THE HARDY CAT ALP A, r 57 



furrowed rather than scaly bark ; by wider and 

 more deeply notched seeds, bearing a fringe of 

 hairs not drawn to a point, as in C. catalpa. 



Durability. — Wood of C. speciosa is re- 

 markable for durability in contact with the 

 soil. Well authenticated observations give life- 

 record of one hundred years for timber from 

 large, mature specimens. Seasoned timber 

 from trees 10 inches or more in diameter will 

 last fifteen to thirty years in continuous con- 

 tact with the soil. 



Culture. — Seed sown about twenty-five 

 to the foot, in shallow drills one inch deep. 

 Spring sowing best in Northern states. Seed- 

 lings " heeled in" over winter, and set perma- 

 nently following spring. Planting should not 

 be closer than 5 by 8 feet. Thin to 1 o by 8 feet 

 from the eighth to twelfth year. Thinning 

 continued until trees stand 20 by 16 feet, or 

 1 6 by 1 6 feet if original planting was 8 by 8 feet. 

 Crops of corn, etc., can be grown between 

 eight-foot rows first year after setting. If cut 

 to ground second year from setting, and single 

 sprout allowed to grow, resulting trunk will be 

 straighter than if not cut back. Sprouts from 

 older roots produce post timber in four years. 

 Pruning necessary for formation of straight 

 trunks — first pruning in fifth or sixth year ; 

 second in the tenth year. Trees in forest in- 

 crease in diameter from one-third to one-half 

 inch annually, if not planted closer than 5 by 

 8 feet (1,000 trees per acre). Trees standing 

 16 by 16 feet (170 per acre) may increase in 

 diameter 1 inch annually up to about twelfth 

 year. From that time on, probable annual rate 

 of increase will be one-half inch. Post timber 

 produced in from seven to ten years ; tie tim- 

 ber, telegraph and telephone poles in from 

 fifteen to twenty-five years. 



Need of Tie Timber. — White Oak, the 

 best tie timber hitherto used, nearing exhaus- 

 tion. Expense of chemically treating cheap 

 ties of perishable wood is great. Metallic ties 

 are out of the question on American road-beds. 

 Strong demand exists for durable tie timber to 

 replace Oak. In 1900 there were 535,668,000 

 ties in track in the United States. If laid with 

 Catalpa ties, annual renewals would not exceed 

 four per cent., counting life of Catalpa ties at 

 but fifteen years — they have been known to 

 last twenty years. Annual saving of expense 

 of renewals thus affected, estimating the cost 

 of Catalpa ties also at forty cents apiece, 

 $10,600,000. Durable quality of Catalpa ren- 

 ders it especially valuable for fence-posts and 

 for telephone and telegraph poles. Value for 

 post timber lies not only in its resistance to 

 decay, but also in its not checking or split- 

 ting with age. Farlington plantation, near 

 Farlington, Kan., owned by the 'Frisco Plan- 

 tation system, has 640 acres, planted between 

 1879 and 1882. Trees planted 4 by 4 feet. 

 Not regularly thinned orpruned ; consequent- 

 ly trees have not made proper development. 

 Thinning now going on and plantation may 

 yet be successful. The Tincher plantation 

 of sixty acres, near Wilsey, Kan., is successful 

 and promising, producing in some parts of the 

 plantation 2,000 posts per acre. Trees well 

 pruned and properly thinned. Soil, upland 

 prairie. The Yaggy plantation, situated in the 

 Arkansas river valley, near Hutchinson, Kan. 

 About 500 acres in trees. Conditions of this 

 plantation better adapted forgrowth of Catalpa 

 than those of any other in the state. Trees in 

 splendid condition, and the plantation a de- 

 cided success, with fair profit and a good and 

 lasting annual return from the plantation. 



Death of Tree Pjeonies. — M. Dessert, 

 the French grower of these plants, replies in 

 the following terms to a query'under this head- 

 ing : " The loss of your Pasonies is not due 

 to the grafting as you imagine. All our plants, 

 young and old, are grafted, and we have not 

 lost a single plant from that cause. Without 

 doubt your plants have been attacked by a pa- 

 rasite, probablv a sort of botrytis, a near relation 



of Botrytis cinerea, the ravages of which in the 

 neighbourhood of Paris and Orleans French 

 nurserymen have reason to regret, and which 

 has had a disastrous effect on the stocks of P. 

 officinalis in American nurseries. This fungoid 

 attacks the exposed parts of the plants only, 

 the roots remaining untouched and sound, and 

 iris probably this that makes you attribute the 

 blame to the grafting." 



