﻿BULLETIN OF THE 



No. 24. 



Contribution from the Forest Service, Henry S. Graves, Forester 

 December 31, 1913. 



COTTONWOOD IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



By A. W. Williamson, 

 Forest Examiner. 



IMPORTANCE OF COTTONWOOD. 



Cottonwood is one of the important timber trees native to this 

 country. Twenty years ago it had almost no value ; to-day its wood 

 is extensively used and the demand for it is much in excess of the 

 supply. It is a tree of very rapid growth. On rich lands yields of 

 from 4 to 5 cords of wood per acre per year are not uncommon. 

 Yields of over 30,000 feet of merchantable timber can be obtained 

 in 40 years, and 20 years is sufficient to produce timber of fair dimen- 

 sions. Cottonwood is especially valuable in the Mississippi Valley 

 region, where it offers exceptional inducements for the conservative 

 handling of timberlands in which it occurs, or for forest planting. 



Cottonwood's importance as a tree for artificial forestation is 

 attested by the fact that it has claimed the attention of forest plant- 

 ers in many foreign countries, such as France, Germany, Belgium, 

 and Argentina. (See PI. VI, fig. 1.) By careful selection certain 

 French horticulturists have developed from this species improved 

 varieties which are said even to exceed the original form in rapidity 

 of growth. In South America, at the mouth of the Parana River 

 in Argentina, a very extensive and lucrative industry has been 

 developed by growing cottonwood on land subject to frequent in- 

 undations. (See PI. II.) These plantations furnish saw timber 

 from 10 to 12 inches in diameter. On account of the scarcity of 

 timber there, boards but 3 or 4 inches wide and 6 feet long find a 

 ready market at high prices. Such plantations pay as high as 15 

 per cent on the money invested. 



In this country the possibility of growing cottonwood commer- 

 cially, either by planting or by favoring it in natural stands, has 

 not yet received the attention it deserves. Though cottonwood plan- 

 tations as a source of future supply of pulpwood justify considera- 

 tion, the tree's chief value will lie in the production of fuel and 

 farm timbers, and for windbreaks, for which it has been extensively 

 planted by farmers in the Middle West. (See PL VI, fig. 2.) 

 8471°— Bull. 24—13 1 



