STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 55 



din^- and bad through the chilly weather after planting, be later in 

 pushing, and even make less growth the first season ; but examine them 

 in autumn, and you will sec that the early-planted tree has its bud better 

 formed, and is much stronger rooted than the late-planted tree. 



I would not have it understood that the six varieties named are all 

 that are hardy on the prairies without protection. Having been requested 

 to name a few of the most desirable and reliable varieties, I chose these 

 as combining the most good qualities, aside from hardiness, and will now 

 name, from memory, many others equally hardy, viz : Red pine, pitch 

 pine, yellow pine, Cambrian pine, black spruce, white spruce, red cedar, 

 Siberian and several varieties of American ai-bor-vitie, several dwarf 

 pines, at least four or five medium sized pines — such as Banksia and 

 Inops, many junipers perfectly hardy, several firs, among which are 

 Pichta and Fraser's. 



It would be hard to name, from memory, half of the very beautiful 

 varieties that can be grown on grounds already sheltered by the common 

 varieties, and we are adding to the number every year. I examined two new 

 exergreens from the Rocky Mountains last week on the grounds of A. R. 

 Whitney, Franklin Grove, Lee County: a white spruce (probably Engle- 

 mannia), very beautiful, and coated over with a silvery tinge resembling 

 hoar frost; the other, a fir, also ver\' beautiful, and quite distinct from 

 any otlier fir cultivated in the West. They ha\'e the appearance of being 

 perfectly hardy, not having lost even a terminal bud in the live or six 

 years they have stood on his grounds. 



Mr. Snkdecker. — Evergreens can be planted successfully in the 

 winter with ball of earth. 



Mr. DouGi>ASS. — Mr. Snedecker lives three hundred miles south from 

 me. This makes it safer there. Evergreens can be transplanted at any 

 time after the terminal bud is formed, when the ground is not frozen, 

 though it is not as certain late in the fall. I once transplanted two hun- 

 dred thousand (200,000) Norway spruce, commencing on the 2!^th of July. 

 The ground being quite dry, we sprinkled thoroughly at planting; then 

 cut branches from trees, and stuck down among them, so as to partially 

 shade them. After working in this way four days, we took the branches 

 used on the first day and used them for the fifth day, and so on, ^leaving 

 the plants shaded about four days. The planting was finished September 

 14th, Those planted last did not succeed as well as those planted earlier. 

 The plantation, as a whole, was a satisfactory success. 



I prefer to take oft' all the dirt from the roots, keeping them damp, 

 while moving. For trees of considerable size, the bottom of the hole 

 should be crowning, so that the fibres will have their extremities the 

 lowest when in position. 



The soil should he packed firnily about the roots. There is little 

 danger of packing moderately damp earth too closely. If the soil is dry, 

 throw in plenty of water after covering the roots with eartli, giving it 

 time to settle away before completing the filling. It is better to plant 

 large ti'ees in this way than to move them in winter with a frozen ball. 



