564 Transactions of the American Institute. 



condition for another growtli. From one lot, planted thirty years- 

 ago, on land Avorth twenty -five dollars per acre, the timber was sold 

 for $400 per acre ; the ]Mircliaser doing all the work. Thus, the per- 

 sistent efforts of one man have covered over 100 acres with locnst, 

 which, on land not worth twenty-live dollars per acre for agricultural 

 purposes, is now worth from fifty dollars to $250 per acre ; and, when? 

 locust is once planted, there is no danger of its running out, like the 

 California " volunteer " crops, but it will increase with each 

 renewal. 



The uses of Iqcust are very numerous, wherever lasting qualities 

 and strength are required ; it being the strongest wood grown at the 

 north ; its tensile strength being 20,500 pounds to the square inch, 

 while best American white oak is only 11,000 pounds per inch (lias- 

 well. Engineering), or but little over one-half. Our locust has more 

 than double the strength of English white oak, which is 10,000 

 pounds per square inch. Its great strength makes it particularly 

 desirable for treenails ; so that there is not a wooden ship that sails 

 out of New York harbor that is not fastened with locust treenails ; 

 and every A No. one ship has much of her upper timber of the same 

 lasting wood. There is also a good demand for locust treenails for 

 export; one firm sending many thousands each year to Russia, 

 France, and England. 



On the island, it is largely used for fencing, for which it is particu- 

 larly valuable. Locust posts and good chestnut rails making a fence 

 that will stand twenty-five or thirty years without further trouble. 

 It also makes the best of wagon-hubs. 



It is usually considered the most profitable to cut this timber at 

 about eight or nine inches diameter, when it is sold for posts cut six 

 and a half feet long, which will bring thirty cents to fifty cents per post, 

 according to their size at the small end, by which diameter it is 

 usually sold. Larger timber is more valuable, but it increases less 

 rapidly after passing ten inches diameter, and large trees require 

 more room. 



My father was once ofl'ered fifty dollars for a tree that stood near his 

 door, and had made its growth in thirty years. The tree still stands. 



You will see by the above that the locust is a valuable, fast- 

 growing tree. It flourishes on any dry soil, but an old forest is 

 preferable for planting, and every rocky hillside can be turned to 

 profitable use by planting with locust. 



Wliy will not people wake up to the importance of cultivating our 



