12 



class, 3 cents. Cordwood was assumed to be worth $1 per cord, 

 being, in this case, simply what is left after the plantation has been 

 fully utilized for posts and poles. 



The cost of establishing a plantation of European larch is assumed 

 to be $18 per acre. The plantations varied widely in original expense, 

 and the cost of establishing some of them was undoubtedly much 

 more than $18 per acre. This figure, however, is a fair average. 



TABLE 5. European larch. 



The study shows that European larch is adapted to well-drained 

 prairie soils in Illinois, and that in such situations it makes excellent 

 growth. It is a matter of common knowledge, however, that the 

 tree will eventually fail in situations where the drainage is poor. 

 Bulletin 26 of the agricultural experiment station of the Univer- 

 sity of Illinois notes the effect of poor drainage on the larch plan- 

 tations at that place, which may be taken as typical of similar 

 conditions elsewhere. The plantation was established in 1871, and 

 did very well for four or five years. Then trees occupying wet 

 ground began to show signs of decay, and later to die. Those which 

 survived had sparse and yellowish foliage and the branches were 

 slender and wiry. Their roots ran near the surface, and a taproot 

 appeared to be wanting. By 1893 not quite one-fourth as many 

 trees were growing there as on the higher ground, where scarcely 

 a tree, except those overtopped, had died or shown any signs of 

 unhealthiness. 



fCir. 81] 



