FOREST PLANTING IN THE LAKE STATES 61 
timber. The evidence obtained in this study from existing planta- 
tions was that Norway and jack pine will grow good timber crops on 
the poorest sandy lands. It is probable, however, that some of the 
swamps and peat soils may be unsuitable for growing timber until 
the water level is regulated or conditions are otherwise modified to 
make them more favorable for forest growth. This is a subject 
which requires and will receive further study. 
SELECTION OF AREAS FOU PLANTING 
Many factors must be considered in the selection of planting areas, 
whether they are to be planted by private or public agencies. Highly 
desirable areas presenting many advantages are unusual and an 
ordinary selection can not be expected to include more than a part 
of the desirable qualities. One of the most important considerations 
which influences location is accessibility to a good market or to the 
industry which must be supplied with raw material. This is equally 
important whether the markets are already in existence or are only 
predicted on the basis of prospective development. The planting 
area should be located where the fire hazard is naturally low, where 
good fire protection can be provided, and where sufficient local labor 
is available both for protection and for planting. The lands should 
be suitable for the establishment and rapid growth of the species 
which are to be planted. They should be located where low valu- 
ations and low tax rates prevail. They should provide the best 
combinations of low planting cost with high soil productivity for 
timber growing. The location and selection of an area with the 
most favorable combination of all these elements will usually depend 
on local conditions; but if any one class of land may be said gener- 
ally to rank high as a prospective planting site it is abandoned 
fields. 
Another important consideration in the selection of areas for 
planting is their size. A small detached plantation may under favor- 
able conditions be a profitable enterprise simply on the basis of the 
return from the single timber crop. Much more profitable, how- 
ever, is the large area with a series of plantations set out over a 
period of years, which will contribute to a timber-growing operation 
with a sustained annual yield of wood products. This is the objec- 
tive in forest planting toward which the wood-using industries, 
large owners, and public agencies should aim. A large enough area 
should be obtained for planting to provide for replacing annual 
yields of timber bj natural or artificial reforestation. On this basis 
the minimum size of planting area will usually be determined by 
the minimum economic industrial unit which will be supplied from 
the planted timber. 
Two examples may be suggested. A small paper plant consumes 
from 50 to 100 tons of wood pulp each clay, which at the rate of l 1 /^ 
cords of pulp wood to the ton is the equivalent of 62 to 125 cords 
of wood per day. If such a plant is in operation 200 days a year, 
it will require from 12,500 to 25,000 cords of wood a year. Assum- 
ing a yield of 30 cords to the acre, between 400 and 850 acres of 
land would be cut over each year to supply the plant. If the enter- 
prise is started on bare land a corresponding area should be planted 
each year. If the wood is jack pine, which can be grown in 40 
