110 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1905 



119. In the fall we ought to plant a few trees thai 

 have remarkable winter beauty, e. g., the oriental 

 plane, which is covered with pendant button balls 

 all winter. (Plaianus orienialis) 



extent handicapped. The wind storms of 

 winter which sweep over the enormous 

 stretches of flat, treeless plains, suck up such 

 quantities of moisture from the soil that a tree 

 not well established before the real winter sets 

 in has a hard struggle. But if protected 

 from the wind, fall planting in the West is 

 robbed of its terror. 



The moral is, plant windbreaks. Wind- 

 breaks are being planted to-day on the 

 prairies, and are best made of the more resist- 

 ant trees which can be put out with impunity 

 at almost any time of the year. 



In the lee of these windbreaks we plant as 

 you do in the East, but outside of this pro- 

 tected area we do not plant big trees — the 

 smaller the better, indeed. It is customary 

 in making a planting list for this part of the 

 country to reduce all sizes, as compared with 

 the East, from two to three years. If you 

 would buy a three or five-year-old tree in the 

 East, vou would purchase two or three-year- 

 old trees in the West, because they would ex- 

 pose less surface to the wind. When wind- 

 breaks are more common we may be able to 

 use bigger trees from the nursery. 



THE BEST TREES FOR WINDBREAKS 



A tvpe of tree that can be planted through 

 the West with the certainty of living, and 

 which is being used largely for windbreaks 

 on account of its rapid growth, is represented 

 by the box elder, Russian mulberry, cotton- 

 wood, osage orange, honey locust and white 

 ash. The only evergreen that it is safe to 

 use for windbreak purposes is the white pine 

 (Pinus Strobus), but, of course, it is not 

 planted in the fall. Under no circumstances 

 can we plant evergreens at this season. The 

 struggle against the drv wind would be en- 



DO o J 



tirely too much for them. 



THE KILLING HOT WINDS OF SUMMER 



As compared with spring planting there is 

 much to be said in favor of the fall. If we 

 can get the trees in the ground during October 

 and they will make growth early in the spring, 



they are in a better condition to withstand 

 the dryness of the occasional hot winds of 

 July and August. Spring planting has al- 

 ways been attended with the risk of entire 

 loss from these hot winds. The gardeners 

 of the East can form no conception of the 

 devastation caused in this way. I have had 

 acres of thrifty young trees killed root and 

 branch by these hot summer winds. I do not 

 wish to have it inferred that these winds recur 

 every year. Far from it! They are occa- 

 sional, but, when they do come, Heaven help 

 the man with newly planted, unestablished 

 trees! The garden often suffers from the 

 effects of these winds, which will literally 

 burn up the flower garden in its fullest glory. 

 Windbreaks or shelters of one sort or another 

 are needed as much for protection against 

 summer winds as winter winds. I can recall 

 sitting on the piazza of a house in Wisconsin 

 when one of these hot winds sprang up, and 



seeing a bed of pansies on the unprotected 

 side of the house literally burnt up in a few 

 hours. 



OCTOBER THE BEST MONTH 



It has come to be customary to plant only 

 during the month of October. As soon as 

 November comes planting is attended with 

 some risk, and by about the tenth of the 

 month the limit of time is reached. In many 

 cases nursery stock will not be received by the 

 purchaser after the first of November, and the 

 nurseries do not urge its delivery after that 

 time. Again, this is all on account of the 

 winds. There is no particular reason to fear 

 for your trees during the first week of Novem- 

 ber, but some time during the month you are 

 sure to have high winds. Mulching will ex- 

 tend the planting season. We do not mulch, 

 as the Eastern gardeners do, to keep the 

 ground frozen and to prevent the heaving of 



120. All hardy vines can be planted in the fall, and, next to Japan ivy (Ampelopsis Veitchti), the best vine 

 for crowded Northern cities is the wistaria, with its large grape-liKe clusters of purplish pea-shaped flowera. 

 All it needs is a hole in the pavement, but it almost never flourishes in the City of New YorK 



