130 ELEMENTARY FORESTRY. 



increase very rapidly in good soil, and could often 'be made to 

 yield a good profit if properly managed. However, most of the 

 hard-wood lands of this section are of such good quality that 

 they seem destined to be generally cleared for agriculture instead 

 of being kept for timber. 



Willow for Fuel. From a number of careful estimates it 

 seems quite probable that good soil planted in White Willow 

 will produce at the rate of from four to six cords of firewood per 

 acre per year. If, then, ten acres were taken for this purpose, 

 and one acre cut over clean each year, such amount of land 

 would yield about fifty cords of fuel per annum, worth probably 

 from two dollars to three dollars per cord in our prairie sections. 



In starting such a woodlot it would be desirable to set the 

 cuttings two feet apart in rows eight feet apart, since at this 

 distance, if cultivated, they will soon cover the land, and until 

 the land is fully shaded cultivation seems to be necessary in 

 order to keep down the weeds and to protect from drouth. 

 After the land is well shaded no further cultivation will be 

 necessary. 



At the end of five or six years some thinning should be done 

 on all the land, and in this thinning probably at least half the 

 trees should be removed. The remainder will soon fill up the 

 vacancies, and in the course of three or four years more it should 

 be again thinned out, and this should be repeated as often as 

 they crowd one another until the trees on the land remain about 

 twelve feet apart each way, after which the land should be treated 

 as coppice, and since this tree renews itself very quickly and 

 vigorously from sprouts, and continues to do so for a long 

 period of years, it is probable that such a plantation will last 

 indefinitely. 



Willow wood makes good summer fuel, and as a fence post, 

 when the bark is removed and the wood well cured, it is quite 

 satisfactory, and will last in the soil about seven years. It is 

 also good for poles when peeled and dried. 



The Common Cottonwood on very rich soil will probably 

 yield from five to seven cords of firewood per acre per year. 



