162 AGKICULTURAL REPORT. 



heat of suuimer, and as instinctively seek their shelter from the fierce 

 winds of winter. The intelligent farmer also knows that it is a question 

 of positive ecouomj^, as the absence of suitable shelter must be repre- 

 sented by an increased consumption of food and fuel. Often, too, he 

 finds that without some suitable wind-breaks he is unable successfully 

 to cultivate the best varieties of fruit-trees. He wishes to secure these 

 advantages of shade and shelter at the earliest possible period, and 

 hence he inquires for rapidly-growing trees for cultivation. The great 

 cost of fencing on the prairie leads him to seek some suitable tree or 

 shrub for the growth of hedges. It is true that many experiments in 

 this direction have been attended with failure, but we should not be 

 deterred from continuing our experiments until a suitable hedge-plant 

 is found for every section of country. If the Osage-orauge fails, let us 

 try the honey-locust, or some of our native thorn-bushes, crab-apples, 

 wild plums, viburnums, or other shrubs or trees, until we meet with 

 success. 



The production of wood for fuel and mecbanical uses is an object 

 which, however desirable, has seemed so remote in prospect that it has 

 been almost universally neglected. But even this neglect is to a great 

 extent based upon too general and vague views as to the slowness of 

 tree-growth. 



There are several species of trees which, with proper cultivation, will 

 acquire a circumference at the trunk of 8 to 10 inches in five years' 

 growth, and a few acres of such trees would soon furnish a constant sup- 

 ply of desirable fuel to farmers who now have to haul, at great expense of 

 time and labor, a distance of from five to ten miles. Most of the rap- 

 idly-growing trees produce soft wood, which is not much esteemed for 

 fuel, but, for summer use, when properly prepared, it must be equal, if 

 not superior, to the coru-cobs which are extensively used for fuel in the 

 Western States. Many western farmers have cultivated their prairie- 

 lands for twenty years, and bauled their fuel from a distance, when, 

 during that time, cottonwood trees of 2 feet diameter, white maple of 

 18 inches, box-elder of 20 inches, and butternut of 18 inches, might 

 have grown upon their lands with a little labor and care. 



The planting and cultivation of hard-wood trees, suitable for build- 

 ing purposes and use in the mechanical arts, is one which has been almost 

 wholly neglected in this country. It is a work which is too commonly re- 

 garded as being wholly for the benefit of posterity, and we are slow to real- 

 ize that we have any duties in that direction. But the necessity of enter- 

 ing upon this work is apparent, for it is not difficult to contemplate the 

 period when our natural forests shall have disappeared under the enor- 

 mous demands which the progress of our country makes upon them. 

 Some of the trees which, at the present time, seem most deserving of 

 trial for the purposes named, we will briefly notice. 



Cottonwood. — In the Western States and Territories the name cotton- 

 wood IS applied to the Foindus moniUfera. Groves of this tree are com- 

 mon on the streams which traverse the great plains and prairies. JSTear 

 the base of the Rocky Mountains, however, as in the Platte bottoms 

 near Denver, two other species of poplar are associated with it in the 

 groves, viz: the narrow-leaved cottonwood, {Pojmlus aiigustifoUa,) and 

 the balsam poplar, {Foindus balmmifcra.) They are all large trees, of 

 vigorous and rapid growth, and are readily propagated from cuttings. 

 They are particularly recommended for wind-breaks and shelter for 

 more tender and slow-growing trees. A belt of cotton woods around a 

 young orchard will undoubtedly save many trees from loss by frosts, 

 and contribute to their thrift and productiveness. All the poplars are 



