144 Horticultural Department. [Bulletin 121 



use can be made of such land than to allow the trees to stand. With- 

 in a few years the stronger trees will outgrow the others, thinning 

 will take place naturally, the land being, indeed, natural forest land. 

 A great deal might be done in such plantings by thinning the trees, 

 giving the stronger a better chance to develop. In five or six years 

 the poles would more than pay for the thinning. 



Plate XVI shows a growth of cottonwood on a bank of the Kansas 

 river. The present owner of the land states that when he bought the 

 property, about fifteen years ago, it was a thicket of young trees, prob- 

 ably five or six years old. Examination of the trees recently cut 

 shows twenty annual rings. The trees vary considerably in height 

 and diameter, some of the largest, those near the edge of the grove, 

 measuring slightly over 100 feet in height, twenty-four inches in 

 diameter at the ground, and eighteen inches twenty feet from the 

 ground. What was considered an average tree was cut November 5, 

 showing twenty annual rings and measuring seventy-five feet in 

 height, seventeen and one- half inches in diameter at the ground, and 

 fourteen inches at nineteen feet, where it branched, and containing 

 about twenty-five cubic feet of cord- wood in the top and limbs. Many 

 of these trees will now make fair logs for sawing, and if left standing 

 will increase in size for a number of years. 



The demand for low-grade lumber suitable for packing cases, apple 

 and potato barrels is growing. The average of prices obtained from 

 dealers is twenty-two dollars per thousand for selected stock, sixteen 

 dollars per thousand at the mill, ten dollars per thousand on the stump. 

 The following prices obtained December, 1903, from S. N. Higinbot- 

 ham, dealer in wood, shows the market value of cottonwood compared 

 with other species : Cottonwood, $3 ; red elm, $4 ; hackberry, $5 ; 

 maple (soft), $3; walnut, $4; oak, $5; box-elder, $3; hickory, $5. 

 It would seem that at such prices for timber and fuel, the cottonwood 

 is not to be despised. Where land is to be planted, it is advisable to 

 plant cuttings from the trees of strong, straight growth. 



The Carolina poplar (Populus deltoides, var. carolinensis) has not 

 been so long or so widely grown, but seems to be hardy, equal to the 

 best cottonwoods in vigor, and more uniform in growth. It grows 

 very readily from cuttings. The results of plantings of these and 

 other species of trees are recorded in Experiment Station Bulletin 

 No. 120. 



