8 



with the rapid rise in the price of land, together with an increased tim- 

 ber supply, due to planting- by the early settlers, the activity in for- 

 est planting so characteristic of pioneer days has gradually declined, 

 till in most parts of the State the planting done is more than offset by 

 the cutting of the early plantations for fuel, posts, lumber, etc. Nur- 

 serymen say that the demand for forest tree seedlings declined very 

 rapidly from about 1894. All agree, however, that there is a revival 

 of interest in tree planting at the present time. 



FOREST PLANTING OF THE FUTURE. 



In past planting commercial considerations were largely ignored, 

 but in the future these should be especially emphasized. The farmer 

 should plant trees primarily with a view to raising wood crops, and to 

 this end only the better and more profitable species should be used. 

 It is easily possible to secure all the advantages of shelter and orna- 

 ment and at the same time to derive a revenue from the forest 

 plantation. 



A SURVEY OF EXISTING PLANTATIONS. 



The plantations here given are fairly well distributed over the 

 region of this report. In but few cases were two groves of the same 

 species measured in the same locality. The study was not confined to 

 the best plantations only. Those groves of a given species which 

 were typical of actual conditions at the present time were selected and 

 measured. With cottonwood, for example, the study includes both 

 fairly good and rather poor plantations, growing under widely differ- 

 ent conditions of soil, moisture, and management. 



The contents of any given plantation were determined by measuring 

 a representative portion of it, called a sample plot, seldom less than 

 one-tenth of the total area of the grove, often much more, and when 

 the grove contained an acre or less, the entire area was measured. 

 The sample plot in each case was selected to represent average conditions 

 of the plantation. All trees on the sample plot were then calipered, 

 and classified as dominant, intermediate, and overtopt. An average 

 or sample tree for each class was then selected, felled, and analyzed. 

 The stem was cut into T-foot lengths down to 1 inch, and the branch 

 wood into 4-foot lengths down to 2 inches in diameter. Frequently 

 nearly all the trees would class as dominant, and the cutting of one 

 sample tree would be sufficient to determine the total contents of the 

 plot, disregarding the few trees that might fall in some other class. 

 Care was taken in each case, however, to select enough trees to deter- 

 mine accurately the total volume of the plot. 



The volume of each sample tree, including the stump, stem, and 



[Cir. 45] 



