220 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



conditions as met its requirements best. As time passed on and 

 conditions of forest growth became more difficult, through the de- 

 velopment of great continental areas with extremes of heat and cold 

 and periods of drought, the evergreen responded in a measure by 

 developing narrow leaves with a protecting coat of resin. Because 

 of these changes the evergreen still survives amid surroundings that 

 are surely uncongenial enough for our own comfort, but on the other 

 hand just because it is an evergreen and persists in retaining its 

 tenderest parts in season and out of season we must meet and re- 

 ward its faithfulness by unusual and intelligent care. 



We may not revive the genial monotony of the triassic period, 

 but in one way and another we ma}- lessen the effect of great or sud- 

 den changes and in the same measure increase the possibilities of 

 success in cultivation. Within the past ten years I have trans- 

 planted several thousand evergreens, ranging in age from five to 

 twenty years, and through all degrees of success and failure have 

 come to understand fully that the evergreen will not readily endure 

 marked and sudden changes in temperature or moisture. If one 

 would succeed with them in localities as difficult as the one in which 

 I have worked, he must not neglect this cardinal principle. The 

 surest way to attain this end is to plant the evergreens in a grove or 

 woodland, where the soil doesn't usually become very dn,', nor bake 

 very hard, nor freeze to a great depth. In addition to the modifying 

 effect upon the soil the surrounding trees temper the sun and wind 

 and tend to prevent loss of moisture, which, by the way, is a more 

 active cause than any other in bringing about the death of evergreens. 



It will be objected right here that most of those who would 

 plant evergreens in the northwest have no grove to begin wuth. If 

 such is the case the struggle to get evergreens established will be a 

 hard and expensive one, and unless there is some ameliorating cir- 

 cumstance, such as a ravine or northern slope of a hillside, to modify 

 the unfavorable climate, one had better spend his time at first upon 

 quick growing hardy trees, depending upon them to later furnish the 

 conditions requisite for growing evergreens. 



The only native evergreens in North Dakota are in the extreme 

 western part of the state, where the rainfall is only thirteen inches. 

 Down in the deep ravines that characterize the Bad Lands and ex- 

 tending to a considerable distance up the north side of the Buttes, 

 the red cedar finds a fairly congenial home, and though the dwarfing 

 effect of the dry climate is rather pronounced yet the trees are vigor- 

 ous, green and thrifty. The surrounding hills afford much the same 

 protection from drying sun and winds as would be found in a forest. 



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