EVERGREENS. 407 



promising- of all the pines for the dry plains. When yoiuig^ it is no 

 hardier than the Scotch if grown on rich, well tilled ground, but it 

 will live and g^row under the most adverse conditions right in the 

 sod or among the weeds and wave defiance to drouth and storms 

 for ages. The pinus ponderosa is a sturdy, robust g^rower, with very 

 long, light green leaves; it is a little difticult to transplant and needs 

 winter protection while small. 



The dwarf mountain pine is ver^- hardy and is worthy of j)lant- 

 ing- for ornament. 



Norway spruce. Our dry air and bright sunshine are not at all 

 suited to the wants of this popular tree. 



The white spruce (Abies alba) of the East, is better, but being a 

 very shallow rooted tree and inclined to lean to the north, it will 

 likely not live to any great ag^e; in dry seasons it makes less 

 g^rowth than the red cedar. The Black Hills spruce transplanted 

 from the hills is much better in every way and is well worthy of 

 planting. 



Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens). This most beautiful of all 

 everg^reens stands well with us; it is the hardiest of all the spruces, 

 a thrifty g-rower, and stands the hard winds remarkabl}"- well; it has 

 a deeper root sj'stem than the white spruce, keeps its green color 

 well through the winter, and in early summer the best specimens 

 unfold their silvery robes here on our windy sun-scorched plains as 

 well as in its native home in the deep gorges high up among- the 

 clouds. Owing to its habit of starting late in the spring, it gener- 

 ally escapes late spring- frosts, which have done considerable dam- 

 age to other spruces. 



Douglas spruce. This is the great timber tree of the North Pacific 

 coast. It is also found on this slope of the Rocky Mountains. Here 

 in South Dakota, it has not come up to expectations. Specimens on 

 my grounds sent from Colorado ten years ago have made the small- 

 est growth of all my evergreens. The foliage is always more or less 

 hurt by the sun's action in February and March 



The abies concolor, from Colorado, seems better adapted to prairie 

 planting, but our experience with this variety is limited. Like the 

 blue and Black Hills spruces, trees raised from wild plants grown 

 on this side of the mountains make hardier and finer trees than 

 Eastern grown nursery plants. 



The balsam fir stands well and looks well till about fifteen or 

 twenty years old, when it begins to fail and look ragged. 



The red cedar is one of our trees. It grows in places along the 

 Sioux and Missouri rivers and in the Black Hills. It is the most 

 adaptive of all evergreens as to soil and climate; it is a tree of inest- 

 imable value for the dry plains, and the best evergreen hedge plant 

 for the Northwest. Here it grows faster than any of the spruces, 

 ehows no effect from winds, hot or cold, and makes a most perfect 

 and lasting shelter. While this tree stands drouth to a remarkable 

 degree, there are places in this state which were evidently too dry for 

 it the last seasons where left to grow in the sod. Like the ponde- 

 rosa, it needs winter protection when small. 



Arbor vitae is a failure. 



