36 
feet in height. If cut, these 200 trees would make 142 posts worth 
15 cents each, and 151 stakes worth 10 cents each, or a total of $36.40. 
A well-cared-for plantation at this place would evidently be a profit- 
able investment. The situation at Ashland is no more favorable 
than in many places on the upland, for, although in the shallow valley 
of Bear Creek, water is 40 feet below the surface and consequently 
beyond the reach of tree roots. | 
A commercial plantation should be thickly set in order to diminish 
the lateral branches as much as possible. With good care the rate of 
Fic. 5.—Fruning an Osage orange hedge to produce fence posts. 
growth is sufficient to produce post timber almost anywhere in west- 
ern Kansas in ten years or less. Since most people have let their 
mulberries branch at will, satisfactory measurements are difficult to 
obtain. The average rate of diameter increase on 400 trees In various 
places was found to be practically an inch in three years, ranging 
from 1.4 to 4.6 years. 
Mulberry has been used considerably for a street tree, but its habit 
of growth is not suitable for this purpose. It is an added objection 
that the berries fall upon the walks. 
[Cir. 161.] 
