Locust tree

“ Exceptionally large and healthy specimens of the black locust tree are sometimes found growing as a part of the native arboreal flora, their, at least partial, immunity from insect injury doubtless being due to local causes, some of which are obvious and some obscure. For example, some of the best American specimens of the tree are found to have grown in, or around, cattle-pens, barnyards or other farmstead inclosures where domestic animals are gathered, the conditions of which places are known to be favorable to the tree, and they are apparently unfavorable to the insects. ”

“ TREES PRODUCING WOOD that is durable when used in the ground are in special demand. Among the few native trees of this kind the black locust ranks very high. It is much in demand for use as fence posts, stakes, and poles. Black locust has a strong, spreading root system which makes it of much value in checking erosion. Probably no other forest tree is being planted so extensively for erosion control. It is a legume, which in part accounts for its power of growth in lean soils and makes it an outstanding soil builder. ”

“ Clustered thorns on trunk of honey locust tree.
Right: Flowers and foliage of the black locust
It is hopeless for lower limbs to live in a dense pine forest. The top branches form so thick a wall of shade that lower branches die from lack of sun. It is the same with broad-leaved trees. In any dense woods, the trees stand bare as telegraph poles, lifting small heads of foliage at the top, and competing there with their neighbour trees for sun and air. It is only when set apart from other trees that a trunk can keep its lower branches hale and strong as those at the top. ”

“ WITHIN the past few years an increasing interest has been manifested in the black locust tree, Robinia pseudacacia. Many persons have begun to propagate it, not only as a wayside tree, but as a forest product ”

“ Thin, dry pods, twisted and bent, drift on the snow.—The common locust tree, Robinia Pseudacacia, blossoms and produces large numbers of thin, flat pods, which remain of a dull color even when the seeds are ripe. The pods of the locust may wait and wait, holding fast for a long time, but nothing comes to eat them. ”

“ Planted by itself, the locust tree with pistils will indeed blossom profusely every year, but will never in all eternity bear any seeds, for its flowers will fall without leaving a single ovary on the branches. What is wanting? The action of the pollen. Near the locust with pistils let us plant one with stamens. Now fructification proceeds as we wish. Puffs of wind, insects that pilfer from one flower and carry to another—these convey the pollen from the stamens to the stigmas, the torpid ovaries spring to life, and the locust pods grow and ripen perfectly. ”

“ John living upon "locusts and wild honey" in the desert. I have related to you this fact as it occurred to me. The locust tree must be well known amongst horticulturists. I do not pretend to enter into the question whether the translation is right or wrong, as I am no "scollard," as the old woman said.
J. BL.
There is in Malta, the north of Africa, and Syria, a tree called the locust tree; it bears a pod resembling the bean, and affords in those countries food for both man and horse, which I have no doubt in my own mind is the locust of the New Testament. ”

“ In due time the borers arrived there, for the intervening country eastward had become so dotted with artificial groves of the black locust tree that the insects in their beetle stage, easily spread from grove to grove by natural flight. None of those trees in the Mississippi valley had then reached the maximum size of the species, but they had fruited for many years, and some of them had reached a foot or more in diameter at the base. They had grown so thriftily that their continued growth was naturally expected by those who had planted them ”

“ The locust becomes valuable in 15 years after planting, and in 25 or 30 years of full growth. It is easily raised by planting 15 or 20 trees to the acre; and as soon as the roots have spread, running a plough through the ground, and when it cuts the roots, new shoots will spring up.
This tree also invites the grass to grow under it, and the shade does not materially injure it; and while grass in the field is burnt up by the scorching rays of the sun, the locust grove will yield a rich and luxuriant pasture.
From Baldwin's London Magazine.
MEMOIRS OF RICHARD L. EDGEWORTH, Esq. ”

