38 BULLETIN" 299, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



On the average, ash stump age will be worth only from $10 to $15 

 per thousand board feet, and well-stocked seedling stands of ash 

 will usually cost $10 or more per acre. On this basis it will require 

 at the least a Quality II yield to pay 6 per cent interest. These 

 figures disregard the possibility of intermediate returns from thin- 

 nings, which under especially favorable conditions might amount 

 to from 20 to 30 per cent of the value of the final returns. It may 

 be said in general, however, that growing ash timber as a profitable 

 investment is practically limited to lands which will produce good 

 yields of ash and which do not cost over $10 or $15 per acre. 



Ash is one of the most desirable trees for growing in farmers' 

 woodlots, wherever the soil is suitable, because of its usefulness for 

 many purposes on the farm, and because it brings a high price when 

 sold. It is also especially to be recommended for timber growing on 

 agricultural land which the owner does not wish to use or develop at 

 once for agriculture, but which he, nevertheless, desires to hold 

 indefinitely. The cost of growing temporary forest crops which 

 will pay fair returns will be very small in comparison with the cost 

 of developing land agriculturally. Such crops will also require very 

 little supervision. It will often be a wise policy for the farmer to 

 cultivate only so much land as he can handle according to the best 

 farming methods, allowing the rest to grow to timber. 



In the management of all forest types in which ash occurs naturally, 

 it is always to be ranked as one of the most, if not the most, desirable 

 species to encourage, often to the extent of securing pure or nearly 

 pure stands of it over limited areas where the soil is suitable. 



OBJECT OF MANAGEMENT. 



The object of management of ash should be to secure on sites well 

 adapted to its growth either well-stocked, pure, or nearly pure 

 stands; or well-stocked mixed stands of desirable species, ash forming 

 as large a proportion as it is practicable to secure, and being made, 

 by thinnings if necessary, the favored dominant tree with plenty 

 of growing space (PL XIII). 



Pure stands of ash will usually have to be established by planting 

 or sowing, as only comparatively small patches can be secured by 

 natural reproduction. They should be limited, as a rule, to the best 

 sites and to short rotations, which will insure high yields. On all 

 but the best sites ash is silviculturally better adapted for growing in 

 mixed stands, either singly or in small groups, because the trees are 

 light demanding and develop wide-spreading, surface-feeding root 

 systems, and can be advantageously separated by more tolerant 

 species with deep-growing roots. 



