CATALPA. 



{Catalpa.) 



Many kinds of wood that were formerly plentiful are now 

 much less so. Attention is being turned to trees that give 

 best results under artificial conditions. Catalpa, formerly but 

 little known, now bids fair to become of some importance in 

 this connection. 



The catalpa grows rapidly and produces a coarse, brittle, 

 weak, but durable and desirable, lumber, well fitted to meet 

 the requirements of railways and other branches of construc- 

 tion where the annual consumption is the largest. Fifty 

 thousand catalpa trees have recently been planted by a Western 

 railway at a cost of one cent apiece. Catalpas at Hutchison, 

 Kansas, were large enough to cut for posts at the end of six 

 years.* A sample tie recently removed from a Western rail- 

 way was found to be perfect after fifteen years of service. 

 Mr. John Brown t mentions specimens sixteen inches in 

 diameter seventeen years after planting. The species Catalpa 

 speciosa is said to be much the more desirable in that it is 

 hardy and reaches a tall upright form. 



The catalpa may be known by its showy flowers, suggest- 

 ing those of the horse chestnut. These are succeeded by long 

 pods filled with many-winged seeds and often used by children 

 as cigars. 



* U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Div. of Forestry, Bulletins 27 and 37. 

 •j" The Forester, October, 1900, and November, igoS. 



Kansas Agricultural College Experiment Station, Bulletin 108, 



90 



