202 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. $ 
(once) timbered regions of the east. The short-sighted folly of this pro- 
ceeding is calculated to make a lover of trees sick at heart. Our Euro- 
pean settlers do better. 
The most important tree in the original forest here was the Bur Oak 
(Quercus macrocarpa). It isa grand tree. Sending its long tap-root far 
down into the bosom of mother earth, it is proof against drought and se- 
cure against storms. In the full glory of its mid-summer foliage, its 
broad shining leaves flashing in the sun, it is a noble sight. In England 
it is regarded as the grandest of the oaks, and is treated as a choice 
exotic. Here. like some of our other common blessings, we do not appre- 
ciate it. Last summer I saw a woman having the Bur Vaks grubbed out 
of her door yard,so as to have Box Elders planted in their place. On the 
bluffs this oak makes a noble fight against prairie fires, and often bears 
the scars of battle. On the bottoms it attains magnificent proportions. 
A noble specimen cut down at Montevideo at an early day showed by its 
annual layers that it was an acorn atabout the time that Columbus dis- 
covered the new world, and that it was not a very large tree at the time 
that the pilgrim fathers landed at Plymouth. No other oak grows in 
western Minnesota. It is rarely planted; but it ought to be. 
The White Elm (Ulmus Americana) is a more common tree on the bot- 
toms.than the Bur Oak. It is oftener planted, too, and makes a fine shade 
tree where the soil is not too dry. The spreading branches of a well de- 
veloped specimen would shelter a company of men: and, while it has the 
strength to defy the storms and winds of a century, its long pendulous. 
branches are swayed by the gentlest breeze. 
Less common than the White Elm,but a fine tree in every respect,is the 
Red or Slippery Elm (Ulmus fulva). In the early settlement of the 
country, it was the trunks of the red elm, left peeled by the Indians, that 
furnished the best fuel. The large leaves of this tree when growing in 
rich ground give it an almost tropical appearance. 
A rare tree in this part of the state is the Rock Elm, ( Ulmus racemosa) 
with corky wings on its smaller branches. It seems to do well under cul- 
tivation. 
Closely related to the elms is the Hackberry( Celtis occidentalis),a common 
tree on the river bottoms and on rich hillsides. Planted and cultivated 
on the lawn it is a tree of great beauty, and it seems surprising that it is 
so rarely planted. : 
Growing along the river banks,and sometimes reaching great size,is the 
White Maple (Acer dasycarpum), commonly called soft maple. So far as IL 
know, this is the only native maple found growing in the upper Minne- 
sota valley. I have looked for the Red Maple (Acer rubrum) but have not 
succeeded in fiuding it. The Sugar Maple grows on the headwaters of the 
Redwood river southwest of Marshall, and on Lake Whipple near Glen- 
wood. 1 have never seen it in our part of the Minnesota valley. Some 
of the best artificial, groves in Chippewa county are largely planted with 
White Maple. It succeeds admirably on the prairies. 
Closely related to the maples is the Box Elder (Negundo aceroides), per- 
haps the most thoroughly at home and omnipresent tree in this region. It 
springs up from seed everywhere and always grows, making a fine shade 
tree sooner than any other species. It sends it roots deep down into the 
earth and rarely succumbs to drought. It is our ideal for hardiness and 
