22 



is given. The most satisfactory results have been obtained with 

 this tree by cutting the S-year-old seedlings back to the ground 

 during the winter. The stumps send up a number of straight, clean 

 shoots the following spring. All but one shoot should be removed 

 within a few weeks or as soon as the best shoot can be selected. 

 This principal shoot which is left will grow straight and clean to a 

 height of from 8 to 14 feet the first season. By this process posts 

 can be obtained as quickly as if the trees grew from seed without 

 cutting back, and of a better quality. By cutting on short rotations, 

 other crops of posts may be obtained from the stumps in a shorter 

 time than the first crop. The Russian mulberry, Russian olive, and 

 Osage orange may be treated in the same manner with satisfactory 

 results. 



Posts from 3 to 5 inches in diameter may be grown from the 

 Osage orange in from seven to eleven years; from honey locust in 

 from eight to fourteen years; from Russian mulberry in from nine 

 to fifteen years; from European larch in from nine to sixteen years; 

 and from green ash in from seven to fourteen years. 



Some forms of the white willow will produce fence posts of ordi- 

 nary size in from four to seven years. Nearly all of the slower- 

 growing, more permanent species mentioned require from twelve 

 to thirty years to form posts from 3 to 5 inches in diameter. The 

 red oak and coffeetree are not planted as extensively as their value 

 warrants. Both are hardy, fairly rapid in growth, and excellent 

 for posts, repair material, and fuel; and each can be reproduced 

 readily from seeds or stump sprouts. The coffeetree prefers moist 

 situations, and the red oak well-drained slopes and uplands. 



The appended table shows the returns which have been obtained 

 from various species under ordinary conditions of treatment. Typ- 

 ical groves in different parts of the State were selected as the basis 

 of the table. 



[Cir. 154] 



