April 1902.] The Hardy Catalpa. 109 



owner was discouraged as to the lasting quality of the wood and thought a great 

 mistake had been made in planting so many thousand in Kansas." 



Samples of the rotted wood in question were sent to Washington, 

 and the following extracts from two letters from Dr. B. T. Gralloway, 

 chief of the division of vegetable physiology and pathology, indicate 

 in a general way the sources of decay of the wood, and point out the 

 conditions under which even the most resistant woods yield to the at- 

 tacks of soil fungi : 



"The cause of the decay was a fungus working in the wood. This fungus, or 

 fungi for there may be two or three species present is very abundant in the 

 soil in Kansas and Nebraska, and soon causes the decay of wood in contact with 

 , it. The posts can be made to last longer if the part to be placed under ground 

 is thoroughly charred on the surface and then soaked in hot tar. This, however, 

 will only delay the work of the fungus. Of course, if the post has once begun to 

 decay, this treatment will do very little good." 



"These fungi gain entrance to the posts from the soil after they are set, and 

 were probably not living in them before they were used. In many places in the 

 states of the plains the soil is full of fungi of decay, especially in regions that are 

 now, or formerly were, somewhat wooded, as, for example, near streams or in 

 draws. You will probably find that trees grown in upland will be more suitable 

 for posts than those grown in the lowlands, since they do not grow quite so fast 

 and are more exposed, and so form harder wood. A very important point in 

 cutting trees for posts is the time of year. The cutting should be done in the 

 late summer, before the nitrogenous and sugary materials that fill the leaves 

 have been withdrawn into the trunk and branches, preparatory to the shedding 

 of the leaves. These sugary and nitrogenous substances are very favorable for 

 the growth of fungi that may attack the posts, and will cause them to work much 

 more quickly and destructively than if the wood were not filled with them. As 

 you say, the catalpa is one of the most resistant woods to the various forms of 

 decay, but even this wood decays under conditions favorable to fungi. 



METHODS OF CATALPA CULTURE. 



Seedlings. Catalpa seed should be sown in the spring, in a seed-bed 

 of finely pulverized soil, prepared as for garden purposes, and should 

 be lightly covered, say to a depth of from one-half inch to one inch. 

 It is advisable to sow at the rate of about twenty-five seeds to the foot, 

 in shallow drill rows run about three feet apart, to permit horse culti- 

 vation. Grass and weeds must be rigorously kept down, and the rows 

 cultivated with the hoe until the fourth or fifth leaf appears on the 

 young seedlings, when the cultivator may be used for the remainder 

 of the season. After the leaves have dropped in the fall, the trees, 

 which should have reached a minimum height of from eighteen to 

 twenty-four inches, should be dug, tied in bundles of about 100 trees 

 each, and "heeled in" for the winter in dry, fine earth, closely packed, 

 so as entirely to cover the bundles. Care must be taken that the lo- 

 cation be such as not to permit the accumulation of standing water 

 about the roots. In the North the time for setting out the yearling 



