Canadian Forestry Journal, May, 1020. 



223 



What to Plant for Prairie Tree-Shelters 



B\) Norman M. Ross 

 Chief of Tree Planting Division, Indian Head, SasI^. 



With Tables Showing How Fast 



Various Trees Attain 



Good Height 



In Manitoba, where the elevation 

 is lower, tree growing is a much 

 simpler matter than in Southern Al- 

 berta. In fact if one leaves out of ac- 

 count the probable injury from in- 

 sects, the establishment of a shelter 

 belt in Manitoba and Southern Sas- 

 katchewan is, provided the proper 

 varieties are used and soil properly 

 prepared, a . comparatively easv mat- 

 ter. 



As to varieties, the ones generally 

 used are Manitoba maple, green ash, 

 American elm. Russian poplar, Cot- 

 tonwood and Russian willows. We 

 have other varieties which are very 

 useful for ornamental purposes, such 

 as birch and mountain ash, and which 

 would also do well in shelter belts if 

 young plants could be secured in suf- 

 ficient quantities at a reasonable cost. 

 Among the conifers, the Scotch, 

 lodgepole and jack pines, the white 

 spruce and Colorado spruce and tam- 

 arac are hardy everywhere. The bal- 

 sam fir, black spruce, mountain dwarf 

 pine, Cembra or Swiss stone pine, 

 Euro])can larch and Siberian larch 

 are (|uite hardy, but more useful for 

 ornamental work, either owing to 

 their habit of growth or to the difiFi- 

 culty of securing young stock. 



In igoT the Dominion government 

 commenced a system of co-operative 

 tree planting whidi has worked out 

 very well and has become very popu- 

 lar among the farmers on the prai- 

 ries. At that time, however, the 

 Forestry Branch had many things to 

 contend with : the general impression 

 was that trees could not be grown, 

 and for several reasons considerable 

 dif-rii^v was experienced in gt'tting 



any farmers to start in on shelter 

 belt work There was a little oppo- 

 sition on the part of the nurserymen, 

 which subsequent results prove to 

 have been very short sighted on their 

 part, as there is no doubt that the 

 work of the Forestry -Branch has 

 enormously increased the general in- 

 terest in tree planting and horticul- 

 ture generally, and consequently 

 greatly widened the demand for all 

 kinds of nursery stock, more especi- 

 ally in fruits, ornamental shrubs and 

 perennials. 



From the plantations established 

 on the Experimental Farms and the 

 few private plantations that had sur- 

 vived, it was seen that certain 

 methods gave good results, while if 

 these methods were not followed 

 failure was practically certain. 



The Forestry Branch decided to 

 supply trees to any farmer free of 

 charge and express paid, provided 

 that certain conditions were complied 

 with. The conditions wore: 



T. That the ground be prn])erly 

 ])repared before planting. 



2. That the trees be planted ac- 

 cording to the ]'lan sui^]>lied by the 

 (le]iartment. 



3. That the ground set <nit in trees 

 l)e maintained as a iiermanent shelter 

 belt and be pr(-«perly fenced and cul- 

 tivated. 



There is no (|uestion that the most 

 imp(»rtant feature with us is the pre- 

 paration of the ground, (^f course, 

 the selection of the varieties is gen- 

 crallv imjiortant. but ;'s the depart- 

 ment sunt^lios the stock that feature 

 is enlirelv controlled. 



