JOHN SANFORO S EVERGREEN FOREST. 35 



the fall In the open, with no protection whatever. He had 

 heard that for northern Minnesota seed should be procured from 

 the highest northern elevation of the Black Hills. He secured 

 five pounds which he planted in a pen eight feet by thirty- 

 two, m^ide thus for convenience of weeding. In the fall the 

 ground was well spaded and levelled down, the seeds were sown 

 and covered with a half-inch of sand. He had nothing more to 

 do until spring. He had placed boards a foot high around his 

 bed. When spring came he knew while germinating the seeds 

 must not be allowed to dry. It wias a dry spring and every 

 night he watered them thoroughly. They began to come up and 

 the family watched them in delight. How they grew! These 

 need no screening from the sun. Keep birds, chickens and 

 mice away and they will care for themselves. They do not damp 

 off, like other evergreens and so do not need the screen. 



In the spring he sent for a lot of three-year-old Jack Pines. 

 These were planted in nursery rows. They were about a foot 

 high and were planted in rows two feet apart and six inches 

 apart in tl^e row. He had heard that there was a man in the 

 northern part of the state who collected little White Spruce 

 and kept them in the nursery a couple of years and sold them. 

 He secured 2,000 of these. Then he sent for a few Colorado 

 Blue Spruce and waited results. He gave the best of culti- 

 vation. The trees were planted thus close together for a sort 

 of mutual protection till they should get suitable age. In the 

 meantime a strip had been plowed around the farm and after 

 the trees had grown two years he was ready to plant. The 

 spring was cloudy and wet — just the condition for planting 

 evergreens. Soon after a good rain he sent a man out to dig 

 the holes and he and a boy followed. The White Spruce for 

 the windbreak were about two feet tall — fine, vigorous little 

 fellows. He dug them, leaving the fibrous roots encased in a 

 ball of earth. These were carefully placed on a, sled for con- 

 venience of lifting. They drove by the row of holes. Mr. San- 

 ford had them dug eight feet apart. When he came to one he 

 carefully lifted a tree and put it in its place, dirt and all. He 

 put in a little loose earth and then stamped the roots solid 

 packing the earth firmly. Then he passed on and was surpris- 

 ed at the rapidity with which the work was accomplished. 

 The two miles were planted in a. day. The next day he fol- 

 lowed with a hoe. The trees were left in a depression and 

 were planted two inches deeper than they were in the nursery. 

 It was a good job well done. The wrong way would have been 

 to shake off the earth, distributing the trees along the line for 

 the sun and wind to play with and then plant them loosely on 

 a ridge instead of in a depression. By planting in the center 

 furrow he could work the earth gradually toward them and 

 eventually have them' so solid that the fiercest winds could not 

 move them He had furrowed .out his rows for the Jack Pines 



