he advances to plant the next one. The trees should be planted about 

 6 feet apart each way. This distance will require 1,210 trees per acre. 

 The sanded land is already partially stocked in many places with trees 

 from natural seeding, so that a considerable amount of the work of 

 planting will be saved if this growth can be utilized. But to do this, 

 planting must begin at once, because the irregular and scattered nature 

 of the stand will cause such naturally-planted trees to be branchy if 

 left in their present density, rendering the future growth almost worth- 

 less. Close planting will cause the young trees to form clean, straight 

 boles. 



After the plantation has grown six or eight years, it should be thinned 

 by removing about half the stand. A second thinning at the end of 

 twelve to fifteen years should remove about half of the remainder of the 

 trees. At the end of twenty years the majority of the trees remaining 

 may be cut out for sawlogs. 



ERODED LANDS. 



The eroded lands from which the fertile soil has been partially 

 removed may be profitably planted to black walnut or hardy catalpa. 

 If the plantation is to be made of catalpa alone, the work of planting 

 should begin immediately. For this purpose one-year-old seedlings 

 should be purchased from a nursery. 



The trees should be planted from 4 by 8 to 4 by 6 feet apart. This 

 rate of planting will require from 1,360 to 1,815 trees per acre. The 

 catalpa after planting will need as good cultivation as is usually given 

 to a corn crop. For the first two or three years the young trees must 

 be kept free from weeds. 



The catalpa may also be planted on sanded land, provided the sand 

 is not over 2 feet in depth. This tree requires a rich soil, but its roots, 

 which at maturity reach down to a depth of 4 or 5 feet, will quickly 

 penetrate a foot or two of sand. 



If the walnut is desirable it will probably be more profitable to plant 

 it in mixture rather than in pure plantations. The walnut grows so 

 slowly than the planter would have to wait too long for returns. If 

 planted in mixture with such a rapid-growing species as the catalpa, 

 the walnut seeds should be planted in the permanent sites two or three 

 years prior to the introduction of the catalpa. This will give the wal- 

 nut seedlings time to gain sufficient height to avoid being overtopped 

 by the more rapidly growing catalpa. The catalpa makes its most 

 rapid growth during the first ten years of its life, and matures early, 

 while the walnut persists in its growth for a century or more. The 

 Kansas River bottoms are exceedingly well adapted to the growth of 

 walnut, and for a permanent forest growth there is no better species. 

 Like the catalpa, it requires a fertile soil, and will probably give poor 

 returns on lands covered with more than 2 feet of sand. 



