198 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



be admitted ; and the system that will best accomplish this is the one to 

 practice, although the first cost may not be in its favor. Brush laid along 

 the sides of the row, and the vines allowed to spread over it, is a good and 

 cheap plan for the purpose ; or if the lower ends be sharpened, and three 

 or four good strong bushy limbs be set firmly around the plant, the vines 

 will find their way through, and the same object will be accomplished at 

 a less expense in space than in the former way. Square frames, made of 

 four pieces, three feet long by one or one and a half inches wide, with 

 thiee or four pieces of lath nailed on either side, to keep the plant in 

 place, will be found a good way to train tomatoes for late use, but it con- 

 fines the plant too closely for the early maturity of the fruit. 



TREE-GROWING UPON THE PRAIRIES. 



BY ROBERT DOUGLAS, WAUKEGAN, 



It has often been asserted that if evergreens were adapted to the 

 prairies they would have been found growing there by the early settlers. 

 The same arguments have been used to prove that the prairies are not 

 adapted to timber growth. I had supposed, however, that these opinions 

 were exploded long ago ; at least, that they could not possibly be enter- 

 tained by men who have been in the habit of traveling over these prairies 

 for the past twenty years, and must have seen groves, both natural and 

 artificial, making rapid annual growths on nearly every prairie in the 

 State. 



It was therefore with surprise that I listened to a report on "Orna- 

 mental and Timber Trees for Southern Illinois," read by Mr. Flagg, at 

 our last meeting, from which I will make the following quotations : 



"All trees, nearly, I may add, seem to me more healthy in our 

 southern Illinois soil than in the centre and north." * * * 



"As I look upon the somewhat unwholesome evergreens that I met 

 upon our great prairies, I sometimes fear that it will be many generations 

 before the soil will be fit for healthful growths of deeply rooting trees." * *. 



"Probably some of the hardier and less fastidious forest growths, 

 such as the willow, the cottonwood, and the soft maple, must pioneer the 

 way and fit the soil and subsoil for more delicate and valuable growths." 



After Mr. Flagg had finished reading his report, in reply to a ques- 

 tion from Mr. Scofield, he said: "I do not believe that the prairie of 

 central and northern Illinois is the natural habitation of trees. The very 

 existence of these prairie lands shows an original unfitness for their growth. 

 I think that such trees as the cottonwood and white elm must pioneer the 

 way for other tree growths." 



When asked to name any location on the Illinois prairies where ever- 

 greens have that "somewhat unwholesome look," he named Bloomington. 

 Now Bloomington is one of the largest cities in the State, where the 

 burning of thousands of tons of soft coal certainly gives an unwholesome 

 appearance to both the evergreens and deciduous trees that come within 

 the bad influence of its smoke ; but in other localities, in and around that 



