40 BULLETIN 481, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



which is small in situations not adapted to cultivation. As a rule the 

 cost of raising timber is very small compared with the cost of raising 

 other farm crops. Where a young stand already exists and no plant- 

 ing expense is involved, there are several species of trees which will 

 yield a profit provided they are adapted to the soil and climate. 

 Within a moderate hauling distance of a steady market for wood 

 products, as in parts of New England, planting can be and is prac- 

 ticed on lands of low agricultural value with fair assurance of a 

 good profit. 1 



Under average conditions it has been shown that a few of the 

 best species for woodlots, raised from seedlings to financial maturity 

 on land worth $5 or $10 per acre, should yield incomes at the fol- 

 lowing rates of compound interest : 2 



Per cent. 



Cottonwood, on favorable soils 6 or 7 



Loblolly pine, on the most favorable soils 2 to 11 



Loblolly pine, on less favorable soils 0. 8 to 5 



White pine, on the most favorable soils 4 to 10 



White pine, on less favorable soils 2 to 7 



White ash, on favorable soils 5 to 10 



These rates vary chiefly with the distance from market and the 

 prices which can be obtained for lumber of the qualities supplied. 

 The closer the stand is to the market the higher the lumber prices to 

 be expected; and the better the soil and moisture conditions for 

 rapid growth the higher will be the interest rate on the investment. 

 Even the lower interest rates indicated above compare favorably 

 with crop incomes in many farming regions. 3 



1 In choosing between species to be planted or favored in woodlots the two qualities 

 to be sought are rapidity of growth under the existing conditions of soil and climate and 

 high market value when cut. Since the market value can not be estimated in advance 

 with accuracy, rapidity of growth is the more important consideration ; but of two rapid- 

 growing species the one whose wood seems likely to fill the greatest variety of industrial 

 needs should, of course, be chosen. The time when the timber must be cut in order to 

 yield the highest net profit is that at which the greatest difference exists between the 

 sale value of the products and the accumulated cost, at compound interest, of planting, 

 care and protection, and taxes. Compared with the great age which many kinds of trees 

 reach in nature, this period of " financial maturity " comes early. It is commonly at- 

 tained at from 40 to 60 years of age, though sometimes earlier with rapid-growing species 

 on good soil and later with slower-growing species on poor soil. With especially rapid- 

 growing species, like loblolly pine, the rotation of maximum income may be as short as 

 20 years under the best conditions. Information relating to tree species for woodlot use 

 is contained in detail in Department of Agriculture Farmers' Bulletin 711, "»The Care 

 and Improvement of the Woodlot," which can be secured on application to the Secretary 

 of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



2 This subject is treated at length, for various species, in the following bulletins of the 

 Department of Agriculture : 



Bui. 11, " Forest Management of Loblolly Pine in Delaware, Maryland, and 



Virginia." 

 Bui. 13, " White Pine Under Forest Management." 

 Bui. 24, " Cottonwood in the Mississippi Valley." 

 Bui. 299, " The Ashes : Their Characteristics and Management." 



3 See Department of Agriculture Bulletin 41, " A Farm-Management Survey of Three 

 Representative Areas in Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa," by E. H. Thomson and H. M. Dixon. 



