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[sanrico AT highdesert.com]

Thanks (to all) for the information and comments - of course, you're correct! 
As
usual, I was reading too fast. The article that aroused my curiosity is from
"Small Diameter Timber Utilization":

Researchers try poplars as new cash crop
November 21, 2004

They rise like mirages amid miles of arid desert: small patches of quaint,
leaf-carpeted forests that whistle in the wind. 
For the past eight years, these pale, hybrid poplar groves have sprung up out 
of
the flatlands of central and eastern Oregon. Now numbering nearly 2,000 acres
across 13 counties - a few of those on the southwestern tip of Idaho - the 
small
plantations mark the region's induction into agroforestry: an environmentally
friendly practice that, in an age of federal timber restrictions, may 
eventually
supply much of the nation's lumber. 

Poplars are easily grown using the traditional irrigation and weed management
practices of agriculture. Harvest time means logging, however, a concept some
growers may have difficulty wrapping their minds around. But central Oregon
farmers will try just about anything to get their hands on a new cash crop. 

The towering grove that turns heads along U.S. 26 in Madras offers hope for a
region where reliable crops such as mint and garlic are succumbing to disease 
or
foreign competition. Some say the poplar, a fast-growing deciduous tree with
pretty wood, can reap as much money per acre as the profitable potato crop 
once
did - that is, for farmers who have the patience. 

Once planted, the first poplar harvest doesn't arrive for more than a decade.
Agricultural researchers with the Oregon State University Extension Service - 
who
spearheaded poplar planting in Madras, Prineville, Malheur County and other 
parts
of the state - say that, judging from experiments so far and emerging markets,
the tree has plenty of potential. 

In Madras, trees planted in the mid-1990s are already as high as 70 feet and
boast 12-inch diameters - just about the size needed to make a good saw log. 
The
quasi-forest will be logged when it hits 12 years of age - the cutoff point in
Oregon's Forest Practices Act that marks when a plantation becomes a forest. 

Researchers at Madras' Central Oregon Agricultural Research Center have found
that planting poplars in 14-foot-wide rows works best. In addition to the 
roughly
4-acre grove at the research station, close to a half-dozen farmers are
experimenting with poplars in central Oregon, said Tim Deboodt, the extension
agent leading the poplar project locally. 

Poplars need little, if any, fertilizer because they recycle nitrogen from 
their
own fallen leaves. While poplar wood is normally thought of as soft, it gets
strong when kiln-dried, said Marilyn Moore, the Malheur County extension 
agent,
and is excellent for cabinets, furniture and window frames. The tree's 
branches
can also be chipped for livestock bedding and the unpruned tops are perfect 
for
the "character wood" - wood with knots and worm holes - that's recently become
popular, Moore said. 

Associated Press 

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/11/21/build/business/53-poplars.inc
 


Copyright © 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not 
be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 


Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. 


On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 08:00:58 -0800, "Lynda" wrote:

> 
> I wouldn't think they'd use the hybrids because they don't get a very big
> diameter on them.  Would be just as much work as cutting bigger trees, just
> as much time in the mill but not worth the trouble for half a dozen 2 x 4s.
> 
> At the place we had in middle of a couple of vineyards we had them all over
> the place and one stand that was about an acre, both the hybrids and the
> Lombardies and none of them got to more than 8" and never more than about 40
> to 50' tall and they were over 30 years old.
> 
> Lynda
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <sanrico AT highdesert.com>
> 
> > Thanks for taking the wheel and getting us back on track!
> > I do have a question:
> > I've seen mentioned, in various newsletters lately, proposals to begin
> > planting/using poplar as hardwood for general construction purposes (which
> it's
> > supposed to become once it's kiln-dried).
> > I'm curious if 'poplar' would include the hybrid poplars that are
> advertised as
> > being so fast-growing?
> > Anybody?
> > Sandy
> 
> 
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