Wyoming Experiment Station. 



darkened by dense forests, and whose alpine summits are ef- 

 fulgent with eternal snows. These physical characters show 

 the course that nature has pursued in producing what we now 

 call Wyoming. Results, as they are in a state of nature, do 

 not show all that they may be under man's direction, but they 

 do suggest some things that may not be. Many forms of plant 

 life that we know once flourished here, unable to meet the 

 changing climatic conditions of the passing geological ages, 

 were gradually crowded out by the hardier and more plastic 

 forms which were developing under the new environment. 

 The vegetation of the State is what it is by reason of climatic 

 and soil conditions. Under man's direction and care, it is alto- 

 gether possible to materially increase this vegetation both in 

 quantity and variety. The increase in variety, however, must 

 come largely by introducing plants from localities where ap- 

 proximately similar environments appertain. If nature has 

 left in Wyoming but three pines, two spruces, two firs, two 

 junipers, one oak, five cottonwbods, and among the small or 

 shrub-like trees, two birches, some willows, a few hawthorns, 

 a buffalo berry and a few others, it would be idle to hope that 

 a miscellaneous lot of lowland and Southern forms can even be 

 made to live, much less to flourish, in even the most favorable 

 localities. Our choice of trees for planting is, therefore, lim- 

 ited to a comparatively small number of species, enough, how- 

 ever, -so that, by judicious selection and combination, a pleasing 

 variety 'may be secured. 



A' 'word of caution to those who contemplate planting: 

 Take into consideration the altitude, the average temperature, 

 the extremes of temperature and the amount of water avail- 

 able. Make choice of trees for planting accordingly. Ex- 

 periment, if you will, but, where results are wanted with cer- 

 tainty, follow lines that experience has showed to be safe. The 

 nurserymen's catalogue is filled with many alluring pictures, 

 and the agent describes them in the most glowing terms. Val- 

 uable novelties may, of course, be introduced from time to time, 



