186 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



experiment farm near here, A strip of land on the west side of the 

 farm was ploughed and planted with eastern grown seedling trees 

 of about forty varieties, composed of maple, ash, elm, birch, ever, 

 greens and several of the largest class of shrubs, planted in eleven 

 rows, each row nine feet apart, and each seedling nine feet apart in 

 the row. The next spring a very large percentage of these were 

 dead, and it was found advisable to fill up the vacant spaces with 

 northern grown seedlings and to plant four and one-half feet each 

 way instead of nine feet, as tried the year before. After nine years 

 that belt of trees is now fifteen to twenty feet in height and very 

 thick, and it makes a splendid shelter belt, but I think now it would 

 have been better if only trees of one class had been used, such as 

 maple, ash, elm and poplars or all evergreens, for it appears to be 

 useless to plant evergreens or the slower growing of deciduous trees 

 amongst the faster growing varieties, unless a great deal of space is 

 left between them. 



Where I am now living I have a belt of box elder trees grown from 

 seed sown in 1881. This belt is 100 feet wide and a quarter of a mile 

 long. These trees are now about thirty feet high, with stems six to 

 eight inches through. This belt in the winter season fills up with 

 snow and effectually shelters my neighbor on the east side of me> 

 as I have my buildings amongst the trees, where the snow drifts 

 very high in winter. 



I also have a block of about six acres of land, on which in 1891 

 were planted three hedges of maple seedlings, the hedges forty feet 

 apart, and the seedlings two feet apart in the row. These all grew 

 and are now about twenty feet high, and are growing much faster 

 than the trees in the belt raised fiom seed. The two outer spaces 

 fill with snow five to six feet deep each winter and afford the best of 

 winter protection to strawberry plants and other fruits, but the mid. 

 die space of three acres is always clear of drifts in winter and well 

 sheltered at all seasons. 



After noting the effects of these two systems of shelter, I am now 

 inclined to the opinion that while the wide grove of trees is very 

 desirable, a cheap and very effective shelter can be provided by 

 planting two or three single rows of trees on the most exposed sides 

 of the buildings, especially if sufficient space is left between the 

 rows to allow for the accumulation of the snow. 



Although we have spruce and pine growing in the various bush 

 districts of the province, I have not as yet heard of any shelter belts 

 which have been successfully grown with evergreen trees. Many 

 thousands of spruce trees are transplanted from the bush each year 

 generally in the month of June, but the transplanting nearly always 

 appears to be a total failure. I think myself that earlier planting on 

 well prepared lands would probably be attended with better success. 



In conclusion I would ask your convention a few questions. 



How can the average prairie farmer, who has a busy time seeding 

 in spring, best arrange to plant a shelter belt? 



Which have you found to be the best method of planting, and the 

 most suitable trees to be used for the purpose? 



How do you advise treating evergreens for transplanting onto 

 the open prairie? 



