84 



WINDBREAKS. 

 TABLE 22. Honey locust estimates posts. 



Examination of Table 22 shows the following points which are of 

 interest to the windbreak planter: 



(1) The value of rows of both orientations and of groves is about 

 the same when calculated on an acre basis and amounts on first-class 

 situations to $3.50 to $5 per acre per annum. On very dry situa- 

 tions it will not exceed $2 per acre per annum. 



(2) The quality of posts produced increases with the age. It is 

 not greater in the case of groves than in rows. 



(3) The annual acre value of coppiced honey locust is very high. 

 But since this remarkable growth is made upon the roots of old 

 trees, whose sapping effect is apparent over a wide area, it is neces- 

 sary to calculate the acre value on the basis of the area sapped. It 

 is impossible tcf do this except in a most general way. From the 

 data at hand it is believed that the annual acre values of Nos. 1 and 

 7 should not be placed higher than $8 and $7, respectively. 



OSAGE ORANGE. 



The osage orange or "hedge" has been very extensively planted 

 throughout the southern portion of the range of this study. It is 

 primarily a tree for hedges and when so used makes a highly efficient 

 windbreak. The main objection to osage orange, that it tends to 

 extend its roots very widely, is well grounded. It is partly because 

 of this remarkable root vigor, but more because of the very high 

 value of the post material yielded by osage orange that the returns 

 are so large. The wood is more durable in contact with the soil than 

 that of any other tree cultivated in the West. The presence of 



