

TREES AND SHRUBS 



strong enough to resist our winter and spring winds, and 

 canny enough to keep from getting frost bitten when spring 

 plays fast and loose with us. Give them a fair trial, study 

 their natural adaptations, give them slightly better conditions 

 than they naturally have, and I feel sure they will reward 

 the thoughtful, careful gardener by growing even better than 

 in their native habitats. In order to obtain this end, however, 

 it will be necessary to appreciate the particular beauty of each 

 and study its possible improvements. It will be impossible to 

 make them over according to some preconceived ideas of 

 beauty obtained elsewhere. 



CONDITIONS IN THE VALLEYS 



In New Mexico there are three or four kinds of places 

 where people make their homes. They build their houses in 

 the open river valleys, either singly on tbe farms, or in groups, 

 forming towns and cities ; or they choose isolated situations 

 near "water," on the mesas, or in the mountains, for the 

 stockman's ranch. The mining camp is usually in some nar- 

 row canon and is apt to be lacking in permanence. 



In the valleys, whether on farms or in the towns, the 

 conditions are more or less similar. Shelter is the thing most 

 desired; shelter from the heat and the light of our summer 

 sun, from the wind and dust, or from the public gaze. To 

 these comforts should be added the pleasure and benefit which 

 come from living in beautiful surroundings and striving to 

 make them even more beautiful. 



Most of the valley farm houses and not a few of the 

 homes in the towns are more or less protected and beautified 

 by the use of shrubs and trees. The value of fruit trees and 

 grape vines is fully recognized, but I doubt if the simple 

 money value alone of a proper use of shade trees, windbreaks, 

 shelterbelts, shrubbery, and lawns is properly appreciated. 

 Time spent in making the home more comfortable by pro- 



