48 i. 
lected and are smothered with weeds. If seeds are used the question arises whether 
it is assafe to purchase those grown in another State and in a different climate as 
those raised at home? My own failures have been with seeds that were purchased of 
the dealers, and my success has been with those picked at Devil’s Lake by my own 
men. Seedsraised in the same region where they are to be planted are most assur- 
edly the safest and best. If the law wonld permit it, the best way to proceed with 
a tree claim would be to plant the seeds in nursery rows and cultivate them properly 
until of sufficient age and size to transplant. The planter would gain at both ends 
by this pian; first, his trees would be getting a good start while his land is being 
subdued from its wild state to become a suitable habitation for so fine and beautiful 
a thing as a graceful tree. There is something almost pathetic iu the disappoint- 
ment of the Eastern man who digs holes in the tough prairie sod and plants a few 
shade trees in front of his Dakota sod shanty, hoping that they will grow as they do 
‘*back home ” and afford a fine shade in the ‘“‘sweet bye and bye” when prosperity 
has enabled the hopeful farmer to build a new house. They may put forth leaves in 
May, but are sure to die in August. 
My second attempt was with 5 acresof wheat stubble thoroughly plowed and drag- 
ged and planted 4 feet each way with seeds,mostly white ash and box elder. The plant- 
ing was done late in the fall, and in the spring I had the satisfaction of seeing as fine 
a stand of trees as one could wish. During the summer they were cultivated both 
ways twice and hoed once. The field was kept as clean as a field of corn, and in fact 
the trees were treated the same asis usually accorded to corn or potatoes. The 
planting was on the open prairie and exposed to the fierce winds from all quarters of 
the compass. The fall of snow that winter (1886-’87) was very slight in that section 
and in the spring I found that thousands of my young ash trees had been winter- 
killed. This surprised me very much, as the white ash is considered perfectly hardy 
even in the hyperborean climate of Dakota, and the seeds for my planting had been 
gathered at Devil’s Lake, as above stated. Here was another revelation. The box 
elder had also suffered, but not so badly as the ash. What was the matter? The 
previous summer had been quite dry and the growth of wood had been short, but that 
I supposed to be favorable to ripening the wood and preventing winterkilling. 
Then I asked myself the important question: If the season of yrowth in Dakota is 
too short to sufficiently ripen the wood of the ash so that it will withstand the win- 
ters, how are trees ever to be grown successfully in this climate? It was a questiou 
without an answer. And yet there was a partial solution. 
I had seen large ash trees at Fort Totten and along the banks of the Cheyenne 
River, but always in sheltered positions, Under the bluffs along the banks of the 
Cheyenne many varieties of native trees can be found of considerable size, while only 
12 miles away along the banks of the James River, whose course is through the 
almost level prairie for many miles, there is not the sign of a tree of any kind, not 
even the burr oak, which puts in an appearance and holds its own wherever there is 
achance. Then I found that some of my treos that were sheltered on the north and 
west by a weed that had made a snow bank had not been killed. Some small trees 
that had grown under the lee of larger ones on the north had escaped while the larger 
ones were dead. One of my neighbors had a planting of white willows and box 
elders 4 years old, the rows running east and west. The willows had been allowed 
to grow quite bushy, and so thick as to present considerable of a wind-break. I 
noticed that only two or three of these bushes on the west end of the rows were dead; 
the others, having the advantage of the shelter afforded by these outposts, were 
green to the very tips of the smallest boughs. Another man had planted corn among 
his trees and let it stand all winter as a protection to his trees with good results. 
His opinion is that as soon as groves of forest trees are sufficiently grown to afford 
shelter, apple trees of the hardy varieties may be successfully cultivated in all 
parts of Dakota. Others are hoeing about their trees, but letting the weeds grow 
between the hills to help protect them in winter. If some sort of shelter is needed 
for young trees in winter—and it seems to be imperatiye—the importance of firet 
