RATE OF INCREASE IN TIMBER. 165 



land that is adapted to them, and should there be a stock 

 of young trees of these kinds already on the land it can 

 perhaps be soon made to yield a revenue in the shape 

 of posts and fuel, and later of timber. Even the slower- 

 growing deciduous trees, such as the Red, White, and 

 Bur Oak, Hard ]\Iaple, and Rock Elm, increase very rapidly 

 in good soil, and could often be made to yield a good 

 profit if properly managed. However, most of the hard- 

 wood lands of this section are of such good quality that 

 they seem destined to be generally cleared for agriculture 

 instead of being kept for timber. 



Willow for Fuel. From a number of careful estimates 

 it seems quite probable that good soil planted in White 

 Willow will produce at the rate of from four to six cords 

 of fire-wood per acre per year. If, then, ten acres were 

 taken for this purpose, and one acre cut over clean each 

 year, such amount of land would yield about fifty cords of 

 fuel per annum, worth probably from two dollars to three 

 dollars per cord in our prairie sections. 



In starting such a wood-lot it would be desirable to set 

 the cuttings two feet apart in rows eight feet apart, since 

 at this distance, if cultivated, they will soon cover the 

 land, and until the land is fully shaded cultivation seems 

 to be necessary in order to keep down the weeds and to 

 protect from drought. After the land is well shaded no 

 further cultivation will be necessary. 



At the end of five or six years some thinning should 

 be done on all the land, and in this thinning probably at 

 least half the trees should be removed. The remainder 

 will soon fill up the vacancies, and in the course of three 

 or four years more it should be again thinned out, and 

 this should be repeated as often as they crowd one an- 

 other until the trees on the land remain about twelve feet 

 apart each way, after which the land should be treated 

 as coppice, and since this tree renews itself very quickly 