“ The leaves are almost full-grown when the blossoms appear. Their feathery, fernlike aspect is the tree's greatest charm in early June. When the pods replace the flowers they attract attention and admiration as their velvety surfaces change from pale green to rose and they curve, as they lengthen, into all sorts of graceful and fantastic forms. The sweet, gummy pulp of the honey locust pods is considered edible by boys, who brave the thorns to get them. As the autumn approaches, the pulp turns bitter, and dries around the shiny black seeds. ”

“ In autumn the flower stems hang full of thin pods, one to three seeds in a pod. No other locust is so scantily supplied with seeds in a pod.
In summer the leaflets prove that the tree is not a black locust. They are larger and fewer, though of the same feathered type. In the seasons when the tree blooms freely, which is by no means every year, the twigs are loaded with clusters larger than any black locust produces. In winter it is the bark that distinguishes the [220] tree. It is grey and smooth, like that of the beech; not at all like the dark trunk and rough limbs of the locust. ”

“ They feed on the living substance under the bark, and their presence is shown by swellings above their burrows. Twigs, limbs, and trunks are distorted, and gradually the tree loses vitality, and the wood is made worthless by the honeycombing it receives. Only in the mountainous parts of its range does the black [216] locust reach its best growth. No tree has better lumber for posts and other uses requiring durability in contact with the soil and with water.
The clammy locust is a pink-flowered species with a sticky substance exuding from the hairy surface of new shoots. ”

“ The pods dry on the branches, and rattle in the wind most of the autumn. The tree spreads by underground roots which send up sprouts. A locust in winter is not a thing of beauty. It appears to be dead; not a bud visible. Its black, angular branches lack every line of grace.
Locust wood is remarkable for strength, hardness, and durability. It is about one pound per cubic foot lighter than white oak, but is thirty-four per cent stiffer and forty-five per cent stronger. Its strength exceeds that of shagbark hickory, and it is doubtful whether a stronger [537] wood exists in the United States. ”

“ Cross-fertilization is the advantage the tree gains for all it gives. The crop of seeds is sure.
The angled twigs of the black locust break easily in windy weather. The rapid growth of the limbs spreads the narrow head, and its symmetry is soon destroyed, unless the tree grows in a sheltered situation. An old locust is usually an ugly, broken specimen, ragged-looking for three-fourths of the year. The twigs look dead, because their winter buds are buried out of sight! The bark is dull, deeply cut into irregular, interlacing furrows, roughened by scales and shreds on the ridges. ”

“ Its head is small and unsymmetrical, above a trunk that often rises free from limbs for fifty feet above ground. The branches are stiff and large, bare until late spring, when the buds expand and the shoots are thrown out. The leaves are twice compound, often a yard in length and half as wide; the leaflets, six to fourteen on each of the five to nine divisions of the main rib. No other locust can boast a leaf [Pg 182] numbering more than one hundred leaflets, each averaging two inches in length. When the tree turns to gold in autumn, it is a sight to draw all eyes. ”

“ Except for this unfortunate fact, locusts would be a profitable crop to raise for timber. Locust wood is very hard, durable, and strong. It is slow to decay when in water, so it is valuable for fence posts, and for boat building. It is used for hubs and spokes of waggon wheels, and it is an excellent fuel. The locust timber that reaches market comes from the mountain slopes, where the locust-borer is thus far unknown. The range of the tree is all over the Eastern states and west to the Rocky Mountains. ”

“ The locust is a medium-sized tree developing a slender straight trunk when grown alongside of others; see Fig. 82.
Range: Canada and United States.
Soil and location: The locust will grow on almost any soil except a wet, heavy one. It requires plenty of light.
Enemies: The locust borer has done serious damage to this tree. The grubs of this insect burrow in the sapwood and kill the tree or make it unfit for commercial use. The locust miner is a beetle which is now annually defoliating trees of this species in large numbers. ”

“ After the young trees reach a height of 8 feet or so everything should be done to encourage volunteer growth. Weeds and low vines often afford such a desirable ground cover. The Japanese honeysuckle vine is often seen growing with black locust trees and almost always affording a beneficial ground cover. Contrary to a misconception, it rarely harms a tree by getting into the foliage. ”

