Waterbury Democrat., 1902-12-12
THE HARDY CATALPA.
A Study of the Tree for Farmers of the
 Middle West. ..-

"A Study of the Tree for Farmers of the
 Middle West. . Washington, D. C., Dec 12.-''The Hardy Catalpa," bulletin just pub- lished, forms another contribution to the series of studies of American con- mercial trees which the bureau of for estry has undertaken. The value of this publication will be greatest in the middle west, where the catalpa has been planted for many years with va rying success, and where even now 1t is imperfectIy understood. The farm CT of the prairie states who desires to put a part of his lands into catalpa, either for profit in selling posts and ties, or to supply his farm with tim- ber will find in the bulletin valuable information clearly and simply given.
 The bulletin is in two parts. Will liam l.. Hall, superintendent of tree planting, discusses ''The Hardy Catal- pa in Commercial Plantations while Dr Herman von Schrenk, of the bureau of plant industry writes of ''The Dis eases of the Hardy Cata1pa." MT Hall gives the results of careful studies of the Munger, Burlington, Hunnewell and Yaggy plantations, all in Kansas. The most important facts developed by him are as follows: =
 Hardy catalpa makes it's best growth on very rich, deep soil. In the Farling ton forest the best returns on the best soil are almost five times as great as on the poorest.
 Grown in pure sand, the catalpa should be protected from the wind by shelter belts of taller trees. A thin belt of cottonwood on the windward side of a plantation will protect the edge trees and allow them to make much taller and straighter growth; even an osage orange hedge, though not growing so tall, will generally pro tect them. L
 It is much cheaper for the planter to grow his trees from seed than to buy them from a nursery, if a large num- Der are to be planted. In the Munger plantation the cost of trees grown on the farm was 50 cents per thousand, while those from nursery, with freight, cost about S4 per thousand. The cost of establishing the Yaggy plantation with ome-grown trees, in- cluding cutting back and two years tillage, was S11.70 per acre; the cost of establishing the Burlington forest by contract. including the same amount of tillage, but no cutting back, was $50 per acre.
 The proper spacing used in planting is 4x4 to 4x6 feet. The catalpa plant CT who sets his trees thinly upon the ground will find them growing with spreading tops in spite. of his most careful efforts to prevent it. The most important advantage of close planting for the cata1pa is that it kills the lateral branches while young. If the lateral branches die before becoming more than one-half inch in diameter, they are easily pushed off by the tree and do no damage; but if they reach q larger size than this. as they are sure to do in thin planting. they cling to the tree for years, even after they die
 The development of large side branches units the cataIpa for practi- cal use. While the stand may become so dense as finally to shade them out. they cling with such persistence to the growing trunk that it cannot cast them on. New wood is deposited around the dead branches, but does not mite with them. The holes thus formed lead straight into the heart of the tree and the angle of the branches is inst right to conduct water and germs of decay into the trunk When the branch is finally released it leaves a great hole leading to the decayed heart of the tree. The tree thus ruined sooner or later breaks down-a com plete loss
 Cutting back the young trees after two or three seasons, so as to deyeIop a single sprout from the stump. greatly hastens --eight growth and prevents low side branches.
 With close planting and cutting back two years afterward, thinning will be- come necessary within eight or fen years from the time of planting. Some of the trees will be large enough for fence posts. and if the work is ju- diciously done good returns may be se cured from this first cutting.
 When the first growth is bushy and undesirable, better growth can usu- ally be secured by cutting the stand clean and reproducing it by sprouts
 clean cut stand should. be protect ed by occasional strips of timber left uncut for the protection of the sue ceeding crop of sprouts. This is espe- ciaIIy necessary on the prairies where heavy winds prevail. for the young sprouts are very tender and. easily broken off during tie first, year or two. of their growth. The protective strips are best run east and west, as the most daueG{nG N4aan are from the south,