You know when youre making long trips and there are the tree rows that
are perfictly straight that were planted in the depresstion?  How much
did were the workers paid per tree?  If you can only find an hourly
rate, or whatever, that'll do.  But per tree would be best.  Don't go
finding tree planting rates and start doing math or anything fancy
like that.

Howdy bellybutton19-ga,

They didn't get much.  There weren't paid by tree, or really even by
the hour, but rather by the month, according to the following page on
the University of Illinois' Department of English's web site.
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/depression/overview.htm

"Run in semi-military style, the CCC [Civilian Conservation Corps]
enrolled jobless young men in work camps across the country for about
$30 per month. About 2 million young men took part during the decade.
They participated in a variety of conservation projects: planting
trees to combat soil erosion ..."

There was more than the $30.00 that was provided, according to the
ElginHistory.com article "Elgin: An American History" by E. C. Alft.

"Of their thirty dollars per month wages, twenty-five dollars was
sent home. The CCC offered three meals a day, medical attention and
the self-respect which came from a useful job."

It was not unusual for people to work up to 10 hours a day during
the depression, so the tree planters got around 15 cents an hour.
Better than nothing, which was the normal wage during the depression.

Sorry, but couldn't resist looking for tree planting rates, just
to satisfy my own curiosity.

If you want it by the tree, this Auburn University's College of
Agriculture's "Highlights of Agricultural Research" web page states
150 to 300 seedling can be planted per hour.
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/aaes/communications/highlights/summer99/pine.html

"On flat ground, some hand-planters can plant 300 Grade 2 seedlings
per hour. Planting seedlings with larger roots will reduce the rate
of planting by hand. On some sites, a morphologically improved
seedling can be planted with a shovel at a rate of 150 trees per hour."

So, they got a tenth of a cent or less for each tree planted.

If you need any clarification, feel free to ask.


Search Strategy:

Google search on: wpa "planting trees" wages
://www.google.com/search?q=wpa+%22planting+trees%22+wages

Google search on: trees planted "per hour" "by hand"
://www.google.com/search?q=trees+planted+%22per+hour%22+%22by+hand%22

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

Wonderful!!  Way more than expectations!  And speedy, too!!!  What
more could you look for in researcher??

Much thanks for the interesting question, 5 star rating, very kind
comments and generous tip, bellybutton19-ga!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher