TREES AND SHRUBS 7 



"light demanding" species) while others will endure only a 

 small amount ; still others are known as shade enduring species, 

 they take little or much as the case may be. And among 

 trees in particular, the young tree may be a shade enduring 

 species while the mature tree may be light demanding. The 

 light conditions, any place in New Mexico outside of the dense 

 coniferous forests of the high mountains, are extremely severe, 

 the direct sunlight is most intense and the reflected light is 

 very strong. 



When one takes all these conditions into consideration 

 and remembers just how little they can be artificially modified 

 in the open, the wonder is, not that so few of the plants com- 

 monly cultivated in the humid regions will grow here, but 

 that so many of them are able to adapt themselves to such in- 

 hospitable surroundings and thrive. 



Now our State has a covering of plants which are 

 perfectly adapted to our climate and soil; scanty in places, it 

 is true, but abundant and characteristically beautiful in others. 

 Practically all of these plants are thoroughly adapted to those 

 peculiarities of our climate which we can not control and which 

 are so severe on the commonly cultivated ornamentals, viz: 

 (1) very dry atmosphere; (2) extreme daily variation in 

 temperature; (3) late spring frosts; (4) very high summer 

 temperature; and (5) very intense light. Besides this some of 

 them are inured to extreme dryness of soil and others will 

 tolerate relatively large quantities of alkali. 



It seems to me that probably the most important reason 

 for wishing to cultivate the plants of the humid region in this 

 State lies in the fact that we are almost all of us originally 

 from that humid region and wish to reproduce, in the new 

 home, conditions similar to those in the old. The desire is 

 perfectly laudable; but does it not lead us away from our 

 easiest method of ornamenting our homes and grounds? Does 

 it not appear that our native plants are better adapted to the un- 

 alterable conditions of this region? Would it not be easier 



