448 



Canadian Forestr]) Journal, November, 1919 



prairie owing to the rigor of the climate and 

 especially is this true of trees having dense 

 foliage. 



In these, we are practically limited to two 

 species, Manitoba maple and spruce, so that 

 our prairie plantations must of necessity con- 

 sist very largely of these two species. 



Prairie planters, however, demand rapid 

 growing trees in order that they rnay have 

 shelter as soon as possible. 



Spruce grows slowly especially in its young 

 stages and it is difficult for the ordinary farmer 

 to grow and costs a good deal to buy, so that 

 we are almost confined to maple as our shade 

 mixture. 



The two best trees we have for rapid height 

 growth are Russian poplar and sharp leaf wil- 

 low. Ash and elm are quite hardy, as are some 

 of the pines though slow growing, and some of 

 each may with advantage be put in every plan- 

 tation. 



Half the trees should consist of maple or 

 spruce or a judicious mixture of both. In the 

 latter case, the labor of keeping the branches 

 cleared away from the tops of the spruce till 

 they are large enough to look after themselves, 

 would add to the cost of establishing the planta- 

 tion. 



THE COST OF PLANTING. 



The expense attached to growing trees is an 

 important matter. 



The initial cost of anything is never so im- 

 portant as the after-cost, the maintenance, and 

 so we have to consider the cost and maintenance 

 of our prairie forest belt very carefully. 



As we have seen, our most valuable asset is 

 moisture. This has been preserved for the use 

 of the young plants by a summer fallow the 

 year previous to planting and it must be pre- 

 served by cultivation among the trees as long 

 as possible. 



A single row of trees can be maintained in- 

 definitely in this way, but the expense v/ill also 

 be indefinite, and no farmer can afford any ad- 

 ditional indefinite expense either in time or in 

 money. 



Foliage shades the ground and therefore the 

 closer trees are planted consistent with econ- 

 omy, the sooner the branches will meet and 

 check evaporation and the sooner the work of 

 cultivation will be over and the expense of 

 maintenance be done away with. 



The planting width as usually practiced on 

 the prairie has been 4 feet by 4 feet, and in 

 the first few years has proved quite satisfactory. 



but these dry years are opening up the question 

 of whether 4 by 6 might not have been better 

 in a real dry year on the real dry prairie. 



At least the trees would have had as much 

 again soil space to draw moisture from. The 

 larger spacing would probably require an ad- 

 ditional year's cultivation, but it is possible this 

 would be more than offset by the lessened ex- 

 pense in planting. Our data on these matters 

 are very meagre, if, indeed, any are available 

 at all for the real dry region under considera- 

 tion. 



PLANTING MATERIAL. 



I have often said elsewhere that proper tree 

 sheltering on the prairie farms will never be 

 done if the farmer has to buy all his own 

 material. He will have to grow the most of it 

 himself and after he has got into the way of 

 doing it he will neither find it difficult nor ex- 

 pensive. 



A pound of maple or ash seed costs a dollar 

 to a dollar and a half and will produce about 

 2,000 plants if sown on well summer fallowed 

 land and well cultivated during the summer. 

 This will take a row about 150 yards long. The 

 plants can be easily plowed up as seedlings 

 which cuts down expenses very considerably. 



Along with this a row of about 500 Russian 

 poplar cuttings should be planted about a foot 

 apart, from which to take cuttings for future 

 plantings. They would not take up much room 

 and about three runs through with the cultivator 

 every year would be all the attention they would 

 require. They cost about $5.00 per thousand. 



2,700 trees are required to plant an acre at 

 4 by 4 feet and 1 ,800 at 4 by 6 feet. All plant 

 material should be used as seedlings and cut- 

 tings. They are easier to plant and a better 

 percentage of growth results. 



A man and a team can plant 1 ,000 trees in a 

 day, and cuttings planted with a cutting iron 

 or a spade can be planted much faster, so that 

 the cost of planting can easily be estimated. 



Cultivation will be carried on three times 

 during each of the first two summers and about 

 once or twice the third one, if the planting is 

 4 by 4. Probably two more cultivations will be 

 needed if the trees are 4 by 6. After that the 

 plantation will be self-sustaining. 



TEN PER CENT OF LAND UNDER TREES. 



We do not know how many strips of trees 

 will be required to completely shelter a quarter 

 section in a reasonable time, and we do not 

 know how wide they will need to be. Probably 

 three strips running across the field N. and S. 



