129 



fifteen inches in height. I think they cost there about fourteen shillings per thous- 

 and, without packing. The boxes and packing cost more than the plants. The 

 freight from Carlisle to Liverpool generally was more than the freight from Liver- 

 pool to Toronto. I imported several times, and they cost me from SIO to 117 per 

 thousand, delivered in Toronto. I had an offer fiom the firm of Austen & McAsten, 

 of Glasgow, to deliver them in Toronto at twenty-eight shillings per thousand, but I 

 never got any from them. They were willing, I may say, to send a large quantity, 

 if ordered, at a lower rate. Trees, I may remark, should not be less than one foot in 

 height, and should have been twice transplanted. I think that is all the information 

 I can give, having unfortunately destroyed all my old invoices and bills which relate 

 to this. 



" Yours truly, 



" JOBDSr MILLEE." 



With reference to prices, trees can also be imported cheaply, perhaps not so low 

 as this, from Douglas & Co., Waukegan, 111., an excellent place to obtain evergreen 

 trees. But as it is not well, if we can avoid it, to send money out of the country, I 

 should advise all tree-need ers, before importing, to consult with some Ontario nursery- 

 man as to the price they can be furnished at here, and having been infoi-med on the 

 matter, take their own course as to purchasing at home or abroad. There are many 

 reliable Ontario nui-serymen, though indeed, in opposition to either importing or 

 buying here, there are reasons why a farmer, if he can, had better grow his 

 own. 



There are many others giving evidence over the whole of Canada to the same 

 effect, and I have personally verified most of the instances which I have given. I have 

 travelled thousands of miles in seeing these different places. One farmer would 

 show me his wind-break and another his orchard. One thing I have noticed is that 

 nearly every young oi'chard that has been planted of late years has been planted 

 round with spruce or pine, or something or another to serve as a wind-break. 



I would like to say something concerning the Noj'way spruce. It is an excellent 

 tree for these wind-breaks. Of course you have all seen it. We must not go clipping it 

 so low or it will turn brown and soon be killed. If we want to have Norway spruce 

 we must leave them to grow to a good size, and they will then make a good wind 

 break. We must not, however, expect it will last as long as some other trees. 

 Eobert Douglas, of Waukegan, the greatest planter in the States, told me that he 

 came over to this country and examined nearly all the Norway spruces that he had 

 planted forty years before. A great number had been planted, but not one of them 

 was alive. Still, 1 do not know of anything else so good, except our own Canadian 

 white pine, which we find in a good many localities to do exceedingly well as a wind, 

 break. There is a very good instance of this to be seen in Markham. Our friend. 

 Prof Saunders, has one up near London as well, and a very beautiful one it is. The 

 case I refer to is on the old Miller homestead, to which I have already referred, and 

 the particulars of which I have already given. 



A Member. — Is not our native spruce of Ontario as good as any ? 



Mr. Phipps. — The Canadian spruce makes a very handsome wind-break, but I 

 cannot tell whether it will last as 'long, or whether, on the whole, it will answer as 

 well as the Norway spruce. I should like to say that I prefer the white variety 

 myself to the black. I was travelling through the prairie country in the United 

 States and I found the universal custom was to plant something around the fences 

 to serve as a wind-break. But there they are planting osage orange, which, of 

 course is not applicable to us here. Instead of making a hedge of it, they allow it 

 to grow up about 20 feet high, and although it is an ugly looking thing it 

 answers very well for the purpose for which it was intended. For our purposes in 

 Canada I should very much prefer that the farmers should be encouraged to plant 

 rows of timber on the north and west side of their farms — ^because winds do not 

 always come from the north. This timber would ultimately come in of use. Let 

 9 