“ Possibilities in the way of growth were over estimated. It was assumed that the tree, if planted, would grow everywhere as vigorously as on its native mountains in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, where trees two or three feet in diameter and eighty feet high were found. Experience proved later that nature had planted the locust in the best place for it, and when transplanted elsewhere it was apt to fall short of expectations. Outside of its natural range it grows vigorously for a time, and occasionally reaches large size ”

“ The black locust grows very rapidly, and forms a very pretty tree. It does no make as large a tree, however, as some of the other forms, but for a quick growth it is one of the best that can be planted. ”

“ It is valuable at all times on account of the superior wood which it furnishes, and beautiful when in bloom and in leaf. A locust in full flower is not surpassed in ornamental qualities by any tree of this country. It is a mass of white, exceedingly rich in perfume. It blooms in May or June. During the summer its foliage shows tropical luxuriance with exquisite grace. Its compound leaves are from eight to fourteen inches long, with seven to nine leaflets. They come late in spring and go early in autumn. ”

“ Yet in many localities black locust can be grown successfully and profitably. In other localities the injury done by this insect makes attempts to grow the tree almost impracticable. Black locust, like most forest trees, is naturally better adapted to certain types of soils and situations than others.
The vigor of the tree apparently to a great extent determines the degree of attack by the locust borer. Fortunately the tree's vigor can within limits largely be determined by man through the selection of the soil or site for planting, the method of planting, and subsequent care and cultivation. ”

“ As black locust is a vigorously sprouting species, it is good practice to cut clean slow-growing, stunted young trees up to 3 to 6 years of age. If this is done, preferably in the dormant season, the result should be vigorous sprouts that will be much freer of insect attack. The colonies of sprouts should be reduced to a single tree; midsummer is the best time for the cutting, as sprouting is then least vigorous. ”

“ It is extensively used for fence posts, the heartwood lasting from 15 to 30 years and sometimes more than 50 years. The heartwood of young trees, however, seems to be less durable than that of older trees, and it should always be well seasoned before being used. Locust is also used for grape stakes, poles, insulator pins, and treenails for shipbuilding. The trunk is nearly all heartwood, which is formed comparatively early in the life of the tree. ”

“ I do not know, but I should rather think not, and for one reason, which is, that although a person in the wilderness might subsist upon these animals, if always to be procured, yet the flights of locusts are very uncertain. Now there is a tree in the country where St. John retired, which is called the locust-tree, and produces a large sweet bean, shaped like the common French bean, but nearly a foot long, which is very palatable and nutritious. ”

“ The honey locust is a tall handsome flat-topped tree, with stiff horizontal, often drooping branches, ending in slim brown polished twigs, with three-branched thorns, stout and very sharp, set a little distance above the leaf scar of the previous season. Occasionally a thornless tree occurs. ”

“ Elwes mentions a locust tree at Frogmore, near Windsor, as the largest in Britain, which he found in 1908 to be 88 feet high by 14 feet 7 inches in girth. One about the same height at Bowood, Lord Lansdowne's place in Wiltshire, was slightly taller, but girthed only 81⁄2 feet.
In France and Italy the locusts thrive as vigorously as in their native continent, and are exceedingly beautiful during the flowering season. They also make very effective hedges, being regularly cut over, when they send up long and strong shoots armed with murderous thorns. ”

“ On the other hand, the tree becomes unsymmetrical with age, it is brittle, breaking easily at slight wounds, even when they have healed over. It is not a long-lived tree, and requires careful protection from cattle.
We would advise a more sparing use of it. Let every other tree be a Locust, and the alternate maple or elm, oak, tulip, etc. By this method the Locust will afford immediate shade, and when they become unsightly the intervening [Pg 193] trees will have grown to a goodly size. The Locust should be transplanted just as the buds are ready to burst ”