Hozi' Fascines Are Made. 19 



are more frequently built entirely of rock above low water line, 

 but mats are used for a foundation under water. On the lower 

 river the mats are elaborately constructed. 



The prices paid for brush are usually from 17 to 19 cents per 

 cubic yard, the range being 12 to 26 cents. In 19 10, in the first 

 division, the contract for 60,000 cubic yards, loaded on the barge, 

 was let at 22 cents per yard. The successful bidder sublet con- 

 tracts at 90 cents per cord (about 18 cents per cubic yard). This 

 price was the highest paid in over 10 years, on account of the high 

 price of labor, scarcity of brush and the extremely low water. 

 Although summer cut brush is much preferred because it pack? 

 better, it was decided to get out winter brush in Division I. in 

 191 1. The contract calls for 70.000 cubic yards at 17.9 cents per 

 yard, 60 per cent, of which must be banked this winter. The 

 contractor will get most of this brush from the tops of trees cut 

 for logs and cordwood. 



The government owns hundreds of acres of low islands in the 

 Mississippi river, which are reserved for the production of brush 

 for river improvement. Willows {Salix nigra, and sandbar 

 villows of the flni'latUis type) are the principal species on these 

 "towheads" and form dense stands. The contractor does not 

 have to pay stumpage for this brush, but can cut it at his own 

 discretion. The brush is cut clean and the stumps low, and in five 

 or six years the sprouts can again be profitably cut. The maxi- 

 mum yield per acre from a fully stocked stand of w^illow where 

 the trees run 2" to 4" in diameter at the butt, is about 1,500 cubic 

 yards. The War Department tried some experimental willow 

 plantations on over-flow lands near St. Louis, but without success. 

 However, observations seem to show that the higher portions of 

 the towheads may be completely seeded to willow if the proper 

 measures are taken. 



The brush cutter prefers to cut willow because it is lighter and 

 more convenient to handle, and consequently more profit in it. 

 Where, however, willow is scarce they go to the higher bottoms 

 for other species. This land is usually o\vned by private indi- 

 viduals, who charge i or 2 cents per cubic yard for stumpage 

 where cutting is unrestricted. The professional brush cutter 

 often has a good idea of the principles of thinning, and stands 

 which are excellent examples of such cutting, and which show 

 greatly increased growth, are to be found in many places on the 



