128 Botanical Department. [Bulletin 108 



SOUTHERN MISSOURI & ARKANSAS RAILROAD COMPANY, 



CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., February 3, 1902. 



Yours of the 27th : I am sorry to say that I have had no practical experience 

 with catalpa ties. I have no doubt, however, from my general information 

 obtained from parties who have used it, that it would be a most excellent 

 tie timber. I have no doubt that the day will come when we will have to 

 cultivate timber for our ties, or else pay four times as much as ive do now, 

 putting in steel ties. Yours very truly, S.'V. COOMBS, Chief Engineer. 



CHICAGO & EASTERN ILLINOIS RAILROAD COMPANY, 



CHICAGO, January 24, 1902. 



Yours of January 21 in regard to the use of catalpa ties: I have had abso- 

 lutely no experience, and know practically nothing about this wood. This com- 

 pany does use large numbers of white cedar ties, which, in my judgment, are 

 softer and less able to hold spikes than the catalpa. Of course, if used on curves 

 at all, tie-plates must be used with them. Yours truly, 



M. S. DAWLEY, Chief Engineer. 



THE FORT WORTH & DENVER CITY RAILWAY COMPANY, 



FORT WORTH, TEX., March 12, 1902. 



Your favor of the 15th duly received and noted, and in reply will say that I 

 am unable to find that any catalpa ties have ever been used on any of our track; 

 but from what I have learned of the qualities of Catalpa speciosa, it seems 

 to me to be excellently adapted to use for ties, etc. 



Yours very truly, E. F. VINCENT, Resident Engineer. 



ERIE RAILROAD COMPANY OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, 



NEW YORK, March 17, 1902. 



I find a number of hardy catalpa ties were placed in this track about 

 twenty-Jive years ago, and some of them remained in service twenty years. 

 Further than that I am unable to obtain any definite information. It would 

 appear, however, that this timber resists decay longer than any of the sev- 

 eral kinds of wood which we are using for ties at the present time. Con- 

 cerning its ability to wear under heavy loads, I am unable to say, as the service 

 in that direction was much less severe twenty years ago than it is to-day. 



Yours truly, D. HILLARD, Assistant to President. 



Rio GRANDE WESTERN RAILROAD COMPANY, 



SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, February 18, 1902. 



Yours of February 12 : We have not yet had sufficient experience with the 

 catalpa tree to furnish you with any reliable data, as we only had them planted 

 last spring. We have a nursery of some 60,000 trees, which have grown very 

 rapidly, and these will have to be set out this spring along the line of the road. 

 The young trees are planted in rows, and in good black loam, were carefully 

 taken care of, and raised under irrigation. They were planted, if I remember 

 correctly, in the month of April, and made a strong, healthy growth of from six 

 to eight feet during the year. After the transplanting takes place in the spring, 

 we will be able to tell you more about it. 



Yours truly, A. E. WELBY, General Superintendent. 



(For photograph of catalpa nursery above referred to, see plate 9.) 



