44 



Canadian Forestry Journal, Mar.-Apr., 1912. 



rains, unless in the case of thunderstorms, 

 are almost always from the north.) 



From an agricultural point of view all 

 these matters are important, and farmers in 

 the different localities are rapidly learning 

 to meet the local conditions ; but they are 

 far more important from the point of view 

 of the silviculturist, for the farmer may 

 change his methods every year to suit the 

 seasons, liut when a man plants a tree it may 

 be years liefore he finds out if it is really 

 adapted to the locality. If the occasional 

 showers are continued until late in the sea- 

 son, tree growth is carried on corresponding- 

 ly late into the fall, and if the first fall frost 

 happens to be a little early, then the young 

 tree-shoots get badly frozen, and the owner 

 of the plantation is badly disappointed. 

 Add to this the fact that, in the passing of 

 the centuries, there has been added to the 

 soil a goodly layer of humus from the decay 

 of the grasses, which naturally took on a 

 greater growth as a result of the additional 

 rainfall. Humus encourages rank growth; 

 rank growth is usually late growth, and 

 there is an additional risk of the young tree- 

 shoots being unprepared for the winter, and 

 the consequent danger of being hurt by the 

 early frosts. Thus it is that the very rich- 

 ness of the soil may be an adverse condition 

 to growing trees, and in the 'higher regions' 

 many of the trees so successfully grown fur- 

 ther out on the prairie are found to be quite 

 unsuitable. When this ' autumn killing ' oc- 

 curs several years in succession, the would- 

 be tree-grower gets discouraged, and small 

 wonder if he sometimes even gives up his 

 attempts in despair. 



The Ash and the Elm. 



The ash, the hardiest of the trees used 

 in the plantations on the prairie, in this 

 region very seldom commences its growth 

 from the terminal bud of the previous year, 

 and as a consequence it develops a habit 

 more resembling a sweeping-broom than any- 

 thing else. 



The elm is somewhat similar, and, like the 

 ash, is not at all suitable for general plant- 

 ing; while the maple always lofes from a 

 few inches to several feet of its growth every 

 year, and becomes a veritable bush. The 

 Cottonwood, notorious for its soft succulent 

 growth, is perhaps the greatest sufferer, and 

 in a few of the plantations in the region 

 specified it is nothing better than a bunch 

 of root-shoots, half of which are dead, and 

 in one case, some years ago, trees seven to 

 eight feet high were killed outright, root 

 and branch. 



This is perhaps not to be wondered at 

 when one comes to remember that none of 

 these varieties are native to the region under 

 consideration. They are found in the river 

 bottoms all over the prairie to the east, but 

 they never seem to have been able to climb 

 the last sharp rise towards the mountains. 

 The ash comes no further west than the 



Cypress Hills, south of Maple Creek, while 

 the Cottonwood and maple are found no fur- 

 ther than a few miles west of Lethbridge. 



The Poplar and the Willow. 



Two Russian vaiioties have, however, been 

 found doing well in this district, and there 

 is no reason why anyone should hesitate 

 about planting on account of trees being 

 likely to suffer from frost-hurt. These are 

 the sharp-leaved willow {Halix acutifolia), 

 and one of the poplars (Populus Petrofski). 

 The willow is doing well on the high land 

 near Cardston, and in the Porcupine Hills 

 west of Staveley, at the Oxley ranche, are 

 several good specimens of both willow and 

 poplar twenty-four feet high and about six- 

 teen years old. 



There is also a fine seven-year-old planta- 

 tion with Russian poplars about thirteen 

 miles east of Didsbury, and it is very inter- 

 esting to note the contrast between them 

 and the cottonwood in the next row beside 

 them. The poplars are from twelve to six- 

 teen feet high, sound to the tips, — and have 

 to all appearance begun each year 's growth 

 from the terminal biul of the year before, 

 while the cottonwoods are bushy from re- 

 peated freezings, and half of the stems com- 

 posing the bushes are dead. The tallest is 

 only about seven and a half feet. The dif- 

 ference in the two kinds of trees will not 

 be wondered at when it is remembered that 

 the Russian poplar matures about two weeks 

 earlier than the cottonwood. There is also 

 a plantation with a fine lot of Russian pop- 

 lars about ten miles east of Calgary and 

 four miles southeast of Shepard, which is 

 beginning to make its appearance over the 

 intervening ridges as one comes up on the 

 C.P.R. 



The Russian poplar is not the most desir- 

 able tree for general planting, as its roots 

 have a tendency to throw up suckers, and 

 it may in time become very objectionable 

 from this cause ; but in a treeless country 

 it is better to have a tree that suckers and 

 will grow and make a rapid shelter than one 

 that is continually freezing back. If the 

 Russian poplar is placed well towards the 

 inside of the i)lantation, there need be little 

 trouble from suckering in cultivated land 

 adjoining, or it may be planted in narrower 

 belts w'here the land is not intended to be 

 croppeil. Another objectionable feature 

 about the Russian poplar is its tendency to 

 contract stem-canker, and the variety with 

 the erect branches and leaves with wavy 

 edges (probably Populus certinensis) is par- 

 ticularly unfortunate in this respect. Popu- 

 lus Petrofski and Populus Wohstii, with 

 spreading lu'anches and thick leaves, are 

 pretty free from trouble of this sort, and 

 they are good sound trees in the older plan- 

 tations at the Indian Head and Brandon 

 Experimental Farms. 



When the tree is left alone fot nature to 

 prune, there would seem to be little danger 

 of this sort of trouble ; but when a man 



