43 



the demand, and, under instruction of the Minister, a further and larger supply has 

 been obtained, more than sufficient to supply all those who were disappointed last 

 year. By this means it is expected that small plantations will be established at a 

 large number of diflfei'ent points where, within a few j'-ears, the trees will be large 

 enough to produce a liberal supply of seed wherewith to extend the planting. 



The following paper, containing a summary of the work which has been done 

 in this direction and notes on the trees which have been most successfully grown, 

 was read at the meeting of the American Forestry Association, held in Quebec, on 

 the 3rd of September, 1890 :— 



" FORESTRY ON THE WESTERN PLAINS OF CANADA., 



" By Wm. Saunders, 



" Director Experimental Farms, Ottawa. 



"The experimental farnas which have been established by the Government of 

 Canada are five in number, located at the following points : Nappan, Nova Scotia; 

 Ottawa, Ontario ; Brandon, Manitoba ; Indian Head, North-West Teisritories, and 

 Agassiz, British Columbia. Experiments in tree planting were begun at all these 

 farms as soon as possible after the selection of the sites, but on the farms on the 

 western plains in Manitoba and the North- West Territories this work has been con- 

 ducted on a more extensive scale than on the other sites, for the reason that the need 

 of forest shelter is more keenly felt in the prairie districts. Work was begun on 

 the farm at Indian Head during the summer of 1887, and the first trees were 

 planted in the spring of 1888, about 20,000 in all, consisting of a large number of 

 varieties. This farm is a section of bare prairie land of 680 acres, without any 

 shelter whatever. In the spring of 1889, another consignment of about 12,000 trees was 

 forwarded, and during the present season a few thousand "moie have been sent. A 

 considerable quantity of seed of the box elder, with a smaller proportion of white 

 ash and American elm has been sown each year, and thus more than 50,000 seed- 

 lings have been added to the stock. A portion of these seedlings have been dis- 

 tributed among the settlers in the neighbourhood but the larger pari has been 

 planted in shelter belts and forest clumps on the farm. 



" The Brandon farm was selected during the summer of 1888, and tree planting 

 was begun there in the spring of 1889. About 20,000 trees were sent that year and 

 ten or twelve thousand more during the present j^ear. A large number of seedlings 

 of box elder, ash and elm have also been grown on this farm during both seasons 

 referred to. The Brandon farm is situated partly in the valley of the Assiniboine 

 Eiver and partly on the bluffs which form the northern boundary of that valley. 

 This farm is mostl}'' prairie, but in the ravines in the bluffs, and also on the face of 

 the bluffs, there are large patches of scrub, consisting of small poplars, scrub oak, 

 hazel, eleagnus and other low bushes, while neai- the river bank there is a small 

 grove of elm, ash, and box elder trees, with undergrowth of willow, rose, &c. Fi-om 

 this brief description it will be seen that the land on these two farms is varied as 

 to exposuie, while the soil and the climatic conditions by which theyai-e suriounded 

 are such as to include within their area most of the difficulties which stand in the 

 way of tree growing in the better farming districts in the Canadian Noi'th-West. 



" During the spring of 1889 a considerable number of packages of trees were 

 sent by mail and express to different parts of the North-West plains for test, and this 

 work has been continued on a larger scale during the past season. The distribution 

 outside of the Experimental Farms in 1890 consisted of over 100,000 seedling trees of 

 one and two years' gi'owth, Avhich were sent by mail in about 1,000 packages of 100 

 each to as many different points, while lai-ger bundles were forwarded by express to 

 twenty-five of the experimental gardens on the line of the Canadian Pacific Eailway 

 from Moose Jaw to Calgary, to most of the agencies on the Indian Reserves, and the 

 chief stations of the Mounted Pulice. By these several methods trees have Ijcen dis- 

 tributed for test over the whole area from the eastern part of Manitoba to the western 

 extremity of the great plains of the Territories aud along the foot hills of the Eocky 



