NORTH DAKOTA 



NORTH DAKOTA 



109.- 



aples giving 



per cent on the average, with i 

 high as .30 per cent. 



General Climatic Co«i2it(0)is.— The winters are cold 

 but dry and agreeable. An occasional winter with too 

 much sunshine kills young trees of the thin-barked va- 

 rieties through the process of desiccation. 



The springs are short, the warm days of summer com- 

 ing very soon after winter and some time before the frost 

 is out of the ground. In summer the days are long and 

 sunny, with nights invariably 

 cool. This condition gives the 



most perfect development of io+' ,oj- , 



hardy vegetables, like the c:ib- 

 bage and celery, but retards 

 the cncnrbits .ind other spini 



tropii-nl "I i.-. At tl,.. -Mil.- 



tinuMl- <■■" ■■ ii-' '■■'■■ - i.i^.i.i,-,. 



beet ami -'o, . . 1 ■■•■nx L-nr ;, ^^■r^ 

 high sugar .■uMt..nt. 



The fall is usually dry and 

 very pleasant, favorable to the 

 maturing of woody plants, but 

 rather liable to frosts. The 

 ground freezes permanently 

 about November 10. 



JiVuiV-i/roKiHjr. — General set- 

 tlement of what is now North 

 Dakota did not begin till the 

 building of the first railroad in 

 1873, and any effort to grow 

 fruit has been made since that 

 time. In 1874 Andrew McHench, 

 of Fargo, made the first attempt 

 at fruit-growing upon any ex- 

 tended scale. In that year he 

 bought, at a nursery in Minne- 

 apolis, a car-load of young apple 

 and crab trees of such varieties 

 as the Wealthy. Hyslop, Trans- 

 cenileiit. »■?»■, :iii'l the 



size are the bur oak and white elm in the eastern part 

 of the state, and Cottonwood and green ash in the western. 

 The box elder, linden, aspen and hackberry are about the 

 only other trees commonly found. The red cedar is found 

 to some extent along the Little Missouri. In establish- 

 ing tree plantations, the white ash, white willow, box 

 elder and Cottonwood are the trees usually employed. 

 With reasonable cultivation it is not difiicult to obtain a 

 thrifty, rapid growth of these. In proportion to the trees 



1494. North Dakota, to show 



physioeraphical featurt 





Til. 



i of these and other varie- 

 tained some fruit and at 

 it were models of thrift 



shortly after the 



different men made along the Red 

 have resulted similarly. In otlirr . ■ 

 particularly the Missouri slo|» . • 

 growing have been more succts - 1 

 cially to less prevalence of blmln. i 

 make the prophecy, but it seem.-, i. .i 

 irrigation the southwestern part of 

 time, become the apple region. Even 

 there are already indications of sucee 

 The strawberry does not thrive- in tl 

 and winds of North l):ik-i:i. imI Mm M 



L'sst'uUy resisted the cold win- 

 blight (Bacillus amylomrus) 

 ito bearing. Other attempts by 



•alU'V since then 

 i-ii^ mI' Mil/ state, 

 .11 npple- 



.uii.il>lc that with 

 the state will, in 

 vithout irrigation 



e strong sunshine 

 M-kberry finds the 

 1 1 rrants grow and 

 i ties of the rasp- 

 I rapes have never 

 il if their cultiva- 



but few vegetables that 

 : and rhnaplv. This is 



,„.. .,.,,-.„i;.«, etc., that 

 ' - !..,,- ..„OUgh 



■■iM , .. , . •..,! alwavs 

 M i.! . - !- worked 



been thorou-lil-- mm i m ; ; 



cannot be pimmm.. ,, , .inMi.ni 



particularly triu- ..1 .t-l.r>. .. 



reiiuire a deep, mellow soil. '1 



for the earlier sorts of com, li 



ripen before frost. Theeasewi 



and the fact that no fertilizer i- rijuiiM-i iMriui-es the 



cost of production to the minimum. 



The Flora.— So far as collected, the flora of North 

 Dakota includes about 600 spermaphytes and vascular 

 cryptogams running through 80 families. The grass 

 family is by far the prevailing one, though the compos- 

 ites present the largest number of species. About 85 

 grasses have already been collected. Forests are found 

 only along streams and in the broken areas south of 

 Devil's Lake and in the Tnrtle and Pembina mountains. 

 The number of species of trees is very limited. The 

 more prominent of the trees as regards distribution and 



the number of shrubs is large and, besides several of the 

 commoner kinds of the Middle States, includes such 

 striking species as Shepherdia argentea and Elmagnus 

 argentea. Bosa blanda is found everywhere in great 

 profusion, exhibiting a variety of exquisite colorings. 

 Aside from the grasses the compositse are most in evi- 

 dence, and throughout the summer and fall the bright 

 colors of Gaillardia, Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Liatris, sun- 

 flowers and asters make a profusion of gaiety. The 

 legumes, too, are very common, the bright Petalostemons 

 and Astragalus adding much to the showiness and rich- 

 ness of the landscape. The high nitrogen content of the 

 soil is probably due in large measure to the prevalence 

 of the Amorphas and vetches. The prairie fires that 

 swept over the state annually for many hundred years 

 have doubtless greatly modified the flora. As a result, 

 the indigenous flora had very few annuals or plants with 

 perennial tops, and these only in broken places, or along 

 streams where the flres did not penetrate. In the west- 

 ern part of the state insufficient moisture would account 

 for lack of forests. The remains of large trees in pet- 

 refactions and lignite deposits tell us that in cretaceous 

 times the conifers found a most congenial home, while 

 towards the tertiary period the angiosperms appeared. 



Native if ?-i«7s. — While the wild fruits occupy an in- 

 considerable portion of tho tnf:,! !,i-MTi of 111- -fMtp, yet 



they are important im i'mii Hm- liiiM'-ii n -mimIs of 



families with Hm ;■ iM m i other 



fruit products. A i, i ! i ■ m 'i.r their 



importance woni'l ^•■- it i m- iMll.i' -: i.liin:, I.ulfalo 



berry (Shepherd in «)•</('"'' "), cherry {Pniiuis demissa), 

 grape ( Fitis viilpina) and Juneberry (Amelanchier 

 ulnifolia). The red raspberry and strawberry are also 

 found sparingly. The only plum in the state is P. 

 Americana, and this is found wherever other trees or 

 shrubs grow. It is sometimes conflned to thickets, as in 

 the Middle States, or it may be scattered for miles along 

 with the thorn and Juneberry. It is strongly variable 

 in almost every character except fruitfulness, all forms 

 being decidedly prolific. The shrub rarely grows more 

 than 8 feet high. The fruit generally is of good quality. 



