101 



trees that are hauled in by peddlers in the fall, because such are always killed at the root, 

 notwithstanding their green appearance ; and here allow me a little digression. Give 

 your preference to home nurseries. You have men here engaged in the business, who 

 have spent their life-time judging what varieties of trees you could better plant, for your 

 profit and success." 



' Method of Cultivation by a Winner or a Prize. 



A statement made by Hiram 0. Minick, of Nemaha County, Nebraska, to whom a 

 premium was awarded for the cultiuation of a grove of not less than 1,000 trees, gives 

 the following account of his method of cultivation : — 



" The ground was ploughed in the spring, the same as for a crop of com, and crossed 

 out at distances of five feet by seven. The cotton wood yearling trees were procured on a 

 sand-bar in the Missouri River, in the fall previous, and hauled in during winter. By 

 selecting a spot on the sand-bar where the surface of the sand is but little above the water 

 in the river, the yearling trees can be pulled out with great rapidity, probably at the rate 

 of a thousand in twenty minutes, the operation being similar to pulling flax, and the trees 

 can thus be taken up preserving their rootlets entire, thus securing them in the best 

 possible condition for transplanting ; and taken at this age they receive but little check 

 in their growth by the operation. Part of my grove was planted with the spade, the 

 operation being the same as for a hedge. Another part of the grove was planted by 

 drawing a deep furrow with the plough, and dropping the trees at the crossings of the 

 furrows, the roots in the furrow and the tops projecting out, and then cover by throwing 

 another furrow-slice upon the roots and base of the stock with a plough. This left the 

 trees leaning at an angle, say of forty-five degrees, and fearing this position would be in- 

 jurious to the trees, I took the pains to place some of them carefully erect ; but upon an 

 examination of the trees, after one year's growth, no difference was perceptible in those 

 left leaning and those straightened up, as they invariably start their growth from a bud 

 near the base of the stock and grow erect. The portion of my grove, composed of cotton- 

 wood, contains about 3,000 trees, and was the work of two men, a boy and team, one day 

 planting. This required one hand and horse, two days each year, to five acres of ground. 

 The maple portion of my grove was planted by preparing the ground the same as above 

 and dropping the seed (which had been procured from trees on the Nemaha River), in 

 the furrow, and covering with the harrow, and cultivating as above. The seed ripens 

 about the middle of May, and is generally very abundant. The following may be con- 

 sidered as a fair estimate of the cost of the grove : — Hand and team one day procuring 

 trees, $3 ; two men, boy and team employed in planting, $5 ; ploughing ground, $5 ; two 

 years' cultivation of trees, $9. Total, $22." 



TIMBER GROWING IN NEBRASKA. 



(From an Article by J. W. Davidson). 



' ' The best method of stocking our prairies with timber, is to prepare the soil precisely 

 as you would if you were going to raise a large crop of corn. The quickest way to raise 

 a wrove is with cuttings of cottonwood or willow. I plough, drag and mark the same as 

 for corn, four feet each way, which will contain 2,722 hills to the acre. I should plant 

 one-half to trees, four feet one way and eight the other, making 1,631 trees, and the other 

 in corn for two years, to pay for cultivation, and tb§,t is all the cultivation needed. I 

 should adopt the same plan in planting acorns, hickory-nuts, white and black walnuts, 

 soft maple, elm and ash, where the sprouts are one year old. White pine, arbor vitae, red 

 cedar, European and American larch, when large enough to transplant, require more 



