit 

 and larger white flowers ; larger and much 

 flattened seed pods, often 16 to 18 inches in 

 length, and much thicker walls ; shorter and 

 broader seeds, with wings of equal width to 

 their rounded ends, which are terminated 

 by a copious fringe of stouter hairs ; and by 

 its darker and thicker furrowed bark. The 

 wood of this variety is considerably heavier 

 and much superior to that of the ordinary 

 type." ^ 



FORESTRY. 



In appropriate association with the fore- 

 going, in relation to the Catalpa tree, we 

 adduce the following from a speech delivered 

 by Hon. A. S. Padd'ick, of Nebraska, in the 

 United States Senate, in February last, illus- 

 trating the close connection existing between 

 forestry and the agricultural interests of the 

 country. It will, no doubt, seem absurd to 

 many land owners when they are admonished 

 to foster or make an economical use of the 

 forests now in existence, and still more ab- 

 surd when they are advised to replenish, or 

 plant new ones ; and, perhaps, still more 

 absurd when they are reminded that forests 

 exercise a perceptible influence over the meteo- 

 rological conditions of the weather, and hence 

 both mediately and immediately affect the 

 agriculture of the country, to say nothing 

 about its domestic and commercial condition. 

 There are, no doubt, many so situated that 

 the dissipation of the forests and the disi)lace- 

 ment of the surplus wood are matters involv- 

 ing years of hard labor, and are therefore the 

 objects of their chiefest concern. But this 

 only relates to the smallest portion of the 

 country, and even in those parts most densely 

 wooded it is becoming manifest that the sup- 

 ply of good timber is on the wane, and that 

 somehow the country has undergone a mete- 

 orological change ; and when the absence of 

 timber entirely, in vast tracts of country now 

 opened up to agricultural enterprise, is con- 

 sidered, the importance of the subject in- 

 creases vastly in its proportions. The ma.sses 

 of the people may be slow in apprehending 

 this, but posterity will surely be sensibly im- 

 pressed \vith our improvident folly if the pres- 

 ent waste is not arrested and a sy.stem of 

 sylvan economy is not initiated. Mr. Pad- 

 dock very appropriately says : 



"I will formulate my proposition thus : 

 Agriculture cannot prove enduringly success- 



ful, and populations cannot be largely multi- 

 plied, although the conditions of both our soil 

 and climate are highly favorable to such re- 

 sults, unless the forest areas are increased 

 proportionately, at least, with the increase of 

 the area of agricultural cultivation. Trees 

 are the dominating members of the vegetable 

 kingdom. They are necessary factors in the 

 sum total of those influences which constitute 

 the environment of animal life. Trees, by 

 absorbing carbonic acid gas and emitting 

 oxygen, act as agputs in rendering the atmos- 

 phere life-sustaining. By interposing their 

 foliage between the sun and the eartli they 

 serve a useful purpose in sheltering the soil 

 from lieat, and, as conductors of heat, in 

 equalizing the temperature of the earth and 

 the air. By covering the surface of the ground 

 with a layer of leaves and mould, they greatly 

 assist in preventing the escape of the heat 

 from the soil, this layer of dead matter being 

 still more useful in absorbing tlie fructifying 

 rains and allowing the water to percolate 

 steadily into the thirsty earth, instead of 

 sweeping over the surface, disintegrating and 

 washing it away. As a mechanical shelter 

 trees play an important part in protecting 

 both the ground and human habitations from 

 cold and destructive winds. By their power 

 of absorption the roots of trees take up from 

 the soil and give off through their leaves an 

 amount of moisture which, deducting there- 

 from the quantity absorbed in turn by the 

 leaves from the air, is sufficient to exercise an 

 important influence in increasing the general 

 humidity of the atmosphere. As an agent in 

 cooling the atmosphere about and above it, 

 and thus increasing the frequency of rains, 

 and the amount of precipitation of both rain 

 and dew, the forest subserves a most benefi- 

 cent purpose." 



" By the protection afforded the soil against 

 the escape of moisture, it preserves and tends 

 to make regular and permanent the natural 

 springs which are necessary to the mainten- 

 ance of vegetable life. In protecting the 

 ground on its surface from rapid evaporation 

 of the rains which fall upon it. and providing 

 a sponGry covering which rapidly absorbs and 

 distributes these rains, it prevents the di.sas- 

 trous inundations of rivers which too often 

 occur when the surface of the ground oflers 

 no obstructions to the onward flow of rivulets 

 that suddenly feed the main stream with 

 their accumulated waters. The forest, too, 

 guards the soil aeainst abrasion and displace- 

 ment from torrents and overflows, and thus, 

 acrain, asserts its conservative influence for 

 man's snod. Moreover, we need trees for the 

 delicrht they aflbrd. as at once the most ma- 

 iestic, imposing and beautiful of nature's 

 vegetable forms." 



In this connection, and as a forcible illus- 

 tration of the influence forest trees exercise 

 upon water streams, and psiiecially upon 

 springs, we may educe the following experi- 

 ence of our own. When we were a boy of 

 about fifteen years of ase, we worked upon a, 

 farm on which the entire supply of drinking 

 and cooking water was obtained from a free 

 flowin? spring at Ihe base of a hill, then, as 

 well as the narrow plain at its base, covered 

 with trees. This spring had thus been used 

 ever since the farm had been opened up to 

 cultivation, was the only source of water for 

 family purposes, and had never failed. Fifty 

 vears afterwards we visited the scene of our 

 boyhood, and found the hill and plain denuded 

 of their trees, and the siirinn entirely dry. 

 There had been no water in the spring for 

 twenty-five years, because all the trees and 

 shrubbery had been removed twenty-flve 

 years ago, and but a single huge stump re- 

 mained. 



LIME AND LIMESTONES. 

 " Lime and lime without manure 

 Will make hoth land and farmer poor." 

 In the May and June numbers of the Jour- 

 nal of ForeMrij is a very elaborate paper on 

 "Lime and limestones, their uses in struc- 

 tural works and in agriculture," which no- 

 thing but want of space prevents us from 



