ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XI 605 



spacing, 4x8 feet. They are full or large limbs from the ground up and 

 the boles are very short. The trees in this plot will average only two 

 posts, and these will be rough, crooked, and undesirable. No cutting has 

 been done in this plot, and 96 per cent of the trees of the original plant- 

 ing are still on the ground. The estimated annual return of $10.77 per 

 acre is the gross return. 



Plot No. 2. This plot includes .95 of 1 acre and is located on a gentle 

 south slope at the foot of the hill. The soil is a rich black sandy loam. 

 The trees are uniform in height, averaging between 45 and 50 feet. The 

 average diameter breast high is 7 inches. They have made an excep- 

 tionally fine growth. The poles are straight and clear of limbs to a 

 height of from 30 to 35 feet and they hold their diameter well. Many of 

 the trees in this plot will cut good 30 foot poles with 6 inch tops. The 

 best returns from this plot can be secured by cutting the larger trees 

 into 24 and 30-foot poles and the tops and the smaller trees into posts. 



Trees have been cut from this plot from year to year as demands re- 

 quired and an estimate of the present stand would give a wrong idea of 

 the yield of posts and the value of the plantation. The present stand of 

 trees was measured and the number of posts they would cut determined. 

 The average cut was four posts per tree. By going over the ground care- 

 fully it was found that 194 trees had been cut from this tract during 

 the winter of 1908-9. These were, no doubt, average trees and would 

 cut four posts per tree. This added to the yield of the present stand 

 gave the results shown in the table. The trees on this plot have made 

 by far the best growth of any plantation seen within the state, but the 

 wide spacing, 6x10 feet, reduced the number of trees per acre to such 

 an extent as to cut down materially the producing power of the land. 

 The soil within this plot is entirely strong enough to grow double the 

 number of trees that were planted upon it. This would have increased the 

 returns very materially. 



The fungus disease is seriously injuring the trees of this plantation and 

 unless they are cut within the next two or three years the crop will be 

 an entire loss. 



THE ERADICATION OF QUACK-GRASS. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



INTRODUCTION. 



While the studies outlined in this bulletin have been made on ordi- 

 nary quack-grass or witch-grass (Agropyron repens), prevalent in the 

 North-Central and Northeastern States, other observations not presented 

 in this paper lead us to believe that the same principles here laid down 

 apply equally to all rootstock-producing species of this same genus, em- 

 bracing a large number of closely allied grasses found in the Rocky 

 Mountains and the Pacific States. 



