THE ASHES : THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND MANAGEMENT. 



47 



Wherever possible it is advisable to prepare the land by plowing. 

 The cost of setting the seedlings on prepared ground will be much 

 less — not over $2 to $3 per 1,000 — while the growth of the seedlings 

 will be much increased and the number of failures much reduced. 

 The total per acre cost of plantations of different spacings on prepared 

 ground, allowing $2.50 per 1,000 for cost of setting, $4 per 1,000 for 

 the plants, and $1 to $6 for cost of preparation and subsequent culti- 

 vations, is shown in Table 21. 



Table 21. — Cost per acre of establishing ash plantations on prepared ground with subse- 

 quent cultivations, seedlings to cost $4 per 1,000 and $2.50 per 1,000 for setting. 



Spacing. 



Number 

 of trees. 



Cost per acre of preparation and cultivation. 



$1 



$2 



$3 



$4 



$5 



$6 



Total cost of plantation per acre in dollars. 



Feet. 

 8 by 8 

 7 by 7 

 6 by 7 

 6 by 6 

 5 by 5 



681 



889 



1,038 



1,210 



1,743 



$5.42 

 6.78 

 7.75 

 8.87 



12.31 



$6.42 

 7.78 

 8.75 

 9.87 



13.31 



$7.42 

 8.78 

 9.75 

 10.87 

 14.31 



$8.42 

 9.78 

 10.75 

 11.87 

 14.31 



$9.42 

 10.78 

 11.75 

 12.87 

 15.31 



$10. 42 

 11.78 

 12.75 

 13.87 

 16.31 



The cost of preparation varies from $1 to $3, depending on the care 

 with which it is done and the cost of labor and animals ; plowing of 

 wide-spaced furrows without subsequent cultivation can be done for 

 $1 an acre or less. 



Two cultivations a season for two seasons will cost 50 cents to $.1 

 per cultivation, or $2 to $4 for the two seasons. All cultivations 

 should be given before the 1st of June, as ash does practically all its 

 growing before the middle of June or the 1st of July. Where the 

 stand is to be cultivated, wider spacing can be used (6 by 6 to 8 by 8) 

 on sites where the dryness of the soil might require closer spacing if 

 not cultivated, a saving in plants and cost of setting which would 

 much more than pay for the costs of cultivation. On the heavy soils 

 of the treeless and hardwood regions cultivation is almost a necessity 

 to keep down grass and conserve moisture. 



PLANTING WITH FIELD CROPS. 



This is the best of all methods of establishing ash plantations on 

 fields, as it will often be possible, by growing field crops the first two 

 seasons, to pay for the cost of establishing the stand and having it 

 cultivated four or five times in a season. Corn will be the usual crop 

 to grow. The field, after being plowed (preferably the fall before), 

 should be disked and marked off 4 by 4 in early spring, and ash 

 seedlings planted in alternate rows spaced 8 feet apart in the row, and 

 corn planted 4 feet apart in rows with no ash and 8 feet apart in the 



