154 Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



ered with the native trees of the forest, a large portion of them, 

 these black oaks. Most of these trees have passed away, and 

 to-day nine-tenths of the trees here are those that have been 

 planted here. It seemed to him that the cause was starvation. 

 The blowing off' of the leaves from the soil, packing of the earth 

 about the roots by tramping, and the thickening of the turf under 

 the trees had exhausted the moisture and nourishment necessary 

 to the healthy growth of the trees, and they are gradually starved 

 out. Cutting off the top, mulching and feeding may save them 

 for a time, but the better way is to replant. Save all the burr 

 oaks, but where the black oaks die, fill in with other trees. He 

 would recommend for this purpose our native white ash ; it trans- 

 plants easily, grows rapidly, and is one of our most useful and 

 valuable trees. 



Mr. H. Bobbins, of PlatteviLe, said that on the prairies of 

 Southern Wisconsin, and where we have cut off our timber, we 

 want to plant trees for wind-brakes and for timber, and the ques- 

 tion is, what shall we plant; what kinds will be the most profit- 

 able, and what'will grow the fastest. He bad tried various kinds, 

 among others the soft maple, but he did not like it altogether; he 

 would not recommend it for others to plant, though it made a good 

 wind-brake. He had imported some 60,000 evergreens from Scot- 

 land, of various kinds. Of these the one he would select as the 

 most valuable was the European Larch. His trees when set, ten 

 years ago, were small, but he could cut trees today that would make 

 two and three fence posts, not all as large as our posts generally, 

 but yet large enough for a wire fence. Another variety is what 

 is called in Scotland the Weymouth Pine. Some of these trees 

 are now twenty and thirty feet high, and have been set less than 

 ten years Some were set out in nursery rows, quite closely to- 

 gether, and left unthinned. and the rows are now fifteen and. 

 twenty feet high and are very thick and compact, making the best 

 of wind-breakers; better than a tight fence. Scattered through 

 this evergreen forest he set out some two hundred apple trees, 

 and had let them stand without any attention, taking care 

 of themselves. Some of them he had not seen for two or three 

 years until this last fall, and was surprised to find many of the 



