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Tenth Census of the United States. Tree Covering; Forest Wealth; the Lumbering Industry. Chas. S. Sargent, Report and Special Agt.
Department of the Interior, Census Office, Brookline, Mass., April 18', 1880
Professor C. E. Bessey Ames Iowa
My dear Sir,
Should like to [?] all notes on [?] [?] by the 1st of December 1880.
A second copy of the catalogue will be sent to you.
With many [thanks?] for the [?] you take to my investigation.
[?] yours [?] C. S. Sargent Special Agent [10?] Comm.
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Tenth Census of the United States. Tree Covering; Forest Wealth; the Lumbering Industry. Chas. S. Sargent, Report and Special Agt.
Department of the Interior, Census Office, Brookline, Mass., Aug. 16, 1880
Prof. C. E. Bessey, Ames, Iowa.
My Dear Prof. Bessey,
I am in receipt of the copy of my catalogue with your notes on Iowa trees etc. for which I am equally obliged to you.
It seems better to err on the side of making the trees too low rather than too high, but I dare say that I have too often given the size of many species a great deal too small. I have, however, a good deal of information now which will enable me to correct such mistakes in the final report.
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Tenth Census of the United States.
[?] was introduced into the preliminary catalogue articles on your authority; but as both [Englemann?] and [?] declare that they have never seen this species west of the Mississippi River I feel that there may possibly be some error in regard to it somehwere.
Can you send me an authoritative Iowa specimen, that I may have something to share for the statement?
I did not before know that the wood of the [?] could be used for the hubs of wheels. Proper material for this purpose is getting scarce in the United States and I should like to know something more in regard to the extent
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to which this species is thus used; how long it has been so used and for what kinds of wheels.
Is [?] [?] really arborescent with you i.e. growing up with a single stem? With us it takes the form of a large shrub sending up many stems from the ground; for this reason it was omitted from the preliminary catalogue, so also was [?] [?] which I only know as a large shrub, perhaps sometimes fifteen feet high, but never truly arborescent. If you have ever seen it really a tree I wish you would tell me more about it.
A copy of the final report will of course be sent to you.
With renewed thanks I am Yours very truly, Special Agt.