30 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
THE HARDY CATALPA AS A FARM CROP. 
(From Bulletin 149, Ohio Experiment Station.) 
One of the most suggestive bulletins of the year was pub¬ 
lished by the Ohio experiment station last spring. This 
publication is of interest and value to the nurseryman and 
farmer alike. This bulletin emphasizes first, the fact that it is 
necessary to distinguish between the useless and the useful 
forms of the catalpa. Second that the hardy catalpa (Calalpa 
speciosa ) brought to public notice years ago largely through 
the efforts of Dr. John A. Warder, the eminent pomologist, 
can be grown with profit as a farm crop. 
We are glad to quote liberally from this 
bulletin. 
The Ohio station says that “At least 
three mistakes have been made in plant¬ 
ing catalpa trees, all of which 
have worked injuriously 
against the hardy catalpa, and 
to some extent 
against forestry in 
general. These are 
(1) too close plant¬ 
ing, (2) neglect of 
thinning, and (3) 
i mproper pruning. 
In nearly all of the 
earlier plantations 
the trees were set 
four feet apart each 
way and allowed to 
struggle for exist¬ 
ence after two or three years’ cultivation. 
Comparatively little has been realized from 
such plantings; the growth has been un¬ 
satisfactory; the trunks have been crooked, 
and the branches, instead of dropping off, 
have remained to form entering places for 
fungi. 
Doubtless it was the intention of those who made 
these first plantings to thin the trees at the proper 
time; at least one of those most prominently engaged 
in such work had that thought in his mind, as shown 
by the following: Referring to an article by a 
correspondent from Kansas, Mr. Robert Douglas, 
in Garden and Forest for Jaunary 3, 1894, says: 
T can confirm all that he says about the durability 
of catalpa-wood and its value for cabinet-work. It 
is a misfortune, however, that he should have accepted as 
true the statement which he says was prevalent ten years 
ago to the effect that ‘Catalpa planted four feet apart each 
way, and cultivated three or four years, would every 
one make a post in from eight to ten years.’ Perhaps 
such statements did appear in the agricultural press, 
but surely no one who has observed the growth of trees, 
either in the forest or in artificial plantations would have 
believed this possible. * * * * It is only on paper that 
men plant forests which grow in this prosperous way. ‘Set 
out your trees four feet apart,’ says the indoor forester, ‘then 
the third year thin out every alternate tree in the first row, and 
take out the second row entirely, and you will have trees stand¬ 
ing eight feet apart, exactly one-fourth of the number originally 
planted, all vigorous and happy, and growing into timber at 
railroad speed.’ But if any plantation was ever actually 
thinned out in this geometrical fashion I am sure it must have 
been seriously damaged.’ 
“The cost of growing an acre of catalpa trees must vary 
according to local conditions; likewise the value of the 
crop will depend upon the soil and care given, so that an 
estimate as to the probable profits can be approximate only. 
Mr. John P. Brown, editor of Arboriculture, estimates the 
cost of growing an acre 
up to eight years to be 
$75 and by some persons 
the cost is put at a lower 
figure. The following 
estimate is from bulletin 
108 of the Kansas Ex¬ 
periment Station: 
“Careful estimates 
based on the Laggy forest 
give total cost of growing 
and marketing timber on 
one acre for ten years as 
$51.70; gross value of pro¬ 
duct in ten years, $267.15; 
net profit $215.45; net 
profit less six per cent, 
compound interest on 
expenditures, $197.55 per 
acre; net annual profit 
for first ten years, $19.75; 
owner’s estimate of pres¬ 
ent gross value of pro¬ 
duct (three years later 
than above valuation) 
$400 per acre; annual in¬ 
come of plantation at 
present as estimated by 
$50 per acre.” 
4 = * * * 
HOW TO DISTING¬ 
UISH THE USEFUL 
VARIETY. 
Seed Pods of Catalpa speciosa on the right, 
Bignonoides or Hybrids to the left. 
From Arboriculture, Courtesy John P. Brown. 
The catalpa is 
easily grown from 
seed and in some 
cases it may be ad¬ 
visable to grow the trees instead of buying them. If one 
knows how to distinguish the true speciosa and can find 
seed bearing trees of that species, it may be as well to take no 
risks of getting the wrong kind by buying trees. 
There are two very common species of catalpa which are 
found in nearly every neighborhood, both of which are undesir¬ 
able. Both of these are more spreading and bushy than the 
speciosa. The filaments, or threads, at the ends of the seeds 
of these two forms of catalpa are drawn together, while those 
of the speciosa stand out parallel to each other like the hairs in 
a flat paint brush. 
The inferior kind seeds very freely and the seeds are easily 
