1124 



OHIO 



OKLAHOMA 



the stata, in most localities the products being for the 

 home demand only, but large concerns at Painesville, 

 Calla, Springfield and Dayton have an immense ship- 



Eing trade of plants, the mailing trade being particu- 

 irly 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 Strauch. 



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 foreign 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, HOETICULTUEAL POSSIBILITIES 



OF. Fig. 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 of 



the country is rolling prairie, with 



numerous small rivers and creeks 



flowing east. The longer streams are 



wide, shallow, and very sandy. The 



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 post-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 part only brush 



and small trees are found. The soil is usually a fine 



sand, the particles lying very compactly. 



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

 prairies were burned off each year. This kept the soil 

 poor in humus. There is very little clay soil in the terri- 

 tory except along the small streams, the bottomlands of 

 which contain considerable clay. The soil is fertile and 

 contains a good supply of plant-food. The subsoil is 

 very compact, usually joint-clay, where the surface soil 

 is a black or gray color; but the 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- 



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

 dant. 



The extremes of temperature between summer and 

 winter are great. In some places the temperature 

 reaches zero during the most severe storms of winter. 

 Except during occasional storms, the winter is mild and 

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

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

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

 mer a maximum of 100 F. is frequently reached. The 

 high temperature is nearly always accompanied by a 

 dry wind. In the hottest weather the nights are cool 

 and refreshing. The average mean temperature is 

 about 60. The wind is a prominent factor in the climate 

 of Oklahoma. The prevailing wind is from the south 

 during most of the year. The air is dry, and the wind 

 and hot sun dry the soil rapidly. The rainfall usually 

 is light during July and August, and the warm, dry 

 winds from the south and southwest make this the most 

 trying season for vegetation. The wind is so strong and 

 constant that it does considerable damage to young trees 

 and vines unless they are protected by some form of 

 wind-break. Many snow and rain storms are accom- 

 panied by hard winds, which are seldom destructive. 



The average annual rainfall for the territory 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, shape and location 

 from year to year. The line of average equal rainfall 

 runs almost north and south, bearing to the west in the 

 southern part of the territory. The winter and late 

 summer are dry. Light snows fall during January, 

 February and March, but usually melt in two or three 

 days. Snow storms seldom reach the southern portion, 

 and are light when they do. The rain and snow storms, 

 almost without exception, travel from west and north to 

 east and south. They travel very rapidly and last only 

 a short time; the heaviest rains last only a few hours. 

 Slow rains are rare, and come only during the colder 



1519. Geographical features of Oklahoma. 



part of the year. In 1897 there were about 250 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 

 breeze. 



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 



