The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-18
Gossip of men
 and 11ldttes$
Interested in Tree Culture.

John P. Brown. editor of ArboriSHiture; and W. D. stern Of the .sians bSres' were in Montgomery yesterday in consultation wi With some citizens relative to the p,tr- chase of lands upon which to plant ea' 'as Rr Brown, whose office is at conners- vile, Ind, is an authority on forest cui- ture. He travels over various railway lines selecting locations and directing the planting of forest trees.
 :sThe hardy catalpa,". said Mir. Brown, ca native of Indiana, is the tree which makes most aRd sny te We have samples of the wood which show the great beauty of finish and the rapid annual growth section wn1ch ,nchs grew sn , in ameter. The wood is of great durability, lasting in the ground for. seyenty-tive to eighty years. It is used for fence posts telegraph poles and railway cross ties. There are ties in existence which have been in constant use for thtrty-tWo years which is four times as long as the best oak ties will last.
 ST "Tbe S wood is also used for fine furnit- ure, chairs. inside finish for residences and offices. and for building railway cars freight FaT and of the New Ens land pulp mills is making some wood pulp and paper of catalpa wood"
 The International Society of Arborlcul- have been allotted space in the Forestry Building at the St. Louis worlds fair. and will make an exhibit of catalpa wood
 Regarding the Gulf States Mir. Brown says the trees grow much more quickly here than in the North. The soil and climate both suit them, even better than that in Indiana One variety of catalpa Is common through the Southern States. but 1t is not valuable on account of low, | crooked growth.
 vation is catalpa speciosa, which grows from 100 to 150 feet high, and often from four to seven feet in thickness.
 samdy lands no a from which the pine has been removed, is a serious question to the owners Mir. Brown thinks that planting such lands with catalpa. will be the so- lution of the question. In from sixteen to twenty years trees may be grown which will produce cross-ties, lumber, ocean piling, and timbers equal in value which has heretofore grown, although the pine has taken 1 0 years to grow. Lumbermen will before many years have exhausted the supply of timber in | the State. and this tree promises to speed lily renew and perpetuate that supply. | One important feature of the catalpa is that 1t is not destroyed by cutting the tree. Its vitality is such that a new tree will be grown from. the stump of every | tree used, thus making perpetual forest.
 Parties here are planning to have 1OO,- 0OO acres planted with catalpa as a com mercial venture.
 Visitors at the worlds fair will have an opportunity to see some magnifcently fin- | ished articles in the catalpa exhibit.
 Mir. Stern says he will be glad to give information to any who wish to plant trees. and will send literature when re- quested.
 The Illinois Central Railway have 25t acres of catalpa trees at New Orleans, planted two years ago. Some Of the trees are. twenty feet high and three to. four | inches in thickness Many other railways have planted large numbers of trees while the Louisville and Nashville Company contemplate planting largely.