THE EXPERIMENT STATION. 163 



Of the forty-one species of native and European trees planted in the 

 spring of 1888, a good many died, either during the summer or the succeed- 

 ing winter. There may be a good deal in the unusual nature of the past 

 year to cause the death of young trees. Some varieties were killed ; further 

 trials will be made, and when there is anything definite to report, so that 

 anyone can be warranted in drawing conclusions, the results will be given. 

 Cuttings, six or eight inches long, of one year's growth, nearly all died. If 

 cuttings are set in the open field, they should be much longer and rather 

 larger. 



The trees planted on land simply harrowed, or not even harrowed, are 

 not promising at present. 



This spring about an acre of ground ,was plowed for the first time and set 

 to small trees of white pine, Norway pine, Norway spruce, box-elder and 

 locust. Some seeds of pitch pine, Pinus rigida Mill., were sown in two or 

 three places and many of them have come up. Chestnuts were also planted. 



WALTON. 



In this connection I can do no better than take notes from an article 

 prepared for the Grand Traverse Herald, and published on April 11, 1889 : 



"The spring last year was very cold and backward, and the summer 

 unusually dry. Everything had to be got ready, the land selected, prepared, 

 and seed purchased and sown. We had nothing certain about money to use 

 in this way till late in February, 1888. The seeds were put in on May 11. 



"The land was rented of Abram F. Philips, and is enclosed by a board 

 fence. It joins the Traverse City branch on the north side of the railroad 

 track, about one mile from the village of Walton, and may be seen as trains 

 pass the spot. 



" The Experiment Station year closes on June 30 of each year, hence at that 

 early day my first report, not long since printed in the report of the Board 

 of Agriculture, could not contain much information on the experiments. 



" The land is divided into plats of about one-fourth of an acre each. It 

 formerly contained a few small white oaks, scattering Norway pines, a few 

 inferior white pines and numerous trees of jack pine. It had never been 

 plowed until last spring. The roots of sweet ferns, brakes, huckleberries, 

 bearberries, morning-glories, willows and numerous other species of small, 

 woody and herbaceous plants are tough and numerous, and some of them 

 very large and slow to decay. The land was plowed, harrowed, the seed 

 sown broadcast, and then rolled. No fertilizers of any sort were used. 

 There was one plat of Hungarian grass, one of German millet, one each of 

 rye, meadow fescue, alfalfa or Lucerne, alsike clover, June grass, Timothy, 

 Italian rye grass, spurry, perennial rye grass, meadow foxtail, field peas, 

 mammoth clover, red clover, sweet clover, orchard grass, tall oat grass, one 

 of a mixture of mammoth clover and orchard grass, one of a mixture of tall 

 oat grass and orchard grass, and one with eight sorts sown on the same plat, 

 viz. : Fowl meadow grass, orchard grass, Timothy, tall oat grass, perennial 

 rye grass, meadow fox-tail, red clover, mammoth clover. 



"Adjoining these plats was another, where the land was picked up and 

 simply scratched over with a spring-tooth harrow. On this seven sorts were 

 sown. Adjoining that was another plat where no- preparations had been 

 made — no cultivation. On this seven sorts were sown. The place was 



