15 



SILVER MAPLE. 



Silver maple has been more extensively planted in Illinois than any 

 other species. It is liked because of its rapid growth, but this is 

 almost the only thing in its favor. The wood is considered to be 

 worth $2 per cord on the stump, and no other product is given. The 

 cost of establishing a plantation is placed at $10 per acre. 



Plantation 10 is typical of many others in the State. It is 40 years 

 old, and the original spacing was 4 by 8 feet. Only dead trees have 

 been removed, and the struggle for existence has gone on until the 

 surviving trees now number only about 17 per cent of the original 

 stand. These are practically all dominant trees, with an average 

 diameter of nearly 1 inches and an average height of 70 feet. The clear 

 length is 40 feet, but the stems are crooked often a characteristic of 

 this species. When the plantation was started, a number of sugar 

 maples were mixed with the silver maples. At present only an 

 occasional sugar maple is found. The survivors are from 3 to 4 

 inches in diameter and from 20 to 30 feethigh and are in good con- 

 dition an excellent illustration of the tolerance of sugar maple. 



TABLE 7. Silver maple. 



Silver maple is valuable chiefly as a quick-growing shelter-belt tree 

 and for fuel. The wood is too inferior to make the planting of the 

 species profitable for any other purpose. 



ASH. 



Seventy per cent of the volume of white ash is figured as handle wood 

 at $4 per cord and 30 per cent as cord wood at $2 per cord. This seems 

 to be the best way to utilize ash of small size. Another way, how- 

 ever, is to cut the trees into posts. Ash will not make a very durable 

 post, but it is assumed that a first-class ash post is worth 6 cents and 



[Cir. 81] 



