1124 OHIO 



the state, in most localities the products being for tlio 

 home demand only, but large concerns at Painesville, 

 Calla, Springfield and Dayton have an immense ship- 

 ping trade of plants, the mailing trade being particu- 

 larly large. Cut-flowers are grown in considerable 

 quantities also, the principal centers being Cleveland 

 and Cincinnati. Large nursery centers exist at Paines- 

 ville, on the lake shore, and in the Miami valley, near 

 Dayton and Troy. The stock grown in these and other 

 nurseries of the state consists mainly of fruit trees and 

 small fruit plants. Ornamental trees and plants are 

 grown in comparatively limited quantities, for the rea- 

 son that landscape gardening and ornamental planting 

 have not been given due attention. More or less pre- 

 tentious park systems are in a state of development in 

 some of the larger cities, Cincinnati, Cleveland and 

 Toledo leading in this respect. A number of cemeteries 

 show considerable care in maintenance and some skill 

 in planting, but well-arranged private grounds are rare. 

 Spring Grove cemetery, in Cincinnati, was one of the 

 first large landscape cemeteries in the world. Mount 

 Auburn, in Cambridge, was the first rural cemetery in 

 this country. See Landscape Gardening and SIraiicJi. 



While landscape art is in a rather backward condition 

 within the state, there is quite a fund of accumulated 

 knowledge regarding the adaptability of species and 

 varieties of trees and plants to this climate. It would 

 be too broad a statement to say that foreigii species do 

 not succeed here, but so many have been disappointing 

 that there seems to be little of any value left. Fortu- 

 nately there is an abundance of suitable material in our 

 own and neighboring states. 



Ohio is a great agricultural state, and this fact has 

 somewhat retarded horticultural development, but, on 

 the other hand, large manufacturing interests have had, 

 and will continue to have, the opposite effect, and Ohio 

 will in the near future take high rank as a horticul- 

 tural state. W. J. Green. 



OKLAHOMA, HOBTICULTUBAL POSSIBILITIES 



OF. Pig. 1519. The northern boundary of Oklahoma 

 is 37° north latitude. The southern 

 boundary is an irregular line, but 

 does not extend far south of the 35th 

 parallel. Except a small strip which 

 extends to the 103d meridian, most of 

 the territory lies between 96° 30' west 

 and 100° west longitude. The greater 

 portion of the country has an altitude 

 of 800 to 1,400 feet. The surface ( 

 the country is rolling prairie, 

 numerous small rivers and creeks 

 flowing east. The longer streams 

 wide, shallow, and very sandy. 

 shorter streams are narrow and have 

 high, steep banks. In the eastern 

 half there are considerable areas 

 covered with timber, the greater part 

 of which is black-jack and po.st-oak. 

 Elm, Cottonwood, pecan, hickory, red 

 cedar, walnut, hackberry and honey- 

 locust are common, but do not form 

 separate forests as the oaks do. In 

 the western part timber belts follow 

 the streams, and in the extreme western p 

 and small trees are found. The soil is 

 sand, the particles lying very compactly. 



Previous to the settlement of the country, in 1889, the 

 prairies were burned off eaoh ye.ar. This kept the soil 

 poorinhumus. There is v.i-\- little rl:ivsoil in the terri- 

 tory except along the sill !! • . iii: 1.,. Iiottuiiilands of 

 which contain consiibiM! i i -,:i| is fii-tile and 



contains a good supply , TIil- subsoil is 



very compact, usually jiiiii! > i i; , ..lni.' ilii- surface soil 

 is a black or gray color; Imt tin- red or brown loam sur- 

 face soil is usually underlaid with a more loose and 

 mellow subsoil. The black and gray soils are usually 

 found at greater altitudes, and are seldom covered with 

 timber. Often these soils contain large quantities of 

 alkali, and the well and spring water in such localities is 

 very poor. Stone is abundant in some sections and 

 very scarce in others, but there is not enough surface 

 rock to be a factor in controlling the amount of till- 



OKLAHO-MA 



able land. Red and gray sandstone are the most abun- 

 dant. 



The extremes of temperature between simnnor and 

 winter are great. In some places the ti-niperatum 

 reaches zero during the most severe storms of winter. 

 Except during occasional storms, the winter is mild an<l 

 usually dry. A snowfall of inore than six inches in depth 

 is arre, and soon melts. Plowing and other such farm 

 work may be done nearly all winter. During the sutn- 

 raer amaximum of 100° P. is frc(|u. iiiK hiImiI, M'Iio 

 high temperature is nearly alw:i\- i. ! hy a 



dry wind. In the hottest weathir i n 1 



and refreshing. The avora^o im , ,■ is 



Till 



!,ni'l"L"sinl','l,-v;h.^Mi',l ,M, ' "' I i' ,\u'U llsutllly 

 is Imlii iliiriM- -hilv ;ui,l \ , . i, ,i,nl III,, warm, dry 



w iii'l I l.r ,,1,1 I, :,;i,l ...iilliwrst UKlkc tlils thc niost 



ii , ,,,,,, , i,,ii. 'I'll.' wind is so strong and 



I :, I I i nil riilili- damage to young trees 



;iii,i ■III,- mil,--- III, \ :iri- proiccted by some form of 

 wiud-lin-ak. Jhiiiy snow and rain storms are accom- 

 panied by hard winds, which are seldom destructive. 



The average annual rainfall for the territorv is about 

 30 in. For the eastern half it is about 33 in., and gradu- 

 ally decreases to about 20 in. in the extreme western 

 part. The rainfall for any one year varies greatly in 

 different localities, and these areas of light and heavy 

 precipitation are variable in size, sh.ipe and loc:iti<iii 

 from year to vear. The line of !iver:i,!.'i. equal rainfall 

 runs aim. .St n..rtli aii.l s.nnli. Imiimhj i,, ih.- west in the 

 southern part ..f tin- l.i i i I miiTand lato 



summer ar.- .Irv. Li^'lii - i , i nm;,' .January, 



February a 11.1 .■\Iari'li, imt ii-i,i|-, , ■ i , iw.. ..r llireo 

 days. .S'li.nv sl.irms si-l.l.iiii narli li ■ ' , , , |,,,rli,,ii, 



and are li^'lit wli.-ii ilii-y .1... 'I'li.-nn nins, 



almost witlliillt .'X.'.-|.li..li, Irax-.'l l r,,iii , , I I ,1 I li to 

 east and si.iitli. Tliey travel v.-ry i;i[iMl\ ,iii,l I i i .uily 



Slow rains are rare, and come only duimg the cokUr 



1519. Gcoeraphical leati 



if Oklahoma. 



ally a fine 



part of the year. In 1897 there were about 2."i0 days of 

 sunshine, which is about the average. There is very 

 little dark, foggy weather ; and heavy dews, though 

 common, are much lightened by the almost constant 



The flora of Oklahoma may be said to be a mixture 

 of the floras of Kansas and Texas, there being few spe- 

 cies found here that are not found in one or both of 

 these states. The predominance of yellow flowers is 

 one of its most prominent characteristics. The botani- 

 cal collections of the country are far from complete, 

 but are complete enough to justify the statement that 

 the flora is not a very extensive one. The number of 

 perennial species is very small, and only a small por- 

 tion of these are trees. The trees are usually low and 

 much branched, and give a poor quality of lumber, 

 which is, no doubt, partly due to the annual burning, 

 and neither represents the quality or quantity of tim- 

 ber which the country is capable of producing when 



