FOREST NURSERY STATION, INDIAN HEAD, SASKATCHEWAN. 6^ 



g. The Forest Nursery Station, Indian Head, 

 Saskatchewan.' 



By Jamks Kay, Tree- Planting Inspector. 



When travelling across the prairie provinces, one cannot fail 

 to be struck with the bareness of the immense tracts of prairie. 

 Manitoba and Eastern Saskatchewan are sparsely wooded with 

 natural clumps or "bluffs" of aspen poplar, which is the 

 predominant species ; while Balm of Gilead, Manitoba maple, 

 ash, elm, and others, are found in sheltered valleys and along 

 river banks, with many shrubby plants, such as dogwood, 

 hazel, choke-cherry, saskatoon, and many others. White spruce 

 {Picea alba) is found thinly scattered over the light sandy soils, 

 and is also found intermixed with Tamarack {Lari'x Atnericana) 

 in the swamps. In Western Saskatchewan, the country is 

 practically treeless. It was generally believed that trees would 

 not grow on the prairies, as those who made the attempt usually 

 failed to get them to grow satisfactorily. But it has now 

 been proved that if planting is gone about in the right way, trees 

 can be successfully raised on the prairie. Failure was mainly 

 due to ignorance of the conditions affecting tree growth, to the 

 selection of wrong species, and to mismanagement after planting. 

 The soil of the prairie is for the most part a deep black loam, 

 the accumulated remains of herbage which has grown year after 

 year for centuries, and after decay has gradually become merged 

 in the soil. 



To give some idea of the rate of growth of young trees in such 

 soil, after treatment of the sod by " backsetting," as described 

 in my previous note, I measured cottonwood which had made 

 annual growths of over 7 feet ; Russian poplar, willow, and maple 

 of over 6 feet ; elm and ash of from 3 to 4 feet. These figures 

 indicate how quickly shelter can be obtained, if care has been 

 exercised in thoroughly preparing the soil, and in the selection 

 of suitable species. It has been proved that plants grown from 

 seed taken from trees acclimatised to prairie conditions are 

 hardier than plants from seed procured from lower altitudes or 

 from farther south or east. Seed obtained from southern 

 latitudes has, in most cases, proved unsatisfactory. Plants grown 

 from such seed are unable to withstand our rigorous winters ; 



' For a previous note on this subject, see \'ol. XXIII. p. 67. 



I 



