First-Year Survival and Height Growth of Cottonwood Plantations at Stoneville, Miss.

Abstract

Most cut-over forest land in the bottomland hardwood region does not need to be planted to obtain another stand of timber. Natural reproduction usually is satisfactory in amount, although often predominated by relatively undesirable species. cut-over areas that do need planting, however, are not uncommon. Very heavy cutting and repeated severe fires are largely responsible for this condition, but heavy overgrazing may also be a factor. Typical bottomland areas in need of planting support a scanty or negligible stand of low-grade and cull trees, and a very dense, tangled ground cover of weeds, brush, and vines. Since fast-growing trees are most likely to be successful in overcoming this severe competition, cottonwood is obviously an excellent prospect for planting. Fast growing trees may produce somewhat less desirable and less valuable wood for some purposes than trees with slower growth rates, but on bottomland planting sites it may be a case of fast-growing trees or failure. Cottonwoods will yield merchantable pulpwood, or later sawlogs, in a comparatively short period. They will also shade out the dense ground cover and thus facilitate the later establishment of more slowly growing tree species, some of which may be of greater intrinsic value. Besides general interest in the suitability of cottonwood for planting on most unstocked bottomland sites, there is special interest in the planting of cottonwood on Mississippi River batture lands (i.e., lands between the levee and the river) to replace mature cottonwood after logging. Cottonwood is always replaced by a number of other hardwood species after logging, and new cottonwood stands originate only on bare land deposited by a river or abandoned by farmers. Since the species that replace cottonwood frequently are much less valuable, it is desirable to obtain another stand of cottonwood either by measures that will favor natural reproduction or by planting. For either course, there is very little information available on suitable methods or probable results.

Citation

Bull, Henry; Putnam, J. A. 1941. First-Year Survival and Height Growth of Cottonwood Plantations at Stoneville, Miss. Occasional Paper SFES-OP-98. New Orleans, LA: USDA-Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station, Delta Experiment Station. 18 p.