REPORT OF TEE DIRECTOR 57 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



The next letter is dated September 18 in which the superintendent says ' I wi-ote 

 you in the spring about the trees and I think on the whole it was encouraging. I am 

 afraid that the facts I am to give you now will be less so. I mentioned that nearly all 

 tlie deciduous trees had come through the winter, and although killed down somewhat 

 had leaved out again and were making a promising start. The winds in the latter part 

 of May were cruel to the trees sometimes running up t(i 40 miles an hour. In June we 

 had a succession of windy days. On the 6th and 7th of that month tlie wind averaged 

 for the 48 hours over 35 miles an hour and the maximum velocity was 52 miles with 

 the thermometer ranging from 35° to 38° F. This storm stripped all the leaves of the 

 deciduous trees and killed a largo proportion of them, the rest have been struggling 

 along feebly but at this time very few look promising. Pines have held on pretty 

 well.' 



' Strawberries lost many of their blossoms in the storm, yet we got a nice quantity 

 of fruit off them, Buster being by far the best fruiter, but this may have been due to 

 the protection of a fence. A few shoots sprung up again from the blackberries and 

 raspberries which I am now protecting.' 



* The Virginia creeper, matrimony vine and lilacs which I moved to the front of my 

 house have lived, but have not made much growth, for as soon as buds and leaves would 

 start they would be withered by a wind storm.' 



' During July about 1,200 of the seedlings of the Maritime pine were transplanted 

 into one of the larger plantations. I dug small clumps with one or two pines growin" 

 in each, with a hoe, and planted these irregularly about a foot apart so that if they 

 grow they will protect each other. This w^ork was carefully done and about 75 per cent 

 are living. The seedlings in the bed look well, as do the pines planted last year that 

 survived the winter. These are all protected by grass and may have grown hardier bv 

 the time they get above it. The remaining pines in the plantation in front of my house 

 held their own daring the summer. I left the grass around these also.' 



' With reference to the use of fertilizers on the young trees, no difference could be 

 noticed in the ground treated and untreated ; the difference where any existed was 

 where there was some natural protection from the wind. I am continuing the experiments 

 with the pines growing on the plantation in front of my house where I shall be able to 

 observe it if there be any difference. No fertilizer has been applied to this lot, and 

 although the soil is pure sand, or nearly so, the pines that survived there, were quite 

 equal in growth to any of those treated with fertilizers last year. 



' In many cases where the tops of the seedlings of Pinus Maritima had turned red 

 and were apparently dead, new shoots started just above the ground. It was a surprise 

 to me to see conifers do this, and their roots are from 6 to 9 inches long, straight down.' 



The latest communication received is under date of November 5, 1902, in which tlie 

 superintendent says ; ' Our autumn has been an improvement on the summer and last 

 fall. Apple trees and shrubs protected with barrels are still growing as green as can be. 

 The pines in Gourdeau park look fine and the fall rains have improved them very mucli. 

 Our summer drouth affects the trees very seriously. Of the deciduous sorts planted in 

 the park about fifty white bircnes have surprised me this fall, and they and the Scotcii 

 broom are about all that can be found there. These birches are still green and where the 

 leaves did not get above the tall grass, are yet. on the trees. "We have had frost, but not 

 enough to do injury in that direction. 



' Pinks, chrysanthemums, snap dragons, petunias, asters, gladioli and roses are still 

 blooming in a partly protected garden ; of course they look a little ragged from fall 

 winds.' 



' I took from the ground about fifty bushels of potatoes, the produce of the few 

 sample bags you brought here in 1901. They all turned ouc well, but I think Carman 

 No. 1 gave the largest j-ield, and all are of excellent quality. Preston wheat. Early Riga 

 wheat, Mensury bai'ley, Ligowo oats and Bokhara clover were all sown side by side in 

 a patch where potatoes had been raised two years. Except the clover all grew well, 

 heads all formed well but did not fill, and the crop was cut for straw about August 15. 



