﻿34 BULLETIN 24, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



of most other hardwoods. In burning- cane, briers, grass, and weeds 

 special care is nevertheless advisable to keep the fire under control, 

 and where adjoining stands of young timber might be injured it may 

 even be important to surround the burning area with plowed fur- 

 rows for fire lines. 



Xo preparation of the ground is adequate which fails to leave 

 the mineral soil exposed. Burning of slash under some circum- 

 stances may be sufficient, but as a rule it will be necessary to drag 

 the surface with a spike-toothed harrow or similar implement. The 

 cost of dragging should seldom exceed 50 cents per acre. Swamping 

 of small trees and undergrowth can usually be effectually done for 

 $1.50 to $2 per acre, making a total of $2 to $2.50 per acre for the 

 preparation of the ground. In many bottom lands, however, half of 

 this amount will be enough. 



Grazing of hogs in the bottoms may serve to expose the mineral 

 soil even better than dragging. Cattle, sheep, and goats may like- 

 wise assist in reducing the herbaceous growth. If logging is carried 

 on during the summer, the underbrush and weeds will often get 

 quite a start before the seed ripens the following spring, unless graz- 

 ing is encouraged. As* soon as reproduction starts, however, grazing 

 should cease. 



From the standpoint of preparing the ground there is plainly an ad- 

 vantage in logging during the late summer and fall, say from August 

 to November, inclusive. Very little growth of weeds, grass, cane, 

 etc., will come up on cleared areas after the first of August, and, 

 moreover, the sprouting capacity of bushes and trees is low during 

 these late months. Conditions in the bottoms will seldom permit of 

 lagging in the spring early enough to prepare the ground for the 

 eottonwood seed of the same season. Wherever feasible, winter op- 

 erations are entirely consistent with good management. 



Proper preparation of the ground, however, will, in many in- 

 stances, be out of the question. Where the undergrowth is especially 

 dense and consists of vines, such as poison ivy or peppervine, the 

 cost of eradicating it will frequently be prohibitive. Such areas 

 can only be planted. 



MIXED HARDWOOD STANDS. 



Where eottonwood is the only species of great commercial im- 

 portance on an area the aim should be to favor it alone. If, how- 

 ever, valuable species are growing with it, some of these may be 

 favored as well. By favoring other species along with eottonwood 

 the liability of total failure in securing reproduction is reduced. 

 Another advantage is the beneficial effect of the other trees upon the 

 eottonwood itself in shading the forest floor, thus preventing the 



