THE CULTIVATOR. 
293 
velopment of all our natural resources. Would we not 
De just so much wealthier, and yet possess that which is 
now consumed and gone. If we had been thus econom¬ 
ical, sufficient capital would have remained in the coun¬ 
try for the construction of all our public works, and to 
have taken all the loans for which we are now indebted 
to Europe. We have certainly been extravagant, and 
just as certainly are poorer than we should be, Dr. 
Bates to the contrary notwithstanding. 
But after all, the whole “ fog” in this matter, lies in 
the question as to the place of valuation. Transportation 
to market, is part of the labor which gives value to ex¬ 
ports. Till this is added, the valuation is not ready to 
be settled. Dr. Bates does this at home. It should be at 
the place where he buys and sells. The u wagoner” 
should do it at Boston. He has then put all his labor to 
his <c notions,” and is ready to balance the account. This 
is the universal practice, and is in exact accordance with 
our axiom, which has been so rudely assaulted and mys¬ 
tified, by changing the place of valuation, and kickingup 
a dust about «transportation,” “ ships,” “ wages of 
men,” &c. 
But once more, and I have done. Let a stranger go 
through this transaction. He buys the “ notions” ior 
$100, carries them to Boston, sells for $125, (freight now 
being added,) comes back with groceries to that amount, 
sells out for $150, including transportation homeward, 
profits, wear and tear, &c. He has got back the $100 
left there at the start, and the villagers find themselves 
minus $50 of their former savings beside. They have 
the groceries, it is true, for that amount, and use them; 
and thus they have consumed $50 more than they produ¬ 
ced, and such, Dr. Bates says, must certainly grow poor; 
and so say all—but all cannot see how he can thus tri¬ 
fle with the same truth in other words, and raise a mist 
and “ fog” about matters hitherto plain, and thus repel 
inquiry into one of the most interesting departments of 
human knowledge, by making it seem a disputed matter. 
Hackettstown, Warren co., N. J. A. II. D. 
THE CATALPA—TIMBER FOR POSTS. 
I never see a Catalpa tree, that it does immediately 
recall to my mind a fact stated by the late Gen. W. H. 
Harrison in an Address before the Hamilton county Ag¬ 
ricultural Society of Ohio in 1831, that the Catalpa is 
more lasting than either the locust or mulberry for fence 
and gate posts. Many portions of our country, new as it 
is, owing to the heedless waste and profligate use of ev¬ 
ery kind of timber, together with the utter neglect every 
where of any measures for re-production, are already 
nearly without the necessary supply for common fencing. 
Indeed there are some places where fence timber cannot 
be obtained except by importation from distant places. 
As long ago as in 1820, the writer of this traveled 
through several counties in the middle States, where 
nothing but boundary fences were thought of, and the 
public roads were crossed on the line between every two 
farms, by gates , which the traveler was obliged to open 
and close in passing. These gates were permitted by 
law, owing to the deficiency of timber for fencing the 
fields bordering on the roads. It is believed the same 
state of things still exists in that part of the country. 
Now in a country like this, such a want of timber ought 
not to exist. Every owner of land on which there is a 
scarcity of timber, should plant the several kinds of seeds 
and take care of the young plants till they can take care 
of themselves; or permit spontaneous growths to grow, 
and thus secure the necessary supply of timber. But to 
the Catalpa. In the address above mentioned, Gen. Har¬ 
rison said, (i The wood of the Catalpa affords perhaps, a 
more lasting material than either that of the locust or 
mulberry; is of a very quick growth, and easily cultiva¬ 
ted. Its ability to resist decay has been sufficiently test¬ 
ed in the neighborhood of Vincennes, both under ground 
and in contact with it. Over the little stream of the De¬ 
sha, five miles from Vincennes, one of these trees had 
fallen before any emigration had taken place from any 
of the States, to that place. It was certainly lying there 
in the year 1785, when a colony of Virginians, from the 
south branch of the Potomac, emigratedto that place, and 
for many years served as a foot bridge over the stream. 
