the river and the levee will not only protect the levee from damage by 

 wave wash caused by the wind, but will also give large commercial 

 returns. It is also particularly adapted for planting along canals, 

 since the roots do not grow into the water. 



METHODS OF PROPAGATION. 



Cottonwood seeds abundantly and extends itself rapidly over newly 

 made land along rivers. The seed ripens in May or June, and unless 

 it falls on a favorable situation it quickly loses its ability to germinate. 



Propagation by seedlings or cuttings may readily be carried on. 

 Large numbers of seedlings annually spring up on the sand bars, 

 where 1 -year-old trees for establishing a plantation can be easily and 

 cheaply procured. A plantation may be established rather more 

 cheaply by cuttings than by seedlings. The cuttings should be made 

 from 1 or 2 year old branches of vigorous trees. Cuttings one-half 

 inch in diameter and 18 to 24 inches long are of desirable size for or- 

 dinary use. Much larger cuttings, however, can safely be used 'and 

 are often desirable where the erosion is very severe. 



PLANTING. 



Seedlings or cuttings of the cottonwood should be set out in the 

 spring as soon as danger from severe frost is past. In the Middle 

 AVest this time ranges from the latter part of March to the first of 

 May. 



Seedlings may be quickly and cheaply planted by a man and a boy 

 working together. With a spade the man makes an opening in the 

 ground into which the boy slips a tree. The spade is then withdrawn 

 and the soil about the tree firmed immediately, before the man ad- 

 vances for the planting of the next one. 



Two-thirds of the length of the cutting should be below the surface 

 of the ground, and on the portion above the ground there should be at 

 least two or three good buds. 



In planting groves on permanently moist situations the trees should 

 be set 6 to 8 feet apart each way. This gives 1,210 or 680 trees per 

 acre. 



CULTIVATION AND CARE. 



The growth of the cottonwood is so rapid where conditions are at 

 all favorable that it is seldom, if ever, subject to the crowding or 

 overtopping of less desirable species. 



Plantations should not be used for pasturage for at least five years. 

 Grazing animals not only eat the tender shoots and leaves, but expose 

 and cut off the roots by trampling the ground around the trees, 



[Cir. 77] 



