153 



extent by putting in 1/15 acre each year for 15 years, the plantation will 

 be worth per acre, $469.33. 



The annual costs distributed over each acre are: 



Taxes on $250.00-land $1.84 



Planting and other expenses 2.00 



Total cost ?3.84 



Stumpage value of crop cut annually per acre 32.00 



Net income per acre annually 28.16 



Capitalized at 6 per cent 469.33 



If 5 per cent were used, values of land and property would be pro- 

 portionately higher. 



Catalpa posts constitute a crop which may be profitably grown on 

 $^0.00 land. They can not ordinarily be grown with profit, except on 

 Isnd of good quality. Catalpa, to succeed as a crop and to produce in 

 15 years the indicated yields of 2 good posts per tree, requires in the 

 selection of the site and soil as great care as for any variety of farm crop. 

 A failure with an annual crop may be remedied in one season, but with 

 trees the loss extends over the entire period of growth and is cumulative. 

 Just as corn and other field crops become unprofitable when grown on 

 marginal land, since the rate of income to expense diminishes, so in the 

 planting of this species the same principle holds good. Plantations re- 

 quire a considerable initial investment, which must be returned with in- 

 terest to justify the venture. On poor soil, either sandy or dry. or stiff 

 clay, compact silts, or other soils of medium or low agricultural value, 

 catalpa is a failure and should not be planted. 



This species, therefore, is a tree with special adaptation as a post 

 timber — though not so durable as hedge, black locust, or mulberry — but 

 with very exacting requirements as a crop, which makes it profitable to 

 grow in competition with field crops on good soil rather than on the 

 poorer natural forest-soils of the state. The utilization of an area of a 

 Httle over 3/10 acre for every 100 acres of crop lands, on farms without 

 other timber, for the purpose of furnishing a perpetual supply of fence 

 posts of good quality, seems justified by the demonstration that the value 

 of such land for this crop equals that for its use for other purposes. 



Plot 7. White Pine in Ogle county. 



The planting of white pine may be possible in limited areas which 

 are free from the competition of hardwood sprouts, and in the north- 

 western portion of the state. The growth of this species in the limited 



