Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-09-11

soil, nor on soils which have tena.
cious gumbo snbsoil, nor on alkali
soils; nor will it do we'll except with
an annual rainfall of twenty. five
inches.
The soil should be fall plowed
and the seed bed carefully prepared
before the trees are set out. Wher-
ever the farmer has the nerve to
thin out at about three years it will
be cheaper for him to plant them
4x4 feet, in which case two or three
years cultivation at the most is all
that will be required. Ii he does
not, and seedlings are scarce or
high, then we would plant them GxS
and would grow potatoes or some
thing else between the rows the inst
two or three years. The cataIps
must have thorough Gu 'isatitn il
you wish rapid growth
At the end Of tso Years The,
should all be cut b,ck smooth IL.
the ground and allowed to sprout ur
f.on the root The sprouts shoulc
be thinned out to on. o. gaot
rich land this sprout will run up
from eight to ten feet without u
limb. This will avoid the necessity
of pruning hereafter; and as we
shall SEQ by and by, this pruning is
otherwise essential if you wish to
grow sound wood. Plan,el 6xS,
these trees would thin themselves,
but in doing so the dead branches
cling to the tree for years after they
die, new wood is deposited around
about the dead branch, but does not
close tightly about it. and thus
leaves a hole into which fungus
spores gain entrance, the tree de-
Gays, and finally breaks down. This
failure to shed its limbs properly is
one of the main sources of trouble
in growing the catalpa. st}f.
Thus planted, the tree should
grow two and half feet in height
and increase half an inch in diane
ter annually in the next ten years
In from eight to ten years the larg-
est will be of suitable post size, and
if they are trimmed up so as to
what is known as soft rot, they can
be counted upon to make lasting
fence posts, often remaining sound
for thirty to forty years. ,t4.;{
The Department of Forestry has
been making Investigations as to
the returns from paintings Of hardy
catalpa fifteen and twenty years ago
There is very great variation in
these returns, but on good, rich soil
in southern Iowa, Illinois, eastern
Kansas and Nebraska they have
yielded returns quite equal to ordi.
nary rent for the land after figuring
in compound interest while the trees
are growing and also all other ex
penses on a cash basis. - .rs9ss35
In one case in PawnSe county
Nebraska, the profit on twenty acres
amounted to $3,O42.12, or,a$l52. II
per acre. Figuring compound in
terest at 5 per cent for sixteen and
one-third years, the profit was Sc "a
per acre per annum.e The items oi
cost in this case were 1913 pei
acre for trees $lS.46 for planting
cultivating, and pruning. Adding
5 per cent compound interest fol
the sixteen and one-third years dur
ing which the plantation grew, ths
total cost of growing was $26.34
per acre. The cost of cutting ant
marketing the crop was $6l.9O. pei
acre, or ar total cost of $2.196.
Other groves which have been
planted and poorly cared for yielded
very much smaller returns. There
is testimony enough to Justly sthe
planting by men who will give
time, study, and care, of an acre. Of
hardy catalpas in the latitude above
mentioned for each 100 acres ol
land.-Wallace's Farmer.
while this county is north Of the
limit stated in the foregoing article
yet experience has shown that hardy
catalpas can be successfully grown
here. A number of these planted
several years ago, can be seen OF
the lawn in front of Mrs. Lewis At.
waters residence on franklin stree
in this city.-Eds.)