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FOOTPRINTS IN THE FOREST. 407 
harvested and the land plowed again. The spring of the fourth 
year we found that the ground could be prepared in excellent con- 
dition for the reception of either seeds or cuttings. 
The first varieties pJanted were the cuttings of the cottonwood 
and the white willow. The former were planted in groves eight feet 
apart each way, each row being filled in between with black rasp- 
berry bushes, which produce good crops for several years and then 
die out, ihe ground in the meantime being thoroughly cultivated. 
These trees made a remarkable growth for upwards of twenty years, 
when they began to decline, and at twenty-eight years from the time 
of planting all were dead and had been cut up for stove wood. 
Their average height was about seventy feet and their diameter two 
feet from the ground was from two to three feet. Single trees set 
out about the same time, 1860, are still growing, and one cut down 
two years ago was five feet in diameter at the butt. The white wil- 
low did well for many years, until the willow worm made its 
appearance and converted a valuable timber tree into a disgusting 
ntlisance. 
In 1866 67 the following varieties were planted: white and black 
ash, butternut, black walnut, soft maple, hard maple, white and 
black locust, basswood, box elder, white, red and rock elm, white 
birch, silver-leaved maple, Lombardy poplar, balm of gilead, black 
birch and white oak, yellow willow, American and European larch, 
Kentucky coffee tree, white pine, balsam fir, red cedar and other 
varieties. 
In 1870 the following kinds were added to the plantings: Austrian 
pine, Norway spruce, white spruce, arbor vite, Scotch pine, red pine 
and others. 
In 1875 wild black cherry, horse chestnut, yellow and black birch 
hemlock, spruce and others. 
Since then the following have been added: Douglassi, Black Hills 
spruce, Engleman, silver cedar, concolor, Picea pungens, Pinus 
ponderosa. 
The white and black locust did well until the borers made their 
appearance, when we were compelled to bid those trees a sad and 
affectionate farewell. 
Lombardy poplar grew for many years very vigorously, then died 
down and sent out anew growth of top. This operation has been 
repeated several times. They come as near being absolutely worth- 
less as any tree I know of. The balm of gilead is but very littie 
better. Yellow willow grew up into quite large trees in forest, but 
were cut down and the land cleared off before the advent of the 
willow worm. 
On our ordinary prairie soil, the black and yellow birch will not 
pay for plantlng. The white birch on the other hand, makes a 
magnificent tree and succeeds everywhere. 
The American horse chestnut and balsam fir are valuable orna- 
mental trees, but never plant them in forest, as they have no value 
for timber. 
The larch and,in fact, most varieties of trees should never be 
planted in large masses; they should be planted in belt not over 
