STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 233 



planted as before, and after that nothino^ more was specified as a 

 requirement, beyond protection, until the time of proving, eight 

 years after entry. 



In case of death, an heir might succeed to the benefits of the 

 whole, or a part, accordingly as they were found entitled. 



The principal fault in both of these acts, was in allowing the 

 trees to be set too widely apart. The rule might work in a climate 

 like that of New England, where almost any kind of a tree set in 

 such soil as we find on the prairies, would grow to meet its neigh- 

 bor half way, if the distance was twelve feet or even more; but 

 upon the western plains and prairies, although the soil may be 

 fertile, the air is dry. The climate is subject to greater vicissi- 

 tudes, and with the drying winds and the droughts that are very 

 liable to occur, the young tree, if set with roots, and with the very 

 best of care and cultivation, has little chance of growing to much 

 height, if at liberty to spread low, and with some species it 

 would be doubtful if it grew at all. 



This defect in the law was remedied by a third law, passed June 

 14, 1S78, which is with slight amendment still in force. It re- 

 duced the interval between the trees to four feet, and the area to 

 be planted from one-fourth to one-sixteenth of the whole amount 

 entered. If the entry be a full quarter-section, five acres must be 

 plowed the first year, and five acres the second. In the second year 

 the first five acres must be cultivated with a crop or otherwise. 

 In the third year, the first five acres must be planted with trees, 

 tree-seeds or cuttings, and the second five acres must be cultivated. 

 In the fourth year, the land last broken must be planted, and after 

 this the whole must be protected until the time of proving for 

 title, eight years after entry. 



Such is in substance the law in its present form, the merits or 

 defects of which we are now to consider. It may be said in general, 

 that if faithfully and conscientiously done, according to the require- 

 ments of the law, and with the careful cultivation after planting 

 which every owner should give his land, to secure the very best re- 

 sult, we might reasonably expect to see a thrifty young grove at 

 the end of the eight years, whenever trees can be cultivated without 

 irrigation in any part of the country. 



But it is a well known fact, that this careful attention cannot 

 always be given. In many cases the planter has not the experi- 

 ence needed for successful management; or he is liable to commit 

 errors, by depending upon an experience gained under widely 

 different conditions and which must fail him altogether in his new 



