The catalpa grows rapidly and produces a coarse, brittle, weak, but durable and desirable, lumber, well fitted to meet the requirements of railways and other branches of construction where the annual consumption is the largest. Fifty thousand catalpa trees have recently been planted by a Western railway at a cost of one cent apiece. Catalpas at Hutchison, Kansas, were large enough to cut for posts at the end of six years.[51] A sample tie recently removed from a Western railway was found to be perfect after fifteen years of service. Mr. John Brown[52] mentions specimens sixteen inches in diameter seventeen years after planting. The species Catalpa speciosa is said to be much the more desirable in that it is hardy and reaches a tall upright form. The catalpa may be known by its showy flowers, suggesting those of the horse chestnut. These are succeeded by long pods filled with many-winged seeds and often used by children as cigars. [p091] FOOTNOTES [Footnote 51: U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Div. of Forestry, Bulletins 27 and 37.] [Footnote 52: _The Forester_, October, 1900, and November, 1902.] Kansas Agricultural College Experiment Station, Bulletin 108. [Illustration: PLATE 18. CATALPA (_Catalpa_).] CATALPA, HARDY CATALPA. _Catalpa speciosa Warder._ Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) Catalpa (R. I., N. Y., La., Ill., Ind., Mo., Wis., Ia., Neb., Minn.). Hardy Catalpa (Ill., Ia., Kan., Mich.). Western Catalpa (Pa., Ohio, Kans., Neb., Ill.). Cigar Tree (Mo., Ia.). Indian Bean, Shawneewood (Ind.). Bois Puant (La.). Locality. Central Mississippi valley, naturalized in many localities. Features of Tree. Forty to sixty feet or more in height, three to six feet in diameter; well-formed trunks. Large, white, faintly mottled flower, long pod or bean. Color, Appearance, or Grain of Wood. Thick heartwood brown, thin sapwood lighter, nearly white, coarse-grained, compact structure, annual layers clearly marked. Structural Qualities of Wood. Light, soft, not strong, durable in contact with soil. Representative Uses of Wood. Railway ties, fence-posts, rails, adapted for cabinet-work and interior finish. Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 25. Modulus of Elasticity. 1,160,000. Modulus of Rupture. 9000. Remarks. Hardier and better formed trunks than afforded by C. catalpa. A rapid grower; sprouts vigorously from stumps. A valuable tree, promising to become better known. Foliage subject to attack by insects. [p092] FOOTNOTE John P. Brown (_The Forester_, October, 1900). CATALPA. _Catalpa Catalpa (Linn.) Karst._ _Catalpa bignonioides Walt._ Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) Catalpa (local and common name). Indian Cigar Tree (Pa.). Smoking Bean (R. I.). Cigar Tree (R. I., N. J., Pa., W. Va., Mo., Ill., Wis., Ia.). Indian Bean (Mass., R. I., N. Y., N. J., Pa., N. C., Ill.). Catawba, Catawba Tree (Del., W. Va., Ala., Fla., Kans.). Bean Tree (N. J., Del., Pa., Va., La., Neb.).