The Present Outlook for Honeylocust in the South
J. C. MOORE, Department of Horticulture, Alabama Polytechnic Institute,
Auburn, Alabama
Mr. Moore: Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen: Before I start this discussion, just in case some of you are not familiar with honeylocust, its habit of growth, the size of the pods and the possibility of its yield, I'd like to take time out just to show a few slides, then I will go ahead with the discussion and give you some data on that honeylocust production. I believe if you would look at these slides before we start the discussion it would give you a good idea what the tree looks like, how it grows, the age at which it starts bearing and something about its general habits; it will help you a lot to understand what I have to say about it.
(Slides shown.)
This is the Millwood honeylocust. The pods will vary in size from about 12 inches to 14 inches in length, from one and a half to one and three-quarters inches in width, and the back part of the pod, something that I can't show on this particular type of picture, is very thick, and this back part of the pod, the thick part of it, is very rich in carbohydrates. We have the Calhoun and Millwood selections that have run as high, the Millwood a little over 36 per cent sugar and the Calhoun a little over 38 per cent sugar. The Millwood is a much higher yielding tree than the Calhoun. I will bring that out in a few minutes' time.
This is a borrowed slide and I don't know the history of these trees, but I judge that the tree is about three years old. We have had good yields on three-year-old trees at Auburn.
Here is a group of trees growing with a ground cover, and again I am not familiar with the ground cover, but just judging from the general appearance it looks like a picture that came from our files. If that is true then I know the story. The tree in the background is a Calhoun tree and the tree in the foreground is a Millwood growing in Lespedeza sericea and I will bring out some points in a few minutes in the general discussion on the value of these two plants growing together as a combination.
I believe this is another tree that grew on my farm, and the year this picture was made this particular tree, eight years of age, bore 250 pounds of those luscious pods.
A close-up again, giving you the general size of the pod, how they are produced in masses, and you get quite a bit of weight in some of those thick-backed pods that you don't get from the thin pods that grow normally on seedling trees. The TVA has done quite a bit of work in selecting and developing the honeylocust, and I believe we give that particular organization credit for the development of both the Millwood and the Calhoun.
I thought it would be very valuable to give you just a glimpse of the habit of growth of those trees before I start with my general discussion so that you would understand something about what I am talking about.