446 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ones, with the thought in mind that after a time the short-lived 

 trees will be cut out, leaving the long-lived ones to hold final pos- 

 session of the ground. In such a planting the trees, of course, will 

 be planted much thicker than they are planted to eventually stand. 

 The standard tree among the long-lived is the American white elm. 

 It is as thrifty in its growth upon the southwestern prairies as in old 

 England. The oak is another tree which should be planted as a per- 

 manent one. The jack oak is to be commended because it holds its 

 leaves. The white oak and bur oak are also to be highly valued. 

 The hackberry is, I think, superior to the ash. It is indeed quite a 

 favorite with us. 



NURSE TREES. 



While we write this section in plural, I am inclined to place but 

 one tree under this class, and that tree is the box elder. It makes 

 the densest shade of all of the trees that we grow. It will make 

 a forest condition more rapidly than any other tree that we know of. 

 It is infested with what is commonly called the box elder bug. So 

 I would not wish to grow many of them for any length of- time 

 about the house, but for a temporary nurse, where you wish to make 

 a forest condition very rapidly, it is the tree of all trees. 



THE CULTIVATION OF TREES. 



I cannot spend much time giving details under this head. We 

 will condense the matter by saying that first of all for the first few 

 years (say from three to five) we should certainly cultivate them. 

 We use with a great deal of satisfaction the Planet Junior horse 

 hoe, a surface cultivator that will accomplish more work in a given 

 time than any other tool that we know of. After that time, when 

 the trees have made a good start, then the mulching point starts. It 

 works well with us, indeed each year the system grows in our favor. 



THE EVERGREENS. 



Within the shelter of such a hedge row and again protected by 

 these deciduous trees mentioned we can easily grow in southwestern 

 Minnesota all of the evergreens that can be grown anywhere else 

 in the state. 



It is not necessary to grow the Scotch pine because it is hardy. 

 The spruces do excellently well. The evergreen which ought to 

 stand at the head of the list is the red cedar, which is a native of the 

 river banks of the Redwood river, tributary to Minnesota. 



It was supposed for a long time that the white pine could not be 

 grown in this section, but it can, and with great success when the 

 shelter that we have referred to has been provided. 



