

■ %■ 



THE ILLKOIS FAMEE. 



BIMBON FRAVCIS, Editor. 



BAILHACHE A BARBR, PmiftsBits. 



FVI. 9. 



J%*OlfEJflSER, 1837. 



Wn». 11. 



Erergreen Trees on the Prairies. 



BY J. P. JAMES. 



The belief is very common, almost universal, 

 that evergreens caunot be mude to iive atid 

 thrive on the prairies. People, who have soiwe 

 t*8te for rural adornment, when asked why thi y 

 do not plant evergreens, will often reply, "its of 

 no use; I have tried them till I r.m entirely ilii^^ 

 coaraged; thej will never grow on the prairiets. ' 

 We will give an illustration oJ these abortive 

 attempts to grow evergreens. Late in October 

 last, the writer, while passing along the street, 

 in the town of Amboy, Illinois, noticed, amen::; 

 other wares exposed for sale upon the sidewaii;, 

 a large lot of evergreen trees. They w re 

 spread out so as to catch the ere of every pa*st-r 

 in the street The roots wen- entirely uupro- 

 lected, exposed to the action of sun and air. 

 People were very bnsy inspecting and puicim?.- 

 ing them, at ''ten cents apiece." On t^xprensing 

 ^to the vender some doubt as t© the propriety oi 

 treating the trees in that manner, he iiiiurmed 

 me that those tree.^ were taken oat of the ground, 

 in Michigan, only last week, and could not poK- 

 sibly be injured yet! Surely evergreen.*^ will 

 never grow on the prairies with such ussgt. 

 People who will buy them because they comr at 

 ten cents deserve to be humbugged. 



But evergreens will grow, they do grow to 

 perfection on these broad savannas; and they 

 may be transplanted, from the nursery, with even 

 more safety and certainly of success than mo*t 

 deciduous trees. The reason ol this is, tiiat 

 when several times transplanted, or root pruned, 

 they will be fouud to have a large inus=< of fibrou.s 

 roots; so that, on taking up the trees, much uior. 

 root may be obtained with the everjj^reeu than 

 with deciduous trees. But the roots are very 

 tender, and if the fibrous roots are (itr^sr roved 

 the tree will die; which is not always the case 

 with deciduous trees. 



A few plain directions, strictly tollovred. wi,i 

 insure complete success with hardy evertrreeus. 

 In the first place, select such trees trom a nur- 

 sery as have been several times iransplanied; 

 they shoald be branched to the ground, and very 

 stocky; observe that they made a good growUi 

 the last year. Such trees will uniformly havo 

 good roots. The trees nmst be taker, from dn: 

 ground very carefully. Thy roo:s being very 

 tender, will not t)ear the rough handling ol care- 

 less hands. If tliey are to be carried but a lew 

 mii^s, in a wagon, if will be sufficient to care- 

 fully envelop the roots i wei si raw. Never al- 

 low the roots to become drv while out of the 



ground; that is the great point. Remember 

 that, while, ii properly treated, they are sure to 

 live as any tree can be, they arc the first to sailer 

 trom neglect. When practicable, they should 

 always be planted out the day they are taken 

 up. i'he ground for planting should have been 

 ih;;ruughly enltivated the yciu b<-tbre. it must 

 iio>v be dseply worked, and completely pulvf-r* 

 ized. ['he earth, in the bottom oi the hole that 

 IS to receive tii« roots, must be fine and meik-w, 

 me roots placed in a natural position, and hue 

 mould filled in closely auiuug them with tiie 

 baud. If I he soil is in good condition to work, 

 no waier need be applied; but, ii the ground is 

 eitlier very dry or very wet, as soon as the roots 

 are covered pour on a paii of water, to settle the 

 eurth around the roots. Fill up the hole, and 

 pre8.> the surlacc firmly with th- feet. The tree 

 should i>e planted just as '.ieep as it stood in tnr 

 ;ir.'und beloie. If. aHri- piauuug, the weatner 

 ?h'ul(l b ■ dry, the ijroHnd muat be of'en iuricU 

 wit, I \\i. ii<jf. li ev.-rar.-eub are piuuled ou the 

 kiwfi,or in sod ground, great caie will bercqu.s- 

 ite to insure success. If planted on the nacurai 

 p.'dirit; sod, a large excavaiiou Biiouid be made, 

 and tiUtd with fine surface soil, with a mixture 

 of leaf mould or rotten chip manure; and, ufier 

 the treei» planted, the ground around should be 

 thoroughly mulched. The best season to plant 

 is as soon as the soil is well warmed, and m good 

 cnnditiou to work, in the spring. I know irom 

 my own personal experience that, with evergreens 

 managed in this manner, there is no such thing as 

 iailure, as 1 have planted, on ray own groucd, 

 several hundred, without ever losing one. 



-4«» 



First illiuois State Agricaitural Society. 



In the summer of 1852, the editor of Ibti, 

 paper and Col. rWm. B. Warren, of Jatk- 

 souvilie, being together^ in JackKouville, a 

 suggestioii was wade in favor of establish- 

 iiig a State Agricuiiural Socie'y. it was 

 agre«^d that a resolution should be iuuo- 

 duced caliing a State Convention lor ibe 

 purpose, at the flr.si meeting of the Sanga- 

 mon County Agricultnral Society. Tuis 

 was done by the editor, received the unaui- 

 mous sane ioii of that Society, and a. C«mi. 

 veulion was calhxl to meet on the third d.iy 

 of the session of the Legislauire iu 1853. 



