50 BULLETIN 316, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



In certain localities where there is a market for willow for gun- 

 powder charcoal, or as excelsior wood, it would be profitable to grow 

 willow when the cost of growing is $4 or under, since cut and peeled 

 it is worth $7 per cord. Willow cordwood for fuel is not worth 

 more than $4 in the prairie States, and as cutting costs $1.50 per 

 cord $2.50 is the greatest cost allowable if a return of 6 per cent is 

 to be received on the money invested. Under the conditions that 

 have prevailed in the Middle West, where most of the willow plan- 

 tations have been made, the average cost of growing has been from 

 50 cents to $1.50 per cord, estimated on the value of the land at the 

 time of planting. To-day higher land values in this section of the 

 country and higher costs make the probable average cost about 

 $1.50 per cord. It should still be possible, however, to grow willows 

 at $1 per cord on $25 land. 



Many other considerations enter into the problem of determining 

 whether or not it may be profitable to grow a tree crop on the farm 

 besides the mere cost of growing the wood. The chief of these is 

 the possibility of using labor at slack times. This may be worth 

 more than the loss of 6 per cent on capital invested in the land. 

 The value of the woodlot for protection and appearance must also 

 be considered. 



YIELD FROM WILLOW PLANTATIONS. 



The yield from willow plantations varies greatly with the soil and 

 moisture conditions and the care they have received. Planted on 

 moist, well-drained bottom lands and kept free from the grazing of 

 stock, willows will sometimes yields over 5 cords per acre. On short 

 rotations where several crops are grown from sprouts the yield may, 

 under exceptional conditions, reach 7 cords per acre per year. The 

 average bottom-land plantation in which stock is allowed to run can 

 not be expected to yield more than 4 cords per acre except on the 

 most fertile soils. Willows planted in rows give slightly larger yields 

 than in other plantations, even when due allowance is made for all 

 the ground they cover. On an average they yield 20 per cent more 

 than in a dense stand. This is no doubt due to the greater amount 

 of light received on a given unit of space. 



In the more moist situations on upland soil willows make a fairly 

 good growth, and a return of 3 cords per acre from a well-managed 

 plantation can reasonably be expected. On the dry situations the 

 yield is not over 2 cords per acre. Willow plantations on upland 

 soils show very quickly the bad effects of grazing, especially in the 

 more open stands. In such plantations the yield is seldom more 

 than 1^ cords per acre. 



Table 20 gives the yields of average sample plots, the kinds of 

 material, and its value for plantations in the Northern States. These 

 groves were not selected and represent minimum returns rather 

 than average returns. 



