DECIDUOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. 203- 
vigor, and when we get an apple tree that will grow like a BoxElder, ap- 
ple growing on the prairie will begin to make some headway. 
The American Linden or Basswood (Tilia Americana) is found in moder- 
ate supply throughout our timber lands, where the soil is not too low. 
Probably the temperate zone does not produce a finer tree anywhere for 
beauty of flower and foliage. The bees love it, andit is very rarely that 
our prairie planters give it any attention. 
An important tree in these woods is the Green Ash (Fraxinus viridis), 
and it is probably the only ash found growing here. Next to the Bur Oak 
its wood is the most valuable. It is an excellent tree for prairie planting, 
perhaps one of the very best. It seems to me that a mistake is often 
made in recommending the White Ash for prairie planting. The White 
Ash is out of its natural habitat on the prairies, while the Green Ash 
ranges far westward. I have seen it growing around small lakes in cen- 
tral Dakota, where it was almost the only tree. 
Along the river banks, where it can dip its feet into the water, the 
‘Cottonwood (Populus monilifera) is found and grows to be a magnificent 
tree. When planted on dry prairie it grows with great vigor for a few 
years, but is not a permanent success. The Quaking-Asp (Populus tremu- 
loides), and perhaps another poplar, are rather rare here. 
Willows of several kinds, the species of which I will not attempt to 
name are found on the river banks. One of these in cultivation makes a 
fine shrub, almost equal to the Laurel-leafed Willow of Europe. One or 
two species of upland willows are also occasionally met with. 
The Ironwood { Ostrya Virginica) is occasionally found on rich hill sides. 
I am told that it is a good lawn tree. It holds its leaves through the 
winter. 
On high rocky ridges is found the Red Cedar(Juniperus Virginica),the only 
conifer of this part of the state. It succeeds admirably in cultivation. 
On timber margins and in thickets everywhere is found the wild Plum 
(Prunus Americana) in all its innumerable varieties, ranging all the way 
from the equal of the Desota to specimens bitter and astringent enough 
to make a pig squeal. The best varieties of Prunus Americana remain 
our most promising fruit. 
A comparatively rare shrub is theWild Red Cherry( Prunus Pennsylvanica). 
We find it only on ridges of granite rocks. It is beautiful in flower, but L 
have never seen its fruit. I suppose the birds take it all. 
Much more abundant,and an elegant shrub when in bloom,is our Choke- 
cherry. I suppose botanists would call it Prunus Virginiana, but it does 
not agree very well with the discriptions given in most botanies. I am 
inclined to think that our Choke-cherry approximates to the descriptions 
that we have of Prunus Demissa, the Choke-cherry of the far west. It 
blossoms in long racemes, and fruits abundantly, and the fruit is of very 
good quality, too, much better than the fruit of the traditional Choke- 
cherry. i 
I have never seen the Black Cherry or the Sand Cherry here. 
Perhaps the most striking shrub of this part of the state is the Sweet 
Viburnum or Sheep-berry( Virburnum lentago). Whether we view it in the 
spring,when literally covered with its broad cymes of white flowers, or in 
the height of summer, when its thick, broad, tropical looking leaves 
glisten like wax work in the sunshine, or, in the fall when it ripens its 
