PLANTING TREES ON KANSAS PRAIRIES 31 



well distributed throughout the year adds enthusiasm to the 

 tree planting movement; but one like the past season of 1916, 

 with only 16.01 inches rainfall and only 5.3 inches of this 

 amount after June first, is exactly the opposite and requires a 

 great amount of optimism and persistence. Trees 12 and 15 years 

 old which have been thrifty, well established and well cared 

 for have died in the one season. Then further, the idea that 

 the trees raised are not worth raising puts out of the running 

 many who have become accustomed to the tall stately tree of 

 the timber regions from which they came. It is hard to con- 

 vince them that the low topped, bushy growth is best adapted 

 and is really a tree ; that it must serve at least as the forerunner 

 of the more stately type. Such are the prejudices which must be 

 overcome. 



Winds are perhaps as limiting a factor to tree growth as any 

 other. There is no question as to their effect upon tree forms 

 and plant life. A tree grown in the open is almost certain to 

 become one sided, and even when grown where partially protected 

 shows the one sided effect distinctly. Besides, the winds during 

 the growing season, of a dry year especially, are hot and drying 

 and evaporation is extreme. For these reasons the low headed 

 bushy tree is the best type adapted to the region. The success 

 of the tree planting movement, therefore, depends largely upon 

 the development of wind and drought resistant varieties. 



The greatest education needed is, as in any forestry movement, 

 that of the care of the tree. If it is important to cultivate, 

 water and care for tree plantings in more favorable climates, it 

 is doubly important in the prairie state. Vegetation which does 

 exists, exists because of its very ruggedness and ability to with- 

 stand hard usage. It will take a tree of the same type to bat- 

 tle against it, and there are few species which will do so without 

 help. With help much can be accomplished. Species which have 

 been found to withstand conditions best are : White elm, Norway 

 Poplar, Honey Locust, Kentucky Coffee tree, Tamarix (shrub 

 and hedgeplant), Osage orange, Russian Mulberry, Russian Olive, 

 Redbud, Cottonwood, Hackberry, Chinese Arborvitae, Red Cedar 

 (Juniperus Virginiania) Austrian pine and Yellow pine. 



The best trees are those which have been longest cared for. 

 A public park maintained by the Fort Hays Experiment Station, 

 which has been planted between 10 and 12 years, has been 

 kept under thorough cultivation. The trees have made a re- 

 markable growth and now stand as excellent examples of what 

 can be accomplished with care. Another plantation of Catalpa 

 (Catalpa speciosa), now n years old, has produced between 250 

 and 300 fence posts on i^ acres, the posts averaging about 4 

 inches top diameter. While such may be only scattering exam- 



