FOREST PLANTING IN THE LAKE STATES 55 
Table 10. — Summary of essential considerations in forest planting 
What to plant 
Kind of tree 
Age of 
stock 
Where to plant 
Cost of 
stock per 
1,000 trees 
Planting 1 acre, 6 by i 
feet spacing, 1,210 trees 
Method 
Cost 
Age of 
mer- 
chant- 
ability 
Average 
yields 
per acre 
Norway pine... 
Northern white 
pine 
White spruce. 
Jack pine 
/ 2-0 oi 
\ 2-1. 
' 2-1 or 
3-0. 
2-1 or 
2-2. 
1-0. 
Jack p i n e - o a k 
sands or better 
sands and sandy 
loams. 
[Sandy loam and 
\ heavier soils. 
[Sandy loam and 
\ heavier soils. 
fJack pine-oak 
1 sands. 
►$1. 50-$4. 00 
• 3. 50-10. 00 
■ 3. 50-10. 00 
- 0. 75- 2. 00 
Slit furrow 
Slit 
Hole 
Slit furrow 
Slit 
Hole 
Slit furrow 
Slit 
Hole 
Slit furrow 
Slit 
Hole 
$6. 00-$9. 00 
7. 00-10. 00 
12. 00-15. 00 
Years 
60-80 
9. 00-15. 00 
10.00-16.00 1-60-80 
17. 00-25. 00 
9. 00-15. 00 
10. 00-16. 00 
17. 00-25. 00 
4. 00- 7. 00 
5. 00- 8. 00 
10. 00-13. 00 
35-50 
Board feet 
10, 000- 
25, 000 
10,000- 
25, 000 
Cords 
20-40 
20-35 
1 For stock or specific advice apply to Wisconsin Conservation Commission, Madison, Wis., Michigan 
Department of Conservation, Lansing, Mich., or Department of Forestry, Michigan State College, East 
Lansing, Mich. 
PROFITABLENESS OF PLANTING 
RETURNS FROM PLANTED TREES 
One of the most important considerations in planning* a program 
of forest planting is the future money value per unit of wood prod- 
uct. There is, however, no way of predicting accurately for 40 to 
60 years or more in the future the value of timber or of any other 
commodity. Something is known of present stump age prices in the 
region and of their trends in the past, w T hich have always been up- 
ward. From this knowledge it may be predicted with some assur- 
ance that the future prices of standing timber will not be less than 
the present ones. 
Present prices for jack pine range from 50 cents to $2.50 a cord, 
for white spruce from $1.50 to $6 a cord, and for northern and Nor- 
way pine from $8 to $12 a thousand board feet. If only a small in- 
crease over the present average prices be assumed, it is certainty con- 
servative to estimate that jack pine will be worth $3 a cord, spruce 
$5 a cord, and Norw T ay and northern white pine $15 a thousand board 
feet 40 to 60 years from now. For the Norway and northern white 
pine plantations grown for 80 to 120 years it has been further as- 
sumed that improvement in quality will cause the value of the' timber 
to increase with age. A stumpage value of $20 a thousand board feet 
has therefore been taken for Norway and northern white pine 80 
to 100 years old. Since high-quality white pine has special uses 
and is in special demand, the future stumpage value (of white pine) 
at 120 years has been placed at $25 a thousand board feet. Much 
more optimistic predictions of future values could be made and still 
be within the limits of probability. 
The profitableness of planting, as of any business transaction, lies 
in the difference betAveen costs and returns. In the growing of a 
timber crop there is one distinctive feature, however, and that is the 
long period over which the costs or investment must be carried be- 
fore returns are realized. The elements w T hich must be considered 
