2^2 Evergreens for the Western Prairies. 



lock, white cedar, and tamarack or American larch : which latter, so far as 

 the wood is concerned, may be classed with the pines and cedars ; but it is 

 not an evergreen. I mention the larch in this connection, because I shall 

 have occasion to refer to it hereafter. Many of the above evergreens are 

 valuable for ornament, for shelter, and for timber. All succeed as well in 

 the prairie soil as on the hills and plains of the East. The Norway pine 

 is very scarce, and by many esteemed very high. For my part, for beauty 

 and utility, I should choose the white pine. I have seen many of them, 

 which were planted on the prairie land, that had grown two feet in height per 

 year for five to fifteen years, spreading and stocky, and no doubt will con- 

 tinue that rate of growth for many years to come. I have seen some that 

 grew over four feet in one season. The hemlock is very beautiful, and 

 makes a beautiful screen. The fir is also beautiful. The American spruce 

 is too slow of growth. White and red cedar are only fit for shrubs, low 

 trees, and screens, by trimming down. All these varieties transplant well 

 when they are carefully handled; never letting the roots dry the leasts either by 

 sun or air. They also need shading the first summer, and mulching. 



I have found it more profitable, as a retail nursery-man, to get my ever- 

 greens of the wholesale nurseries, than to get those from the woods, at less 

 than half the price. Another great advantage in buying of the nurseries 

 is, that we can get some very valuable European varieties. Norway spruce 

 and Scotch pine are indispensable in a collection of evergreens. I have 

 seen the Norway spruce and the Scotch pine, with their branches spread- 

 ing twenty-five feet in twelve years, and their tops about that height, a 

 thick and beautiful pyramid from the ground up. What perfect wind-breaks 

 and snow-fences these trees are ! Our people are fast learning to appreci- 

 ate them, and they have drained our nurseries. 



But, thanks to the wisely-directed efforts of some of our Western nursery- 

 men, while some are importing small evergreens largely from Europe, 

 others are sowing the seeds by the bushel and by the acre here in oiu' own 

 country, and succeeding beyond all former efforts in this way in the United 

 States. The first week in August, I visited the nurseries of Robert Douglas, 

 Esq., of W^aukegan, 111., thirty-six miles north of Chicago, on the lake. He 

 had seed-beds by the acre, and evergreens by the million. The seed had 

 come up very evenly. He had learned that nice and difficult trade of 



