(4) Planting of euttings.—There are few trees that can be grown in general practice from cut tings, but it is the best way to start willows and some poplars, since seedlings of them are difficult to secure. It may often happen that willows and poplars can be planted to good advantage on the cut-over land, where renewal of growth is expected from such shade-enduring trees as basswood, hard maple, hickory and chestnut. Under such condi tions the willows will grow rapidly and form a predominant covering under which the other species will flourish.
(5) Regeneration by coppice.—The commonest and simplest way of natural regeneration is the sprout method. This is based on the capacity possessed nearly exclusively by the hard-woods (of the coni fers only by the California redwood) to renew themselves after cutting by shoots produced from the stump or roots. As a matter of fact the bulk of all our second growth hard-woods originated in this way. This method does not depend on the occurrence of good seed years, it is little affected by fires, which sometimes even stimulate a more vigorous sprouting, and is adapted to small as well as large timber tracts. The sprouts for the first 40 to 50 years grow faster than trees started from the seed and are, therefore, capable of producing tan-bark, firewood, fence posts, ties, telephone and telegraph poles within a much shorter time than trees from seed. For this reason this method lends itself most readily to woodlot owners, especially in the central hard-wood belt, where the composition of the woodlot is chiefly hard-woods and the de mand for small-sized timber is great. Chestnut, oaks, particularly the chestnut oak, ashes, willows, maples and poplars are well suited for regeneration by sprouts.
In cutting coppico-growth the trees should be cut off close to the ground when they are dor mant, and the stumps left highest in the center so that they will have a tendency to shed water and not be so liable to rot as when left hollow in the center. The advantage of cutting close to the ground is that the sprouts that come out from the trunk soon get roots 'of their own, and such sprouts are much more durable than when they depend entirely on the roots of the old stumps; and they are less liable to be broken off in a high wind. After a number of years the ability of the stump to sprout will gradually cease, although with good management and protection oak and other hard-woods may be reproduced for a long time in this way.
Choice of species to plant.
The choice of species will naturally be limited by soil and climatic conditions, and also by the time required to get returns. The slow-growing species, such as oak, ash and white pine, do not offer any great inducement for the private individual, except in the case of such kinds as renew themselves readily from the sprouts or where the land is already stocked with a young growth. The fast growing species are the ones to which individuals are largely limited in making their plantations.
Among the most desirable of these is Catalpa speciosa, which under favorable conditions will make good post timber in ten or fifteen years. The yellow or black locust, which has a little wider range northward, and is fully equal to the catalpa in rapidity of growth at the North, is also well adapted for post tim ber. In some sections the white willow and cottonwood may be grown to advan tage, the willow being used largely for !fuel and poles, while the cottonwood is used largely for dimension lumber in construction.
These four trees promise the quickest returns of any deciduous trees that are grown in our northern states. In the case of willow, the average yield per acre of cord-wood on good soil, under favorable conditions, will not be far from three cords, when once the land is well stocked with trees. Under the con ditions which exist in many central western states, such plantations may prove very profitable. While cottonwood lumber at present is regarded as of little value in most of the timber sections, yet on our prairies it is in demand for floor boards and dimension stuff in cheap construction, and will often increase in growth at the rate of 500 to 1,000 feet board measure per acre per year.
Of the coniferous species, spruce is probably the most promising. White and Norway spruces grow at about the same rate, but as the seed of the Norway is much the more easily secured, it will naturally be given preference. It will yield thirty to thirty-five cords of pulp-wood per acre when thirty years old. It is in demand for paper pulp, and the outlook is for an increase in the price of this material.