23 



HONEY LOCUST. 



Honey locust is an exceedingly valuable tree for planting in Nebraska. 

 It is hardy, enduring extremes of both heat and cold, is drought resist- 

 ant, and fairly free from insect attacks and fungous diseases. Like 

 green ash, it thrives best on well-drained bottomland soils, but it is 

 unusually well adapted for upland planting in the dry sections. It 

 should be widely planted in the western counties. 



The economic uses of the timber of honey locust are chiefly for fuel 

 and fence posts. ^It will produce about 1 cord of fuel yearly per acre. 

 Its rate of growth in diameter is somewhat more rapid than that of 

 green ash, and it reaches post size earlier. Yield Table 8 shows that 

 one plantation near Grand Island has produced 2,111 posts in twenty- 

 nine years, or 73 posts per year; while another near Verdon, in Rich- 

 ardson County, gave a yield in thirty-five years of 2,644 posts, or an 

 average of 76 posts per year. The timber to be durable in contact 

 with the ground must be well seasoned. 



TABLE 8. Yield of honey locust and Osage orange. 

 HONEY LOCUST. 



OSAGE ORANGE. 



Plantation No. 4- This plantation is situated in the Platte River 

 Valley, and its relative altitude is only a few feet above the river. 

 The absolute altitude is about 1,860 feet. 



The soil is a sandy loam, dark gray to blackish in color. It is deep, 

 fresh, mellow, porous, and exceedingly fertile. The subsoil is a light- 

 colored, porous, loamy sand, intermixt with small gravel. 



Only very meager data could be obtained on the history of this plan- 

 tation. The original stand was 1 ,418 trees per acre, making the spacing 



[Cir. 45] 



