TRANSPLANTING ON THE PRAIRIE SOD, &c. 



2C5 



sod. I fenced off* about an acre for a gar- 

 den ; and in that acre, the only things like 

 a tree or shrub were five or six stunted 

 cherry sprouts, about 18 inches high. The 

 man who had lived there before I bought, 

 informed rne that he had set out a great 

 many trees around the house, but some- 

 how or other he could not get them to live. 

 He said he did not think that trees set in 

 the prairie sod, without breaking and let- 

 ting it rot, could be made to live. All the 

 neighbors with whom I conversed on the 

 subject, were of the same opinion, and ad- 

 vised me to break my ground in the spring, 

 and then wait until the next spring, when 

 the sod would be well rotted before begin- 

 ning to plant. This advice, however, did 

 not exactly coincide with my impatience to 

 commence operations. 



Leaving out of view the luxury of a 

 good shade in the dog days, the idea of 

 living a whole year with nothing to relieve 

 the monotony of a prairie landscape, but 

 long strings of worm fence, varied by an 

 occasional gopher hill or haystack, I could'nt 

 stand it. So, when spring rolled round, in- 

 stead of getting a prairie plough and going to 

 work, " breaking," I took my wagon to the 

 woods, and dug up some thirty forest trees of 

 different kinds, such as Mulberry, Black and 

 White Walnut, Elm, Oak, Coffee Bean, 

 and Sycamore; the most of them from 15 

 to 30 feet high. Having the holes already 

 dug for their reception, and from 4 to 6 

 feet across, I aimed to leave roots enough 

 on the trees to fill the holes. In addition 

 to these, I also procured from a neighbor 

 about the same number of Locust trees, 

 from 20 to 30 feet in height. Before plant- 

 ing them, I sawed all the largest off to 

 within about 10 feet of the ground, and 

 putting the sod into the bottom of the hole, 

 set the tree on it and filled up with the 

 same soil that came out of the hole. 



Now for the result. Out of the 60 trees 

 thus planted, all are now living but two, and 

 growing finely ; and those two started and 

 grew through the summer, but, by some 

 means, were broken down last winter. 

 Some of the Locusts threw out limbs 8 feet 

 long the first season. The tops growing 

 so rapidly, I was fearful the high winds, to 

 which they are exposed in the prairie, 

 would break them off this spring; there- 

 fore, I cut ihe limbs all oft' to within a few 

 inches of the bodies of the trees. Many 

 of them have since thrown out limbs from 

 10 to 12 feet long and are still growing, 

 and will continue to do so for a month or 

 more. 



Last spring I set out some 20 more from 

 the forest, among which, in addition to some 

 of the kinds before planted, were Ash, Box 

 Alder and Crab Apple. The}'' are also 

 doing well, with the exception of one of 

 the Crab Apples, which looks somewhat 

 debilitated; but I think it will get through. 

 Notwithstanding the large size of some of 

 them, and the long tops they threw out the 

 first season, together with their exposure 

 to the winds on the prairie, I have not had 

 to stake but one in the whole number 

 which I transplanted both seasons. All 

 that was done to them, after they were 

 set, was to work around them with a hoe 

 every two or three weeks, until the latter 

 part of August, keeping the ground loose 

 and clean as far around as the hole was 

 dug. One good hoeing is worth more than 

 a hogshead of water, the way it is gene- 

 rally applied, in transplanting trees; and 

 I have no doubt that by its injudicious ap- 

 plication, in this operation, it has caused 

 the death of ten trees where it has saved 

 the life of one. 



I dwell on this subject for the purpose of 

 impressing it on the minds of those who, 

 like myself, have settled on the open prai- 



