50 BULLETIN 316, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF 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 SI. 50 per 
cord S2.50 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 SI. 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 
SI. 50 per cord. It should still be possible, however, to grow willows 
at SI per cord on S25 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. 
