156 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



been dead a year or two. All of the above and similar material 

 at best could be nothing more than substitutes for real wood. For 

 an annual crop of actual firewood there was no better way known 

 than to plant an acre or two of ailanthus trees and cultivate the same. 



In the fall cut the season's growth to the ground and burn for fuel. 

 At the end of the second fall there would be a crop of firewood to cut 

 from each tree, consisting of three or four stalks the size of a broom 

 handle, which would annually increase in size as the roots of the tree 

 grew older. Its semi-tropical foliage and deep, penetrating roots en- 

 ables it to withstand the drouths completely. It is easily grown from 

 seed sown at corn planting time or from root cuttings. 



At the close of this paper the speaker announced that he was sent 

 here for the benefit of his audience, and he knew of no way to quicker 

 get at their wishes than for them to ask him questions. The follow- 

 ing queries were then asked by various ones : 



How much do ailanthus cost per thousand ? From $2 to $3. 



Are they useful as shade trees? No, sir; for the reason that they 

 grow so fast that they winter-kill somewhat, and because it is such a 

 fast grower is exactly why it is so valuable for fuel. 



How tall does it grow? I have seen the sprouts grow eight feet 

 in one season. 



Do you recommend planting the seed in field where wanted? Most 

 emphatically I do not; have never yet seen a grove or timber claim 

 with a successful stand of timber that was grown from small seeds 

 planted where the tree was wanted. The weeds start as quickly as 

 the tree seeds do, and the labor of keeping these little trees from be- 

 ing " choked out" by the weeds would swamp the finances of a mill- 

 ionaire. Sow your tree seeds in the nursery row on about one-fourth 

 of an acre where you can give them special cultivation and then trans- 

 plant them to your timber claim when they are one year old. 



What variety of forest tree is the most valuable for western Kan- 

 sas? I think black locust the very best. 



Is osage orange lawful as a timber tree? Yes; when planted in 

 the form of timber and not in a continuous row like a hedge. 



What do you think of the black walnut? It has been greatly 

 overestimated; it requires the very richest bottom land to do its best; 

 on ordinary upland it is stunted, slow growth; a valuable tree to 

 plant, however. 



