1908 . 
711 
AN EXPERIENCE WITH CATALPA. 
Get Seed True to Name. 
On page 064, S. A., Hopkins, Mich., asked questions 
about Catalpa. Let me tell him that before lie enters 
on this job he must know every inch of the road that 
lie travels. Let no man make the mistakes that I 
and many others have done. They can just as well 
have their mistakes pointed out ahead. S. A. can 
address a letter to the Forestry Division, Department 
of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., asking the ques¬ 
tions he desires. They will send him full directions 
on the growing of Catalpas or any other timber he 
may wish to grow; they will also send him a list of 
dealers who sell tree seeds and tree seedlings, but 
do not take it for granted that they all sell true 
stock. When lie makes a purchase of seed he may 
send a sample to the Forestry Division for identifica¬ 
tion. Do not take any chances. Catalpa grows very 
easily from seed, and should 
make a tree from two to 
four feet the first year. They 
may be planted in Fall or 
Spring. I do not know about 
Fall planting in the climate 
of Michigan. I have planted 
trees in November and De¬ 
cember and every tree lived. 
In 1904 I bought a quarter of 
a pound of seed from a Kan¬ 
sas seed house, another quar¬ 
ter pound from a Chicago 
seed house. I grew a fine 
lot of trees. I planted nearly 
a thousand trees from this 
lot. Last year they were 
pronounced by the Forestry 
service Catalpa bignonioides, 
Flowering Catalpa. I cut 
them down last Spring; dur¬ 
ing the months of May, June 
and July I cut out sprouts 
nine times. About the first 
of August I took out the 
stumps; now the roots arc 
sending up sprouts. Some 
people have the opinion that 
Catalpa is Catalpa, and all 
Catalpas are alike. There is 
just as much difference be¬ 
tween Catalpa speciosa and 
Catalpa bignonioides as there 
is between a White oak and 
a willow, for post timber. 
Yet it requires an expert to 
distinguish one variety from 
another; a “plug” can’t do il. 
1 he land S. A. describes may 
not be suitable for the grow 
ing of Catalpas. a. m. 
Macon, Mo. 
Does Catalpa Make Good 
Timber? 
I was led to believe the 
lasting qualities of Catalpa 
speciosa timber when used 
as fence posts, railroad ties, 
telegraph poles, etc., were 
greatly superior to most other 
kinds of timber, by reading 
the writings of those J sup¬ 
posed knew. For instance, it 
is said the Illinois Central K. 
R. Co., while repairing the 
road has found tics of this 
timber which were known to 
be in use 30 years and over 
and were sound yet, when 
good oak ties are calculated 
to last only seven years; a 
heap of fence posts at the St. Louis Exposition is 
said to have been used in a fence in Southern Illinois 
for so years and were sound yet; that farmers having 
good oak posts on their own land had drawn Catalpa 
posts 20 miles to make fence; and the U. S. De¬ 
partment of Agriculture issued a forest planting leaf¬ 
let, Circular 82, in April, 1907, which, speaking of 
Catalpa, states it often remains sound 30 or 40 years 
when used as fence posts. So I have invested a 
little in land, labor and money in a little grove of 
about 1200 trees, and intended to invest considerably 
more another year, but from what your correspondent 
from Clarks Ilill, Tnd., writes, I doubt the advisable¬ 
ness of it, for he says, “banners in this neighborhood 
who have Catalpa groves and used them for posts, 
do not say much in their favor, one man comparing 
their durability to Jack oak,” and lie further says, 
“ I his confirms my own observation of them, that a 
TTIIED RURAL NEW-YORKER 
good one will last seven or eight years and no 
longer.” Of course he docs not say what kind of 
Catalpa the groves arc, but of course I suppose them 
to be Speciosa. Now as this is a question of public 
importance, I wish you would investigate the lasting 
qualities of Catalpa speciosa when used as posts, etc., 
and publish the result in The R. N.-Y. There arc 
many other farmers who have not any wood lot and 
would no doubt like to have a grove of Catalpa if 
what 1 have believed about it is true. j. n. r. 
R. N.-Y.—Give us the facts! 
KILLING PEACH BORERS BY PROXY. 
T notice in Hope Farm Notes that peach trees in¬ 
fested with borers do not thrive, and produce prema¬ 
ture fruit. 'I bis is also my experience, and I have 
learned to my regret that hunting borers by proxy is 
not a success. During this and last year I paid good 
SHEEP IN VIRGINIA. 
