August, 1907 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



23 



The useless Eastern catalpa (C. bignonioides); branches 

 too low. Note its scaly bark which sheds 



feet apart. During the first season all weeds 

 must be kept down, the soil kept loose and 

 the young trees carefully tended. In the fall 

 dig up the trees and tie them in bundles of 

 one hundred, and heel them in for the winter 

 in some place where there will be no danger 

 of water standing about the roots. The 

 young trees may be left outdoors if carefully 

 covered. The earth should be fairly dry, 

 fine and packed thoroughly about the 

 trees. 



For the best results the ground where 

 the permanent plantation is to be made 

 must be in a good state of cultivation. 

 The best distance to set catalpa has not been 

 definitely settled, but on land which will 

 produce good corn, the trees may be set 

 4 x 4 ft. and later thinned to 8 x 8 ft. On 

 poor soil, however, the trees must not be 

 set closer than 8 x 8 ft. in the beginning. 

 This provides for 68o trees to the acre, allows 

 cultivation or cropping for several seasons^ 

 and moreover by the time the trees are 

 crowding one another enough so that thinning 

 is necessary, those taken out will have 

 reached post size. For the first two or three 

 years potatoes or corn may be grown between 

 the rows and they will pay for the cultivation. 

 On hilly, newly cleared or stony ground, 

 where cultivation is not practicable, mulch 

 the ground with straw and the prunings 

 of the trees. 



Self-pruning of catalpas when crowded 

 is a myth. When set very close the roots 

 soon fill the soil, and an intense struggle 

 for existence takes place, which results in 

 many trees dying and nearly all retain many 

 side branches so that frequently the planta- 

 tion forms an almost impenetrable thicket. 

 Far better results are secured by not setting 

 them so close and by a little pruning when 

 the trees are young. By removing the side 



branches, in late fall or early spring, a 

 straighter, smoother trunk is secured. 



Another method which is being followed 

 with success is to cut the trees back to the 

 ground when two or three years old. On 

 fairly good soil this makes very little differ- 

 ence in the date of harvesting, as the sprouts 

 from the trunk grow enough faster to make 

 up for the check the plant has received, and 

 make post timber as soon as if not cut back. 

 The advantage in the method is that a much 

 straighter, cleaner trunk is secured and very 

 little subsequent pruning is required. 



The method of harvesting depends largely 

 upon the size and object of the plantation. 

 Alternate trees may be cut in every row; 

 strips several rows wide may be alternately 

 cut and left, or the best trees may be cut 

 and the weakest left regardless of the location. 



In commercial plantations the second 

 method is generally best, since the strips 

 of trees left serve as a protection for the 

 sprouts which grow from the stumps of those 

 cut. For the small farm wood lot the latter 

 method is much more practicable. Cut the 

 trees in late summer (August) when the wood 

 has thoroughly ripened but before the leaves 

 drop. If cut later much of the soluble plant 

 food returns to the trunk of the tree just before 

 the leaves fall, making the wood less resistant 

 to decay. The wood must be thoroughly 

 seasoned before it is used for posts. 



Many variable factors enter into the com- 

 mercial production of catalpa wood. The 

 local demand, cost of marketing, value of 

 land, etc., all vary with the locality. For 

 most localities in the Central West the results 

 of a company owning an 8oo acre catalpa 

 plantation near Hutchison, Kans., may be 

 taken as fairly representative. 



It was estimated when the plantation was 

 started that it would cost, including the price 

 of the land, about $75 an acre to bring the 

 trees to maturity. Allowing, say, $15 for the 

 land, that would leave $60 for planting, culti- 

 vating, and spraying the trees. As near as 

 can be figured at the present time there has 

 been $30 netted per acre per year at the 

 present selling price, which is a large inter- 



The trunk of the hardy catalpa grows straight and 

 unbranched; its bark is furrowed like an oak 



est on any cost they might have been put 

 to and is way beyond anything else that 

 could have been done with the land. 



On the rich bottom lands of Indiana, 

 Ohio, and Illinois, the original home of the 

 hardy catalpa, the rate of growth is much 

 more rapid and the cost of production, aside 

 from interest on land value, much less. 

 Whether or not the business is engaged in 

 in a commercial way, there is abundant 

 opportunity for the small farmer to grow 

 a profitable crop of catalpa trees for his own 

 use if living anywhere within the planting 

 range of the species; for this out of the way 

 parts of the farm may be thus utilized, or 

 land that would be otherwise unproductive, 

 the trees may be used as a windbreak, or 

 planted incidentally for shade. 



A windbreak and a practical timber crop, for posts, on a pure gravelly soil 



