228 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



money and finds it corresponds with his own computation, the 

 account is closed. He has only one ticket to take care of, 

 while by the method of giving out tickets he must necessarily 

 have a great number, and the liability of loss is just that much 

 greater. 



THE PLACE OF EVERGREENS AND DECIDUOUS 

 TREES IN THE SHELTER BELT. 



C. L. SMITH, MINNEAPOLIS. 



That both evergreens and deciduous trees should find a place in 

 the ideal shelter belt is a statement that I presume will be accepted 

 without argument. The place each should occupy is an open ques- 

 tion, upon which there may reasonably be a difference of opinion. 

 I have planted a good many windbreaks myself; I have drawn plans 

 and made suggestions for many more than I have planted; I have 

 also carefully observed the arrangement as well as the want of ar- 

 rangemejit on hundreds of farms in Minnesota, Iowa and both the 

 Dakotas. From experience and observation, I am firmly convinced 

 that the most practical and satisfactory arrangement is a double 

 row of deciduous trees around the outside, the trees in these rows 

 to be closely planted; then an open space of fifty to one hundred 

 feet; inside of this alternate rows of deciduous and evergreen trees 

 should be planted four to eight feet apart, to be thinned out in after 

 years as fast as they begin to crowd. The first rows inside the open 

 space should be evergreens, and the row or, better still, the two in- 

 side rows nearest the garden and buildings should be evergreens. 

 The trees will do better if mixed in this way; the appearance is bet- 

 ter, and a better protection is provided against wind and snow. 



To secure this kind of a shelter belt with the least expense and 

 the greatest certainty, plant first the deciduous trees in the belt 

 where they are to remain, and at the same time plant in the garden 

 a nursery of small evergreens to be transplanted after two years. 

 My reason for this is, that the evergreen requires a certain amount of 

 shade and protection, that can be given in the garden to a better ad- 

 vantage than if they were scattered in the belt. After two years the 

 deciduous trees will have grown enough to give some protection 

 from the dry, hot winds of summer, which are most injurious to the 

 evergreens. One other important advantage: the evergreens after 

 two years growth in the garden nursery can be safely moved to 

 their places in the belt without danger of loss. I moved eight hun- 

 dred two years ago, losing less than five per cent. They were arbor 

 vitae seedling, from the woods of northern Minnesota. They had 

 been two years in the nursery, and they made a growth of ten to fif- 

 teen inches the year they were transplanted. I forgot that Brother 

 Richardson was to tell us about varieties; I must not trespass on 

 his subiect; but whatever variety is used I would handle in the 

 same way. I have two hobbies on this subject, close planting and 

 evergreens native of Minnesota. 



All farm buildings and gardens in the northwest ought to be pro- 