After reading the article on page 663 advising east¬ 
ern farmers to have and raise more sheep, I thought 
I would give you my experience with sheep for the 
first year. In November, 1907, I bought at a neigh¬ 
bor’s sale four ewes, one ram and two Summer lambs, 
one ram and one ewe. The four ewes raised nine 
lambs (one having three), five ewes and four ram 
lambs. I have sold the ram lamb that I bought for 
$8, two that I raised for $0 each; will get $6 each for 
other two. bor feed they have not cost one cent 
except what the pasture was worth. They were on 
rye and clover until March 80, then clover and 
Orchard grass, and turned in orchard since then. My 
account with them follows: Seven sheep bought, 
$32.50; one ram sold, $8; two rams at $0 each, $12; 
two lambs on hand, $10; five ewes on hand, $25;-one 
ram. $8; five ewe lambs on hand, $20; 30 pounds wool, 
$4; total, $2. Of course 
a large flock would not 
pay nearly so well, and in 
all probability a small one 
would not do so once in 10 
years, if eve. again. Accident 
or disease may reduce profit. 
Franktown, Va. c. s. 
THE LIGHTNING ROD. 
On pages 500, 552. and 001 , 
regarding lightning rods, 
J. S. W. has failed to show 
the fundamental principle of 
the rod. Invariably the dis¬ 
charge of a current of elec¬ 
tricity of high intensity from 
the clouds (lightning) will 
seek the “path of least re¬ 
sistance” into the earth. 
Therefore the “ground” end 
of the rod should be carried 
well into the earth to the 
depth of perpetual moisture. 
This end should be riveted or 
soldered to a plate of copper 
of a thickness equal to thin 
pasteboard, and should have 
an area of at least five square 
feet for the average dwell¬ 
ing. This ground plate 
should be set well into the 
ground, down into moist 
earth, and it is better if 
about half a bushel of 
powdered charcoal is tamped 
about il to increase the con¬ 
ductivity with the earth. The 
lightning does not always de¬ 
scend silently nor unob¬ 
served. The rod sometimes 
gets slightly hot and instead 
of stapling it to the siding 
boards it is better to use a 
spool or insulator of glass or 
porcelain, and an iron 
holder made for the purpose, 
which keeps the rod about 
two or three inches away 
from the house. I quote 
from page 601: “They (the 
insulators) when wet be¬ 
come a good conductor. * 
1 hey do not become a flood 
conductor. Technically there 
CLUS1ER Ob WAUGH PLUMS, NAIUKAL SIZE. bin. 329. See Ruralisms, Page 716. 
noney to supposed good men to dig up and hunt the 
borers, so recently 1 hired another to go over several 
hundred trees and leave the ground open for my in¬ 
spection. Several days datcr I found the castings in 
evidence and went from tree to tree with a garden 
trowel and pocket-knife, and found from one to five 
borers in many trees, and almost every tree more 
or less damaged, as a result of placing confidence in 
persons who assumed to know how to hunt borers. 
Tt is not easy work for an anatomy that has been in 
harness for 60 years to get down on all fours and up 
from tree to tree, but had I taken the time a year 
earlier it would have been many dollars in my favor 
this year, as the trees bear a very fair crop, not¬ 
withstanding the injury to which they were subjected. 
So I repeat, “Don’t hunt peach borers by proxy.” 
Pennsylvania. w. tt. s. 
R. N.-Y.—That is our experience to the dot on the i. 
is a "leak” of current in wet 
insulators, sometimes quite 
appreciable, but a metallic rod 
well grounded is such an in¬ 
tense conductor alongside of 
wet wood, glass or other 
non-conducting material, that 
the current (lightning) will 
always without exception follow down the rod without 
ncctcd to the earth through the medium of a “lightning- 
arrester.” The lightning coming down the line will 
jump over the instrument, taking the path of least 
resistance (in simple words—a short cut) and dis¬ 
charge itself into the earth. If readers who contem¬ 
plate putting up rods will see that their ground plate 
is made as I have suggested, their buildings will be 
absolutely protected from lightning whether there is 
a metallic roof or a non-conducting roof. Lightning 
rod agents are not always recruited from the ranks of 
the scrupulous, and if the rod ends “out of sight” 
it may seem all right, but it fails to protect and is 
not only a waste of money but is really a danger to 
the premises. g. e. g. 
Barnegat, N. J. _ 
l 
In tlir city of Athens <lnst Is a feroat nuisance. FJy- 
mrlments are to he made with American road oil for lay- 
riK the dust In the streets. 
