EVERGREENS FOR THE PLAINS. 161 



see how much it could endure. It laughs at neglect, and thrives 

 where many a hardy, deciduous tree would fail. Taken from the moun- 

 tains, and placed under a screen, and carefully handled, about seventy- 

 five per cent will live. After two years of shelter they should go into 

 the nursery for two years — then they are ready for the grove or wind- 

 break. This tree has been prepared and fitted for the great work 

 before it, and it has a mission more than any other, probably in trans- 

 forming these bleak plains into woodland beauty. In this year of un- 

 precedented drouth, in land dry as this, they have made a growth of a 

 foot. They have the longest needle and the richest color of any pine 

 we can raise. 



I would also mention the Pinus Flexiles. Some years ago I trans- 

 planted some of these trees in the hot, dry soil of Pueblo, and have 

 noted their endurance and hardiness. E. F. Stephens has one grow- 

 ing in his nursery which seems more compact and hardy than the 

 white pines near it. It looks some like the Weymouth, having five 

 needles in the sheath — only the needles are a little shorter. It has an 

 immense cone, and will make an agreeable addition to our conifers. 



The Scotch pine, while young, does remarkably well. I have 

 thousands raised from the seed that are now two and three feet high. 

 In the east they are, without exception, the ugliest evergreen that grows, 

 but I have some very fine and compact and symmetrical specimens. 

 A few years ago we had a terrible hail storm, and it did not seem that 

 a single tree could survive, they were pounJed out of all shape, and 

 yet, strange to relate, hardly one died, and they are more beautiful 

 to-day for that awful storm. They formed new buds, and threw out 

 a mass of branches as if to protect themselves from any future as- 

 saults of like nature. Last year they made a growth of twenty to 

 twenty-five inches, and this year from twelve to eighteen inches. Yet 

 I fear for them when they get age. I note some on a high eleva- 

 tion near Riverton that have made a heroic struggle all these years, 

 but now they must die or be crippled. 



The Austrian pine does well. It is not as thrifty as the Scotch, 

 but I think it will prove comparatively short-lived in the west. East- 

 ern trees have always lived in the enjoyment of wet feet, and it is 

 doubtful if they will live long without it. 



My opinion is, you might gather together all the pines you can hear 

 of, and plant them 200 miles west of the Missouri river, and the Pon- 

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