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SIXTY THOUSAND POSTS. WORTH FROM FIVE TO FIFTEEN CENTS APIECE, AND 650 RICKS OF STOVEWOOD WERE SECURED FROM TWENTY ACRES.

a gross income of five hundred dollars an acre. W. W. Hall, who also lives near Hudson, has a plantation of sixty thousand trees.

"I will begin to cut mine in two years," Mr. Hall said. "I expect to harvest five hundred dollars' worth to the acre.

During the last eight or ten years while you are waiting for the crop to mature you don't have to give the trees any care. I believe it beats wheat raising on my land."

The catalpa speciosa or "hardy catalpa" is the only catalpa worth planting,

Kansas' State Forester says. The more common species, catalpa catalpa, is not profitable. It is a very difficult matter to determine if seedlings purchased for planting are true to name. Seedlings of all species are so much alike that it is practically impossible to tell one from another. It is only from the characteristics of the mature trees or the seeds that the common and the hardy species can be determined, definitely. And then it requires a close comparison of the points of identification.

One-year-old seedlings are the most satisfactory for extensive plantings. At this age the young plants are strong enough to establish themselves readily in their new location, and to make a good growth the first season. They also can be planted at a much less expense at this age than when two years old. The catalpa is very readily transplanted, and with proper care a full stand is easily obtained.

Catalpas grow naturally in deep, rich soil, along creeks and rivers. Consequently, they reach their best development in rich, well-drained bottom lands. It is an entirely safe proposition to plant catalpa trees in any soil that will produce a good corn crop. Gumbo, poorly drained soils, or high, dry land is not desirable for these trees. The general impression that catalpas require a sandy soil to attain the best development is erroneous, Mr. Scott says. A sandy loam or a sandy soil with a clay or loam subsoil are all right, but sandy soils with coarse sand or gravel subsoil are not at all suitable.

Six by six feet is the distance usually recommended for planting the young trees. This spacing is the most satisfactory when all the trees in the plantation are to be grown until they are sixteen or eighteen years old. But if some of the trees are to be cut for posts or other purposes as soon as they are large enough, and these cut promiscuously throughout the plantation, the stand is left so open that grass and weeds soon gain

post or pole production is not thus obtained.

Where intensive methods are to be practiced, the trees may be spaced three and one-half by seven feet. By the time the trees are eight or ten years old they will be crowding one another badly, and one-half of them should then be cut. When the plantation is thinned, the remaining trees are left seven by seven feet, which is sufficient room to permit them to reach full development. Crowding during their early period of growth is very beneficial as it causes the trees to develop clean, straight stems free from heavy limbs.

It is quite a common practice among catalpa growers to raise a crop of corn between the tree rows the first year. The corn usually more than pays for the cost of cultivating the trees and thus reduces the cost of producing the timber.

Catalpas require little care. After the third year no cultivation is necessary. You must just be patient and wait for the profits. Of course it will be wise to see that the plantation is protetced from fire and live stock. The danger of injury by fire is not great unless there is a growth of grass or weeds on the ground. The litter from the trees does not accumulate in sufficient abundance to carry destructive fires. Live stock of any kind is harmful to the trees. It is best not to allow any animals to range on the plantation.

When sixteen or eighteen years old, catalpas will yield three general fencing posts to the tree. The trees that are cut out when eight or ten years old are large enough to make one post apiece besides considerable stove wood. If the trees are cut while they are in a good, thrifty condition, the sprouts from the stumps will yield a second crop of posts in from fourteen to sixteen years. This second crop will nearly equal the first in number of posts and value. They will be straighter and freer from limbs than the foot-posts from the first cutting, and quite as durable. Because it requires practically no attention the second crop is the most profitable. It's like waiting on a paid up endowment policy. And fully as safe. the Kansas forester says.

ing and the trees around the opening develop heavy limbs instead of tall, straight trunks. Too wide spacing allows heavy limbs to develop near the ground and as a result the best form for

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block is accomplished principally by the natural weight of the wedge which is increased by the iron piece on its top.

The machine is driven by an electric motor. The power is derived from an electric circuit, and on turning the lever of the auto-starter, the splitting of the wood begins. The transmission of the power from the motor to the kindling machine is by means of a belt. On the motor being started, the hatchet is raised and goes rapidly down by means of a special mechanism within the machine. Another arrangement for binding the wood into convenient bundles, when split, is shown on the right side of the picture. The wood is put into the semi-circle of the iron frame on a chain. This chain is tightened by means of a lever so that the pieces are brought close together and the binding is thus easily accomplished.

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MACHINE THAT CHOPS WOOD WITH ELECTRICITY.

The farm lad with his chores after hours would un questionably appre ciate t his device.

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It can be worked
in different ways,
round on the side
or in any direction.
A large amount of
material can be
handled with it

and it does away
with the scoop
business. It fills
every part of the
bag. It gives a free
and unobstructed
surface to place the
bag and has an in-
complete ring that
drops on the bag
and grips it, using
either large or
small bags.

AN IMMENSE ANT-HILL

IN certain parts of

western Washington these immense ant hills are found, sometimes measuring six feet in height by four in width. They are built, usually at the base of a tree, by a large black ant, out of dried fir and pine needles. This one had an outside layer of small twigs and is about five feet high, with very many paths made by the ants, running to it from all directions. The little creatures must have done an enormous amount of work.

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