STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 39 



prairies by the annual fires that swept over the rank herbage and con- 

 sumed with it nearly every sprouting tree. There were exceptions to this. 

 In the damp ground along the streams it was possible for some trees to 

 grow, because the grass would not often burn ; the shade of the tree when 

 growing would be unfavorable to the rank growth of grass; the stream 

 itself, if of some size, would occasionally be a barrier against fire ; so that, 

 judging from the size of the trees now standing, here were the first tree- 

 growths. Again, on the broken grounds near streams, where the soil is 

 less fertile than farther back on the prairies, the grass growth was less 

 luxuriant and its combustion less common and less destructive of young 

 tree-growths. The soil, too, was there better drained and fitted for tree- 

 growths than on the level prairie ; and here we find the next growth of 

 trees, to all appearance, in point of age. One other exception is, or 

 rather was, found in lone trees of the Black-jack {Querciis nigra) and 

 Mocker-nut Hickory (?; {Carya tomentosa ?) of considerable age, that, in 

 advance by half a century, one would guess, of other trees, have grown 

 up alone out in the drier prairies. 



Upon these grounds, already prepared for tree-growth, the only thing 

 needful was to exclude fires, excessive grazing and tramping, and other 

 destructive forces, in order to secure an almost immediate growth of for- 

 est. This growth, as Mr. Englemann shows, would even reach beyond 

 the broken grounds and constitute what he calls "Flats," on which is a 

 tree-growth composed mostly of " Post-Oak," a tree remarkable for its 

 many and small roots. 



In the small prairies of Madison and other counties these various 

 tree-growths would readily fill, if permitted, all the original prairies; but 

 in the large, flat, and still concave prairies, away from the rivers and 

 without natural drainage, in a pervious subsoil, the soil remains unfavor- 

 able to nearly, and in some cases to all tree-growth, unless ameliorated by 

 artificial means. Among the trees that seem to endure the humidity of 

 soil the best are the White Elm, Cottonwood, Soft Maple, Willows and, 

 perhaps, the Ashes. (I speak of the species considered desirable to 

 plant). These, I believe, are mainly spreading-rooted trees, that can 

 gather their sustenance, if need be, from near the surface, without striking 

 into the unwholesome subsoil. Cottonwoods and White Elms, both of 

 which will flourish in dry situations, also wonderfully — will almost grow 

 in a pool of stagnant water, and show a great range of adaptation. The 

 Chestnut seems to require a well-drained subsoil to succeed at all, while 

 the Hickories, whose marked peculiarity — as any one knows who has 

 done a day's work at "grubbing" our Western young growths — is its tap 

 root, seems to bore its way into the "hard pan'' without injury, except 

 as shown in a smaller size and probably a shorter life. 



This subsoil is not the only difficulty in the coarser and more peaty 

 soils of part of the central and northern portions of the State. These 

 open soils admit sometimes too much air for the health of the plants, 

 hence the winter wheat freezes out, and the soil must be packed and 

 tramped about trees to insure its compactness, and trees in dry cold split 

 open because they have exhausted the little moisture within reach of their 



