48 BULLETIN 316, XJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



purchased for $1 to $1.50 per thousand. Planting is best done by a 

 man and a boy. If the man makes the holes with a sharpened iron 

 bar and the boy drops in the cuttings and firms the soil, they should 

 plant 2 to 3 acres per day with a spacing of 6 by 6 feet, or 1,210 sets 

 per acre. Allowing $2 as wages for the man and $1 for the boy, the 

 cost of planting is from $1 to SI. 50 per acre. Cultivation for the 

 first two years consists in disengaging the willows in the planting 

 spots on unplowed land and in horse cultivation on plowed land. 

 This costs from $2 to $6. Table 18 gives the range in cost of estab- 

 lishment of a willow plantation. 



Table 18. — Cost per acre of making a willow plantation. 



Minimum. Maximum. 



Preparation of soil: 



Brush clearing 



Plowing or preparation of planting spots . 



Stock (cuttings) 



Planting (man and boy crew) 



Cultivation (first two years) 



$1.50 



.50 



1.00 



2.00 



S3. 00 

 3.00 

 1.50 

 1.50 

 6.00 



Total. 



5.00 



15.00 



CULTIVATION AND CARE. 



If the plantation is a haphazard one, planted among bowlders, 

 stumps, or in uncleared land, it can not, of course, be systematically 

 cultivated. However, a little care in such a place will probably pay 

 better returns than anywhere else. The young plants are very likely 

 to be crowded out the first year or two if they do not have a fair 

 amount of room, and a little cutting back of other growth will often 

 save many young trees. In regular plantations on cleared land the 

 ground should be plowed between the rows about three times the 

 first year, twice the second year, and perhaps once the third year. 

 Subsequently the shade of the willows will be sufficient to kill most 

 of the weeds and to prevent excessive evaporation from the soil. 

 Cuttings which fail to start should be replaced the same season if 

 possible. In close plantations it will be necessary to plant longer 

 cuttings than the original ones to prevent shading out. Allowing 

 the fail places to remain unplanted reduces the productivity of the 

 land. All diseased material should be removed as soon as noted. 



CUTTING. 



The best time for cutting is in late winter or early spring, but it 

 should be finished before the buds start to swell. Fall cutting is next 

 best, but it may result in the frost separating the bark from the wood 

 at the stump, which injures its ability to sprout. Wood that is to 

 be peeled should be cut in summer. Where sprout reproduction is 

 desired, the bark should be cut through around the stump, so that 

 when the tree is felled the bark will not be torn away. 



