396 ANNUAL REPORT 



for timber. I do believe that some law can be framed that will 

 meet the demands of this question; that land unfitted for agri- 

 cultural purposes, natural for timber, can be put into the hands 

 of the state, to be held there for timber purposes. 



Mr. Terry. Mr. President, I have been a tree grower all 

 my life, an amateur tree grower, and I migrated into one of the 

 prairie counties of Southwestern Minnesota. Of course what 

 little knowledge I had before that was of great help to me, but 

 the most I had to learn. I do believe that the planting of trees 

 and growing of trees on these large prairies is but in its infancy, 

 and that the best of us know but very little about it yet. I ad- 

 mire much that has been said on this subject; we have had some 

 good pointers given to us, especially to have the willow planted 

 on the outside and leave a centre space. I always leave a pas- 

 ture field between my willows and think it is of great advantage. 



First of all I want to say, for the sake of the prairie, don't be 

 too quick in discouraging the planting of the mulberry. I have 

 them grown from Minnesota seed. I value it first as a forest 

 tree and next for shelter, for it will turn the wind better than 

 any willow yet grown; one mulberry will turn more than three 

 willows, and that in our country is of great advantage. Have 

 known them to stop a bank of snow fifteen feet high, and they 

 never break down from the weight of snow. In the next place 

 we need the birds. We need them for our orchards; for a 

 thousand different reasons we need them; and there is no tree that 

 will induce the birds quicker than the mulberry. You have to 

 feed your birds, and the mulberry is so prodigious in its yield of 

 fruit that I prefer it to anything but the cherry. You can feed 

 the birds in this way without any expense. It makes a very 

 good fruit to can or to make into pies, and it will produce large 

 quantities. It must not be discouraged. I shall have to fight 

 the Society if they fight the mulberry. (Laughter.) I would 

 not advise the president to plant it in his garden, but for the 

 Western prairie, where something is needed that is extremely 

 hardy, it is just the thing. Out of some two hundred and thirty 

 trees that have passed through the severest winters I have ex- 

 perienced for a number of years, I have the first tree yet to lose. 



Mr Smith. You find them killing back more or less, don't 

 you ? 



Mr. Terry. Just about as much as the hardy catalpa, of 

 which I have hundreds of trees that have blossomed, and which 

 is also a tree I would not discard. 



