native of the highest and driest points of the Black Hills 

 that is wholly adapted to our open prairies, and also a spruce 

 that is perfectly hardy and valuable for lawn planting every- 

 where in the state. 



Plate i, the frontispiece of this bulletin, shows young 

 scattered specimens of the Black Hills pine growing on high 

 dry upland near Hot Springs in the southwest corner county 

 of the state. 



The attention of the U. S. Forest Service has been di- 

 rected to the Black Hills pine in recent years and much seed 

 has been collected by members of the Forest Service for 

 planting in government experiments in tree-planting in the 

 Sand Hill region of western Nebraska. 



Some of our western nurserymen also have begun the 

 work of gathering and growing these native South Dakota 

 conifers in preference to those coming from the mild moist 

 climate of western Europe; from the sheltered swamps of 

 northern Wisconsin and Minnesota; from the balmy slopes 

 of the Pacific coast; from the moisture-laden air of the 

 Atlantic coast or from the forests of the sunny south. In 

 the frequently occurring test winters, the influence of environ- 

 ment acting through thousands of years makes itself mani- 

 fest: and only those inured to climates similar to ours will 

 remain to comfort the planter. 



Geo. H. Whiting, Yankton, S. D., who has made several 

 trips to the Black Hills, has told the State Horticultural 

 Society of finding the Black Hills pine in quantity on very 

 high dry points and that wherever, the forest fires were 

 kept out the elevated plateaus soon become densely covered 

 with a young growth It is a remarkable drouth-resistant 

 tree. Near Piedmont he found the Black Hills form of the 

 white spruce. In comparing the Black Hills spruce with 

 the same species as found native in Wisconsin, Michigan, 

 and farther east, Mr. Whiting reports: "This Black Hills 

 type is more of a stocky, sturdy grower and somewhat 

 slower in its growth. Its foliage is of a darker shade and 



