38 



A few representative measurements in lowland or watered situa- 

 tions follow : 



Growth of valley or watered j/rcen axlt. 



RED CEDAR. 



Native red cedar occurs scatteringly throughout the State. It seems 

 supremely indifferent to conditions of climate, soil, or moisture. It 

 grows in limestone, sandstone, shale, or clay formations. Sometimes 

 it is found on the face of a rock held only by a few roots penetrating 

 the crevices, and, again, with cottonwoods and willows along a sandy 

 stream where water is within 5 feet of the surface. It cares for 

 neither cold nor heat; and, under like conditions of soil and moisture, 

 grows nearly as fast without cultivation as with it. This extreme 

 hardiness and adaptability fit it for planting anywhere on the Plains. 

 It matters little how unfavorable the situation, the planter may feel 

 confident that red cedar will live and make a tree some time, if he 

 gets it transplanted successfully. The growth may not average more 

 than 8 inches in height and one-fifth of an inch in diameter yearly, 

 for the cedar seems to realize that it has centuries in which to make 

 its sturdy way. It is the longest-lived tree in the list, and should be 

 planted only where a permanent tree is wanted. 



So far, in western Kansas, red cedar has been used somewhat for 

 ornament, but very little for any other purpose. It will make an 

 excellent shelterbelt in time, equally good in winter and summer. It 

 might well be one of the components of a mixed plantation, ready to 

 attain its full development after its shorter-lived and more rapid- 

 growing associates have served their purpose and been removed. It 

 does well mixed with cottonwood, the shade of which is not too dense 

 for it. In some of the old cottonwood groves of the Platte Valley 

 red cedar is coming in by hundreds through the agency of birds. 

 There is some danger, however, in planting the red cedar in the 

 vicinity of an apple orchard. The ball of yellow fungus growth, the 

 '" cedar apple," is one stage of the apple-leaf spot, and apple trees are 

 likely to be infected from the cedar. The writer has heard no corn- 

 car. 161.] 



