Fifteen Years of Cottonwood Plantation Growth and Yield

Abstract At age 15, unthinned cottonwood (Populus deltoides Bartr.) planted at four spacings ranged from 7.5 to 12.1 inches average d.b.h. Initial spacings were 4' x 9', 8' x 9', 12' x 12', and 16' x 18' on Commerce-Convent soils. Mean annual cubic-foot volume increment by spacings in trees ≥5.0 inches d.b.h. peaked from year 9 to 13 and ranged from 277 to 313 cubic feet per acre per year. Yields from three thinning treatments did not exceed unthinned mean annual increments for a given spacing. Board-foot mean annual increment in trees ≥12.0 inches d.b.h. to a 10-inch top ranged from 60 to 370 board feet per acre for unthinned plots and from 100 to 420 board feet per acre for thinned plots when averaged over spacings.