25 



classes of products. The attempt was made, in all cases, to make 

 this arbitrary price a conservative one and one which the user of the 

 products would.be justified in paying. There is reason to think, 

 however, that in the future there will come to be a recognized market 

 for the products of forest plantations with something like a uniform 

 scale of prices. The supply of native white oak fence posts has 

 become seriously depleted, and now the white cedar posts from 

 Michigan and Wisconsin are being generally used. It is safe to 

 assume, however, that this supply will be greatly diminished in. a 

 few years, and then will come a corresponding increase in prices. 

 The pronounced upward tendency in the prices of all kinds of forest 

 products is certain to continue, and, so far as one can judge, the 

 person who establishes forest plantations on the basis of present 

 prices will receive considerably higher prices than he anticipates 

 when the crop is harvested twenty or thirty years hence. 



THE URBANA PLANTATION. 



The University of Illinois in 1871 established at Urbana an experi- 

 mental forest plantation covering about 13 acres and containing 20 

 species of forest trees. Its situation is typical of the central Illinois 

 prairie, and conclusions drawn from a study of it will apply to a 

 large portion of the State. In Table 13 are shown the size, rate of 

 growth, and condition of the different species. All of the white, 

 Austrian, and Scotch pine, European larch, Norway spruce, white 

 elm, and black walnut were measured. Of the other species, typical 

 sample rows and areas were taken. The age is counted from seed, 

 and the rate of growth is figured on this basis. The diameters and 

 heights are averages. 



TABLE 13. Measurements in the Urbana plantation. 



[Cir. 81] 



