436 FOBEST WORK FOB THE MONTH. [Apbil, 



sufficiently for the bark to run, no time should be lost in proceeding 

 with the work. Under the circumstances all other work should be 

 got into as forward a state as possible prior to peeling. 



Where there is little bark stripping on hand, the preparation of 

 ground for next season's planting may be proceeded with — such as 

 fencing, clearing, draining, as well as other estate improvements. 



Look round fences and have all put in repair prior to the turning 

 of stock to the pastures. Finish up all transplanting in the nursery, 

 and dig or fork between plants that were not removed last year. 



Grass lawns and pleasure grounds will now require regular and 

 careful att'^ntion, by rolling, mowing, clearing, &c. 



Kinmcl Park. Lewis Bayne. 



"Why Prairies are Treeless.- — Mr. Thomas Meehan believ'es that we have 

 nearly reached the soJution of the cause of the absence of trees from the priaries. 

 It is uot cUmatic, for timber belts flourish in all the praii'ie regions. It is not in 

 conditions of soil, for the prairie soil is the most favourable to the germination 

 of seeds, of trees as well as of other plants, and artificial plantations are remark- 

 ably successful wherever they are made. The real cause is probably to be found 

 in the annual hres whicli have swept over the prairies from time immemorial, 

 killing the young trees before they can grow lai-ge enough to resist the heat. 

 The seeds of the annual plants of the j^rairie vegetation, maturing every year, 

 are shed, and find protection before the tires come; the young trees, on the 

 other hand, bear no seed and leave no resource for a succession after they are 

 burned. This theory is supported by the fact that an abundant growth of trees 

 has set in wherever the fires have been stopped. The fires were made by the 

 aborigines for centuries before the white men came, possibly for the express pur- 

 pose, Mr. Meehan suggests, of preventing the growth of trees and preserving the 

 bufialo pastures. The question remains how the prairies first came to be naked. 

 They probably formed the bottoms of the lakes and marshes that were left after 

 the retreat of the glaciers, and continued wet after the highlands were covered 

 with trees. Man followed the glaciers so closely that he anticipated the trees on 

 these spots, and having learned already in southern latitudes the value of burning 

 them, began before the trees gained a foothold. — American Manufacturer and 

 Builder. 



Trees for a Damp Situation. — It often happens that there is a damp position 

 in a garden in which it is desired to form a kind of shriibbery or block of trees, 

 and a selection of such as are best fitted for the situation is required. Scarcely 

 any tree would grow so quickly under these conditions as the Black Italian 

 Poplar. The White Poplar {Populus alha) would also succeed. Willows grow 

 well, and the weeping kind planted towards the margin of the clump has a 

 pleasing appearance. The Hemlock Spruce {Abies canadensis) would probably 

 fiourish. Por undergrowth the Alder grows quickly, while Mahonias, Japanese 

 Privet, Snowberries, and Tamarisk would make satisfactory progress. 



