About 2% of English-language literature on plantations deals with mixed-species plantations, but only a tiny proportion (<0.1%) of industrial plantations are polycultures. Small landholders are more innovative, with 12% of Australia's farm forestry plantations under mixed-species plantings, and 80% of Queensland's farm forestry as polycultures. We examine reasons for this discrepancy, and explore the history, silviculture and economics of polycultures. Financial analyses suggest that a yield stimulus of 10%, depending on product and rotation length, may be sufficient to offset increased costs associated with planting and managing a mixed-species plantation, a stimulus that has been demonstrated in many field trials. We conclude that the main obstacle to commercial uptake of polycultures in industrial plantations may be the lack of operationalscale demonstrations coupled with reliable financial analyses. #

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The proportion of Mollisols in the Southern Great Plains ranges from 1% to > 90% of counties with completed soil surveys. A study was made on data from 65 pedons spaced as equally as possible across the area. All of the soils studied had grassland vegetation, were on uplands, were not excessively wet, and did not have high shrink‐swell potential. Stepwise multiple regression analyses were made on percent organic carbon vs. percent clay, percent silt, base saturation, mean annual precipitation, and mean annual temperature. Results indicate a significant relationship between organic carbon and clay with a lesser relationship with precipitation. The other variables did not improve the predictive equation.

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