370 Canadian Record of Science. 
growing but more valuable trees can be cultivated, and fields 
of grain sheltered from the baneful effects of the drying 
winds. 
If, in the absence of any serious attempts at forest tree 
culture in the North-West, we are still puzzled how to pro- 
ceed there, here, in the Hast, we know beforehand that we 
are bound to succeed, with proper judgment and care. We 
know that every soil here, whatever its nature, can grow 
some kind or other of tree, and that, in many instances, the 
intrinsic value of the tree is quite out of proportion with 
the value of the soil: pines on sandy soil; sugar maples on 
rocky hill sides; ash, on cold, wet soil ; tamarac and cedar 
in swamps; white birch on the worst soil and under most 
unfavourable climate, and, of course, oak, elm, butternut, 
black birch, &¢., &¢., in good soil. 
It appears logical to choose the most valuable of trees 
for a new plantation, when the nature of the soil admits of 
it, though we often see valueless willows and poplars planted 
on the best soil and even in gardens. I have tried the black 
walnut, which sells for a dollar a cubic foot, in Quebec— 
nearly the price of mahogany. ‘Trees raised from the nut 
have given me nuts after twelve years growth, but, as my 
experiments do not extend over fourteen years, however 
satisfactory to myself, I cannot yet assert that the success 
is complete. Certainly it is very encouraging, and, I hope, 
will lead others to try the experiment, which is not an 
expensive one. 
It is impossible to enter into the details of tree planting 
now, but there are two points which ought not to be over- 
looked: in our climate, experience shows that it is better to 
plant trees in the Spring, especially if the soil is in the 
slightest degree wet or even retentive of humidity, and, 
secondly, it is useless to attempt tree culture without good 
fences, a8 cattle will destroy all the young trees. In fact, 
there are thousands of spots where the cultivation of the 
soil has been given up, which, in a few years, would be 
covered with a growth of self sown trees, if the cattle were 
only kept out by fences. 
