STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 103 



so invigorate the tree as to counteract the injury from exposure to the wind, and pro- 

 tection from the wind will enable the tree to withstand an ordinary drought ; but the 

 vitality and vigor of t he tree must yield to the combined influence of both evils, and 

 the result will pay for care and attention in both directions. 



Any treatment that will insure a vigorous state of health, will ward off disease — while 

 a weakened vitality, from whatever cause it may proceed, will invite a simultaneous at- 

 tack from every foe. 



The wounded buffalo is soon surrounded by all the beasts of prey which roam the 

 plains, who soon leave bis cleaned bones to bleach on the prairie. 



The epidemics which awe sp over the domains of human life selects those whose weak- 

 cm 1 vitality and shattered constitutions lit them for the harvest Of death. Those with 

 enfeebled frame, and those engaged and poisoned by excess, are alike gathered bj the in- 

 exorable reaper. None but those with vigorous health, correct habits and strict con- 

 formity to nature's laws, can hope to escape the fell destroyer. 



So in vegetable life, that which weakens the vigor and vitality of tin- plant or tree, 

 makes it more subject to the attacks of all the myriads of foes that stand ready to assail 

 it — defective nutrition — under exposure to the elements, want of sufficient moisture or 

 stagnant water about the roots — are causes which usually first stop the fountain of life 

 and invite blight, mildew and rot, with hoists of insect and fungus enemies to the feast, 

 which is the forerunner of dissolution. 



( »ur object should then be to guard against all the untoward influences of climate and 

 situation, in order to preserve the health of our trees. Close setting, always good policy, 

 and belts of d-ci lions trees afford a good degree of protection, but are far less effective 

 than evergreens. At the critical period when the buds are just bursting in the spring, 

 when protection is most needed, the foliage of deciduous trees is not yet developed ; so 

 also during the severe cold of winter they are alike insufficient. The close and enduring 

 foliage of evergreens is just the thing needed ; they are not only a perfect wind-break, 

 but the atmosphere around them is warmer, even on the windward side than elsewhere, 

 where there is no protection. Plants standing close on the north side of an evergreen 

 hedge during the autumnal frosts, will remain for a considerable time fresh and uninjured, 

 while all others show the sere and yellow leaf. 



The fine needle-shaped leaves of the pine and other evergreens make the most delicate 

 and perfect mulching material known — such an one as most perfectly holds and equal- 

 izes both the heat and moisture. When a boy, I have often sought refuge from the. har- 

 vest Bun under the foliage of the hemlock or pine, anil always found the ground and 

 atmosphere refreshingly cool and moist; and when the chilling winds of approaching 

 winter begins to harden the ground, so as to bear a team on the frozen surface, the ground 

 shaded by the foliage and mulched by the leaved of the pine and spruce, will be found 

 still warm and unfrozen. Tender fruits like the Antwerp raspberry, growing in contact 

 with evergreen boughs, will survive the winter uninjured; while those not thus pro- 

 tected arc -lire to be killed. 



Such being the indicated wants of orchards on the prairie, and such t he characteristics 

 of the evergreen trees — such, then, the ameliorating Influence on tempera! ore and their 



perfect adaptation for breaking the force of the bleak prairie wind-, and prev< nting the 

 rapid evaporation of moisture — their benefits, in contact with orchards, cannot be 

 doubted. In the damp and cold climate of England they would doubtless be injurious, but 



in the hot and dry climate of the prairie region, all the indications call for such protec- 



