FOREST PLANTING IN EASTERN NEBRASKA. 129 



Plantation No. 13. — This plantation is situated on rolling upland, 

 though it is cut by a small draw. The soil is a deep, fertile, sandy loam. 

 In the draw it is covered by humus to a depth of several feet On the 

 tops of the knolls it is lighter in color, and humus is lacking. 



The trees were planted in 1883, one-year-old seedlings about 8 inches 

 high being used. These were small and inferior in quality. Before 

 planting the ground was plowed and subsoiled to a depth of 18 inches, 

 and afterwards thoroughly harrowed. The spacing was 6 by 8 feet, 

 requiring 908 trees per acre. Cultivation was given for the first seven 

 j'ears. The trees were pruned six or seven years ago to a height of 8 

 feet. The grove has always been protected from live stock. 



Forty dollars' worth of posts, poles, and fuel per acre have been cut 

 from the plantation. 



The trees are tall and straight, with bushy crowns. The old wounds 

 caused by pruning are completely healed over. All the trees will furnish 

 posts, some as many as six. 



The success of this plantation is remarkable, since it is located within 

 a few miles of the ninety-ninth meridian, where the conditions are semi- 

 arid. It is probable that this success is due to the deep plowing given 

 the ground before it was planted, and the subsequent cultivation given 

 the plantation until the trees were large enough to take possession of 

 the soil. 



The cost of establishing and maintaining this plantation is given in 

 the owner's record. The prices assigned the posts are considerably lowe^ 

 that those which the owner says he can obtain. 



COST (actual). 



Preparation of the ground . . $3 50 



Plants, 908, at $2 per M 1 81 



Planting 75 



Cultivation, seven years 5 00 



Pruning 2 00 



Fencing 1 00 



Total $14 06 



Interest on $14.06 for twenty- 

 one years, at 5 per cent, 

 compound interest 25 11 



Total cost at the end of 



RETURNS. 



First-class posts, 702, at 10 

 cents $70 20 



Second-class posts, 504, at 

 7i cents 37 80 



Posts, poles, and fuel cut in 

 the past 40 00 



Value at the end of 



twenty-one years $39 17 | twenty-one years $148 00 



Deducting the cost, $39.17, from the value, $148, leaves $108.83 as the 

 net income at the end of twenty-one years, which is equivalent to a net 

 annual income, at 5 per cent compound interest, of $3.05 per acre. Any- 

 one who knows the conditions that have prevailed in this part of the 

 state and the reverses that farming has suffered for the period included 

 in the life of the plantation knows that this would be a splendid showing 

 for any sort of crop. Adding to the returns the value of the plantation 

 as a windbreak to the farmstead, it has yielded the owner handsome 

 5 



