Vi INTRODUCTION. 



There is no spot on earth so susceptible of improvein.ent 

 as the prairie farm. It is a, broad canvas on which you can 

 paint any picture you please. It has an advantage in being bar- 

 ren of trees at first, so you can lay out your grounds to suit 

 yourself. The soil is absolutely hungry for trees and has an 

 affinity for evergreens if the proper varieties are selected. The 

 Conifers are an extensive family. Not all of them are adapted 

 to one locality. Bach has its preference of soil and climate. 

 Out of their own habitat they seem to pine and die of homesick- 

 ness. The stalwart Ponderosa, the hero of the arid west wav- 

 ing defiance to 'drouth and storm out in the foothills of the 

 Rockies, becomes a pitiful and helpless thing down on the At- 

 lantic coast. Though we have not as wide a range of varieties 

 in the west as in the east, yet we have enough for a fine 

 selection. 



Take a home on a bleak windswept plain with no protection 

 and it is a picture of desolation. It is bombarded by the storms 

 and the snows swirl around it. There is the barn out in the 

 open. Turn the stock out to water when the cutting north wind 

 is below zero, and they stand shivering as they drink. The ter- 

 rible cold eats their flesh away. To them winter is a martyrdom. 



But all this nan easily be changed. We have given years 

 of study to this subject and have made tedious and expensive 

 experiments in the semi-arid regions of the west, and we are 

 sure we can give our readers such information as will enable 

 them to have homes of comfort on our bleakest prairies; even 

 the Dakotas can be dotted with farms which will be as Elysians 

 of beauty dropped down amid the winter dreariness. To me 

 there comes at times a sort ^of second sight. I see beautiful 

 groves, myriads of flowers, chaiming trees, splendid landscapes 

 floating like flocks in the air. waiting to alight and glorify the 

 farm. When the farmer is ready for them he can have them. 

 His land lies on the borders of marvelous wealth and amazing 

 beauty. 



