24 



from catalpa is but little more than that from larch, it is often prefer- 

 able to plant catalpa. It grows a trifle faster, can be utilized for 

 posts and poles at a smaller size, and its wood is more durable. 

 Besides, catalpa will grow well on ground that is too wet for larch, or 

 which is flooded so often that success with farm crops is uncertain. 



Reference to Table 5 for larch shows that of the 16 plantations 

 examined, 10 have paid more than $4 per acre, and of these two have 

 paid more than $7 per acre. This indicates that if a market develops 

 for larch posts and poles, as seems likely, planting larch will at least 

 be as profitable as raising ordinary farm crops. 



Because Osage orange has been planted mainly for hedges its 

 value as a plantation tree has been passed over. * That it is unsur- 

 passed in soil adaptability and in hardiness has been amply demon- 

 strated. The only danger lies in the northern part of the State, 

 where it is likely to winterkill. The two Osage orange plantations 

 examined show an average annual income of $3.12 per acre, a sum 

 which undoubtedly could have been increased had the original 

 spacing been closer. There is good reason to believe that Osage 

 orange will pay on ground which is unsuited to catalpa or larch and 

 which, at the same time, will not bring a proper return from farm 

 crops. 



The average return from black walnut is low, since this tree requires 

 many years to reach a size profitable to cut. It is true that one 

 20-year-old grove shows an annual income of $2.05 per acre, but this 

 is computed for posts, and no owner of a walnut grove is likely to cut 

 it for these. The groves in Whiteside and Morgan counties show 

 annual incomes of $3.66 and $3.32 per acre, respectively, at the end 

 of forty-nine and sixty-four years. These, however, are by far the 

 best groves measured. Even under the best conditions walnut 

 requires at least fifty years to reach a profitable cutting size, while in 

 one hundred years the profit should be much larger. Few persons, 

 however, are likely to undertake such a long-time investment. 



Silver maple and white ash are given, simply to show that there is 

 little in the money returns to justify their planting. They grow well 

 and will serve many useful purposes about the farm, but they are 

 unsuitable as a purely commercial investment. 



THE MARKET FOR FOREST PRODUCTS. 



In order that commercial forest planting shall succeed, a market 

 for the products is essential. At present the owners of forest planta- 

 tions commonly use the posts and poles cut about their farms or sell 

 them to their neighbors at the best price that can be obtained. It 

 was found necessary in computing the values of the plantations 

 studied to arbitrarily assign a uniform value to each of the various 



fCir. 81] 



