40 
most wonderfully in a dense growth of weeds and grass at Franklin, 
Nebraska, where Mr. C. 8. Harrison is the pioneer of conifer growers. 
The difficulty in their use lies in starting the plants; for as little 
seedlings they are remarkably tender, especially as regards light con- 
ditions. Under strong light their foliage transpires more moisture than 
their roots can supply. On the other hand, if leftin the nursery until 
they have developed the strong root system they need, difficulty in 
transplanting is experienced, and the greatest pains must be taken not 
only to preserve the roots uninjured, but to bring them into the ground 
before they have a chance of drying out. 
Yet I believe all pains in this respect will be crowned by success, and 
if 1 were to direct planting in Nebraska | should use largely the bull, 
the Seotch, and the Austrian pines, with the Douglas spruce, and for 
undergrowth the hardy and shady juniper; the Scotch and the Aus- 
trian pines mainly because they can be had more cheaply than the 
others, and because so far they have been tried the longest with assured 
success. This list may no doubt be extended to others (such as given 
in the foot-note below.) * 
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS. 
Besides the capacity of shading the ground effectively and of devel- 
oping satisfactorily in mixture, other considerations which should influ. 
ence the selection of plant material are adaptability of the plants to 
climate and to soil, root system, ease of propagation, utility, ete. 
The first two considerations, namely, the possibility of the plant to 
live in the situation in which it is placed, are matters of course. 
As far as climatic adaptation is concerned, nothing but trial will 
answer the question. Since we found that the bald cypress, which 
occurs naturally in the swamps of the humid Gulf States, was the only 
class of seedlings that withstood the drought of a Texas summer two 
years ago, and since we are informed that the bull pine, which covers 
our most arid plateaus and mountains, suffers from drought in Ger- 
many, and the hardy green ash from frost, we may admit at once that 
we know but little as to climatic adaptation, and trying is our only 
method of determining. 
* At the present writing an experimental planting with ten kinds of evergreens 
and six kinds of deciduous trees in varying combinations has been undertaken under 
direction of the forestry division in Holt County, Nebraska, on the sand hills of 
that region. The evergreens used are: Bull, Banksian, red, white, Scotch, and Aus- 
trian pine, Engleman and blue spruce, Douglas fir and arborvitw. With these are 
mixed the following deciduous trees: Locust, box elder, cherry, birch, hackberry, and 
red oak, 
There are planted four plats of different mixtures and distances, with from 6,200 
to 10,830 plants per acre, the wider planting to be cultivated, the closer to be partly 
mulehed, partly left to itself for the sake of comparing the three methods under ex- 
actly like conditions. The planting (in the loose sand with good supply of subsoil 
moisture) was done in furrows without previous preparation of the soil. Planting 
with the spade or other tool without any plowing would also have been tried had 
time and opportunity been favorable. 
