342 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



EVERGREENS FOR WINDBREAKS. 



O. M, PETERSON, ALBERT LEA. 

 (So. Minn. Hort. Society.) 



Of all the different varieties of evergreens now used for 

 windbreaks on the farms in this section of the country the one 

 known as the Scotch pine undoubtedly stands at the head of 

 the list as the best tree for that purpose. This pine has many 

 points in its favor, being very hardy, of quick growth and easily 

 transplanted. It has been more largely planted than any oth- 

 er evergreen and seems to be still gaining in popularity. The 

 ponderosa pine is perhaps a hardier tree but is a slow grower 

 and has the disadvantage of being hard to transplant. The 

 Austrian pine seems to be gaining in favor among planters, and 

 justly so, as it is a handsome tree and perfectly hardy. The 

 jack pine is chiefly valuable on dry, sandy soils where no other 

 evergreen can be made to grow. 



The Norway spruce is a very popular tree for windbreaks 

 and has been extensively planted. It is a rapid grower and 

 easy to start. It is not, however, as hardy a tree as the Amer- 

 ican white spruce, but the latter is difficult to propagate and is 

 always so expensive that it cannot well be used for wind- 

 breaks to any great extent. On low, moist ground the Amer- 

 ican arbor vitae will make a good showing, as it is so closely 

 branched as to form a tight screen. It should be planted closer 

 together than the pines. 



There are some other varieties of evergreens that are de- 

 sirable for windbreaks, but those here mentioned are the most 

 reliable for Minnesota planters, and there is nothing in the way 

 of every farmer having an evergreen shelter belt around his 

 home and for his stock. 



It should be remembered that evergreens, in order to do 

 their best, should have thorough cultivation and the weeds kept 

 out, during the first few years after planting. 



Any one wishing to beautify a yard or grounds with trees 

 can scarcely do better than to put in a generous number of 

 hardy evergreens of the ornamental sort. Although nearly all 

 evergreens are of fine appearance there are some that are so 

 much more beautiful than others that they may be classed as 

 ornamental. Of all evergreens the Colorado blue spruce is 

 universally admitted to be the finest — the king of cone-bearing 

 trees. For single specimen planting there is no other that 

 can be compared with it, and it deserves a more general plant- 



