I 



378 



HORTICULTURE 



September 21, 1907 



to fabricate the body of the tree. Now while this 

 process is in progress it is easy to understand that im- 

 portant amputations .".re the least likely to cause decay, 

 because the material required to heal them will be 

 produced at once. 



The practical results obtained by actual experiments 

 fully maintain the correctness of this theorv. 



A number of fruit and ornamental trees pruned in 

 the first week in July were partly healed of their wounds 

 in ten days, and by the middle of August cuts two to 

 three inches in diameter were completely covered with 

 new bark. Now if these trees had been pruned in the 

 autumn, after the elaborated sap had performed its 

 annual functions, tlie wound could not have been healed 

 and would have been affected by cold, and decay, in- 

 stead of gi-owth, would have had the first chance — the 

 trees being dormant would have no latent force to repel 

 this decay, which always commences immediately after 

 all severinp; of parts when unduly exposed to cold, 

 whether in plants or animals. 



If the pruning were done at the proper time any 

 application (even coal tar, which is no doubt the least 

 injurious to vegetation) to prevent decay, would be 

 avoided as in the course of the natural development of 

 the tree the protective covering of the wound would be 

 formed, and all applications are more likely to impede 

 than to accelerate the new formation of bark. 



In studying the mechanism of a tree the above facts 

 as to the use it makes of the aliments with which nature 

 has provided it wherewith to perpetuate its gro\\'th are 

 easily observable, and are infallable guides as tn that 

 season of its annual development, when any artificial 

 changes in its formation or character may be effected 

 surelv and safely, a matter of even greater importance 

 than the manner of producing such change. 



J-^ 



The Hippophae^ Siberian Sand 

 Thorn 



(Also called Siberian Shepherdia or Buffalo Berry,) 



This belongs to the Eteagnus or wild olive family. 

 The race includes the Russian olive (Eloeagnus horten- 

 sJs), the Ekeagnus longipes, and several other varieties. 

 The Siberian Shepherdia was introduced by Prof. Han- 

 sen of Brookings, S. Dakota, after one of his Siberian 

 raids for which he is so well noted, when he skims the 

 cream off the land and takes it home with him. 



We have just had the pleasure of looking over his 

 grounds and we were greatly impressed with the possi- 

 bilities of this shrub. There are two branches of this 

 family; one has been cultivated a long time in France 

 but it is not hardy as far north as St. Petersburg. 

 Some trees and shrubs are hardy only in their own 

 locality. Eed cedar, grown in southern Illinois, is 

 worthless in Minnesota; white spruce from Maine is of 

 no account in Nebraska. The southern type of the 

 Siberian sand thorn would be useless in our Northern 

 States, biit the Professor secured his from well to the 

 north in Siberia and this same l)ranch of the family 

 reaches up to Lapland, making it one of the hardiest 

 shrubs in the world. For the Northwest, a shrub must 

 meet two conditions; one is the intense cold and the 

 other is the dry air of winter which sucks the moisture 



from the top while the roots are frozen. In bright days 

 in Feliruary, wo have seen grape vines kill back an inch 

 a day through the influence of the winter drouth. It , 

 is not enough that a tree resists the cold, it must also 

 resist the dry air. The Siberian sand thorn does this. 

 The air of Dakota puts this double strain on everything 

 and it is a heroic shrub which can stand the test, but 

 this one meets all the (Conditions and is as thrifty as can 

 be desired. We never saw a tree or shrub which, in 

 proportion to its weight, bore such an enormous burden 

 of fruit. We have picked a gallon of fruit from Elisag- 

 uus longipes in Massachusetts, but in this instance the 

 fruit was packed and crowded, clinging to the limb as 

 if in danger of being puslied off, and many limbs were 

 splitting with the weight of the berries. In color, they 

 are glossy yellow. In taste, much like the Japan type, 

 and here is a field for the professor to cross the two. 

 The longipes are a little larger and longer and by 

 combining the two the hardiness of the Siberian could 

 be given to the other and perhaps a superior fruit 

 could be evolved. When the West was new people 

 would go a long distance after buffalo berries — these are 

 .! sort of winter currant and hang on a good portion of 

 the winter. 



We noticed quite a variation in the fruit of the sand 

 thorn, some bushes having much larger berries than 

 others and some, much sweeter. Two bushes were 

 marked for their superior excellence, but when we 

 went to gather the fruit, the birds got ahead of us and 

 they were all gone. The bushes have been marked, how- 

 ever, and will be carefully watched for the next crop. 

 The fruit is much used for tarts, jellies, and jams, and 

 as it hangs on a long time it can be gathered when the 

 rush of work is over. Selections are being made for . 

 size and quality and it will not be long before the pro- 

 fessor, with his well known siiccess, will evolve some- 

 thing of superior m.erit. 



1'hey are somewhat difficult to propagate and the pro- 

 fessor is a little tried with the total failure of nursery- 

 men who will not follow directions and do not get a 

 plant from a bushel of seed. His method is to take the 

 pulp from the seeds and then dry them. There is a 

 coating to the seed which must be rubbed off. When 

 dry they must be kept in a cool place till about the first 

 of December when they are placed in sand and frozen. 

 They must be planted the first thing in the spring 

 under a screen, for the tiny plants, like young ever- 

 greens, incline to damping oft". The plants should be 

 bought by the dozen or more as they are male and 

 female and only about half bear berries. They make 

 a very ornamental hedge. The savage name of Hip- 

 poplise (horse killer) does not refer to the fruit but to 

 the sliarp thorns which give it the dual advantage of 

 hedge and wind-break. 



How they will succeed in the Eastern States we can- 

 not tell, hut they are a known success in the great 

 Northwest. Last spring was peculiar. May and Jan- 

 uary held a rollicking carnival. There was an alter- 

 nation of 80 above and zero, in the same week. While 

 the sand thorns were in bloom, it froze every night this 

 year, but these heroic bushes paid no attention to a 

 little thing like that and proceeded to cover themselves 

 with a marvelous burden of fruit. The professor did 

 a great thing when he introduced these shrubs, but the 

 ultimate value will be in the improvements which he 

 is sure to make. 



Yorlc, Neh. 



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