Tree Planting in the West. 157 



seeded down to grass. It is desired to make this part of the 

 grounds as attractive as possible in order to impress visitors 

 with the beautifying effect of trees and shrubs when planted 

 round otherwise unattractive buildings. The absence of any- 

 thing of this nature is one of the most prominent features on the 

 majority of prairie farms, in some cases from indifference but 

 in most owing to the general impression that a great deal of skill 

 and labor are necessary to produce a good eftect, whereas only 

 the most elementary principles of plant life have to be observed 

 and the labor entailed is surprisingly small compared to the 

 result obtained and the additional value of a property when the 

 grounds are neatly and attractively laid out. 



The varieties of trees principally grow^n for distribution are 

 the native maple or box elder and the native green ash ; besides 

 these the native elm and white birch are grown from seed in 

 smaller quantities, Russian poplars and willows from cuttings. 

 A small number of conifers have been raised from seed each year, 

 principally the native white spruce and Scotch pine. Other 

 varieties such as Jack pine, Pinus cembra, Pinus ponderosa, 

 Pinus flexilis, Colorado blue spruce (Picea pimgens), balsam 

 fir, Norway spruce and European larch are also being tried. 

 The Colorado blue spruce, judging from specimens grown on the 

 Experimental farm and individuals seen elsewhere, is a most 

 promising tree for the North West. 



The conifers are grown under a completely different method 

 to that used for raising the broad leaf varieties. The seed of 

 the latter is sown in such a manner that as much of the sub- 

 sequent cultivation as possible may be done with horses. Drills 

 are made, with a horse cultivator, 30 inches apart, and in these 

 the seed is sown by hand, the drills being covered in again by a 

 harrow toothed cultivator. The horse cultivator is used among 

 the seedlings all summer and in the fall a tree digger is employed 

 for the removal of the crop. Comparatively little hand work is 

 employed as in this country land is comparatively cheap so that 

 at present there is no advantage in growing the seedlings more' 

 thickly, horse labor is not so expensive as in some other countries 

 and laborers' wages are very high. Conifer seeds are sown in 

 very carefully prepared seed beds ;md the young plants pro- 

 tected by lath screens for two years. When two years old the 

 seedlings are transplanted to rows, the rows are made about 10 

 inches apart and the plants set 3 to 4 inches apart in the row. 

 Cultivation between the rows is done with the double wheel 

 hand hoe. The seedlings remain in the transplanting rows two 

 years and are then ready to set out in permanent plantation. 

 The manual labor entailed in sowing, weeding and transplanting 

 coniferous seedlings together with the length of time they must 

 remain in the nursery, makes the raising of this class of stock. 