I was informed by a gentleman of undoubted veracity, 
that it was only partially decayed a few weeks since, 
(that is in the spring of 1831.) The same gentleman, 
(Dr. Hiram Dickson,) informed me, that a bar post which 
was made by his father, and put in the ground at a little 
stockade work, which was erected in the year 1770, and 
which has been taken up and removed to his own farm, 
by his brother-in-law, Major Andrew Powell, is still 
sound, and answers the purposes for which it was origi¬ 
nally intended.” The late Col. Philip Tabb of Glouces¬ 
ter county, Virginia, one of the best farmers in that 
State, also long used the Catalpa for gate posts, and con¬ 
sidered them certainly as lasting for that purpose, as any 
timber he had ever tried. Now the Catalpa can be grown 
from seed as easily as Indian corn; the seed can be ob¬ 
tained in great abundance, and I know of no tree that 
grows so rapidly; I have frequently seen plants come up 
from the seed in the spring, and attain a height of four 
or five feet the same season; and in three seasons they 
often grow twelve to fifteen feet in height. In good rich 
ground, I have no doubt they would grow six feet each 
reason. If planted three or four feet apart for the first 
three years, they will grow as straight as reed poles. The 
fourth season they may be set out at proper distances for 
the formation of timber. Throughout the middle, west¬ 
ern and southern States, the Catalpa is perfectly hardy; I 
presume it is not so in the northern and eastern States. 
But there is a sufficient inducement in the former for the 
cultivation of it. On the prairies of the west it would be 
an invaluable acquisition, the soil and climate being well 
adapted to its rapid growth, and I am sure there are few 
subjects to which the attention of our western friends can 
be called, of more importance than this. It is well known 
that the destructive borer is rapidly destroying all the 
locust timber of our country, and a timely and equally 
valuable substitute may be found in the Catalpa, in the 
extensive region indicated. So far as my observation 
extends, no insect whatever attacks it, either in the wood 
or the leaf. It is also pretty well known that chestnut 
requires a peculiar soil, and does not generally thrive 
well except on “ chestnut ridges.” It cannot be expect- 
ed that the growth of this tree will be much extended. 
The white and red mulberry it is true, thrive well every 
where; but they are nothing like the Catalpa for facility 
and rapidity of growth, nor are they as lasting, if the 
opinion of Gen. Harrison be correct. The writer of this 
is acquainted with one fact in relation to the white mul¬ 
berry, that shows its qualities as ship timber. The frame 
timbers of the oldest steam-boa u >w in the Chesapeake 
Bay, the Maryland, are of white mulberry. Then was 
a large plantation of white mulberry trees near Annapo¬ 
lis, planted it is said by the French refugees. The own¬ 
er of the plantation many years ago, cut down most of the 
trees, and they were used in buildingthe steam-boat Ma¬ 
ryland. This boat I should suppose, is 25 years old, and 
I understand her timbers are still sound. G. B. Smith. 
THE BLACK RASPBERRY. 
Messrs. Editors—I would advise farmers to set out in 
their gardens, two or three dozen of the White Antwerp 
and Black Raspberry, the latter of which may be found 
wild in many places in this State. They yield a large 
and beautiful fruit, to be eaten from the bushes, or as a 
dessert on the table. When cultivated in gardens, they 
grow very large; the dark red and polished stalks rise 
from three to six feet from the earth, then bend over in 
graceful circles to the ground, on coming in contact with 
which, the end inserts itself in the soil, forms a new root, 
and sends up a young shoot for fruit the next year; a? 
sweet as the nicest tooth could desire, likewise making 
an ornamental appearance. The abundance of frui 
which they produce is astonishing. Mixed with a little 
cream and sugar, they present upon the table a dish tha* 
would do honor to the most exalted guest. Therefore 
brother farmers, try it, and in a few years you will bf 
richly repaid by your shrubbery. Yours, 
Shoreham, Vt., May 20, 1844. Doubleyou. 
Instead of spending a rainy day idly, repair whatevej 
wants mending, or post your accounts. 
