Notes and Gleanings. 247 



suppose seedlings to be more hardy than grafted fruit; but I do not find such to 

 be the case. Out of five hundred seedlings, I have not more than eight or ten 

 as hardy as the kinds enumerated : besides, there is an uncertainty in getting 

 productive trees or good fruit from seedlings. 



"The next thing in order is the preparation of the soil. If it is designed to 

 set trees on prairie with a clay subsoil, which most of our prairies have, it should 

 be ploughed at least a foot deep in order to make a better and firmer soil for the 

 trees ; the surface soil alone being too loose and peaty, and giving too soft and 

 sappy a growth to the trees. I think it best to set the trees about three inches 

 deeper than they grew in the nursery ; and they should be well cultivated until 

 about the middle of July, when cultivation should cease in order to let the trees 

 ripen up for winter. 



" About the time the ground freezes, there should be an inch or two of barn- 

 yard-manure spread about the roots in order to prevent dry-freezing, which de- 

 stroys great numbers of young trees and shrubs on the prairies. I have lost 

 quite a number of young trees from this cause. It is also best to set the trees 

 leaning somewhat to the south-west, as they generally do better when set in this 

 manner than w!ien perpendicular. Refore winter sets in, each tree should have 

 the trunk wound with a rope made of prairie-hay, which is an eiTectual preven- 

 tive against injury by rabbits, and also prevents the bursting of the bark of the 

 tree. This bursting of the bark seriously injures the tree, and various expe- 

 dients are resorted to to prevent it. Some nail a piece of siding on the south 

 side of the tree; others tie a few cornstalks around the tree. Either will do some 

 good ; but a hay-rope is best : it should be removed in the spring. 



" It is a good plan to raise corn in the orchard every year, and to leave the 

 stalks standing until the next spring, as they help to keep the snow on the 

 ground and prevent deep freezing. If a part of the orchard is set with currant- 

 bushes or black-cap raspberries, they will answer the same purpose, and will 

 be found profitable. At the time the orchard is set, a screen should be planted 

 on the north and west sides. A row of Scotcli pine set six feet apart, or a row 

 of Norway spruce set four feet apart, will make a beautiful and effective screen 

 by tlie time the trees come into bearing, if given good cultivation ; and young 

 trees can be bought by the thousand very cheap. A good and cheaper screen 

 can be made by plinting two or three rows of the acorns of the common black 

 or scrub-oak, which retains its leaves all winter, and with good cultivation will 

 grow rapidly. Fruit-trees in this region should always be planted out in the 

 spring, as they are much more likely to live than when set out in the fall. An 

 important consideration is to set good trees. The best I have, and the best I 

 have seen, came from Wisconsin. From some cause, Eastern trees do not suc- 

 ceed so well here. They are grown too closely in the nursery, and have long, 

 naked stems : no fruit-tree for the prairie should have a naked trunk of more 

 than two feet. 



" I have experimented somewhat with pears, as I have a great desire to grow 

 them : but my efforts have not been successful ; and, without having had one 

 pear, my trees are now all dead. I have also tested several vaiieties of plums, 

 but find none that will pay for cultivation. They are all too tender here except 



