oe 
49 
planting one’s trees in the compact nursery rows so that they can be protected by a 
board fence, or a barricade of manure on the west and north sach as I have often 
used, can not be overestimated. The settler could plant his nursery on the start 
so that his trees would be ready for planting by the time the ground was fully 
prepared. 
VARIETIES. 
The average settler who has been reared where natural forests abound knows as 
little concerning the best trees to plant on the plains as he does of many other facts con- 
nected with the business. If he takes the unsolicited advice of those who have trees to 
sell that have been grown in some distant State he runs a risk of spending his money for 
nothing, and will meet with disappointment intheend. Many kinds of trees that are 
indigenous in northern Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois, and are even hardy in those lati- 
tudes, have been found too tender for Dakota unless in some sheltered position where 
the case is so exceptional that the example is not of universal application, What 
the western farmer wants at first is two or three sorts that are perfectly hardy, if any 
such there be, and stick to them until he ge‘s a good start. Hardiness, rapid growth, 
and utility are the three most important characteristics that should govern him inmak- 
and his selection for field planting, leaving the nurserymen and the experiment sta- 
tions to make tests with different varieties. As far asmy observation extends, and it 
is corroborated by the experience of many others, the three varieties that have sue- 
ceeded best on the prairies, under all circumstances, are the box elder, cottonwood, 
and white willow. White ash dves well and is a more valuable wood when grown 
than either of the others, but itis of too slow growth to meet the requirements of this 
go-ahead generation. I have tried black walnut, basswood, burr oak, wild cherry, 
hard and soft maple, yellow locust, chestnut, and others, only to be disappointed in 
the result. The black walnuts grew luxuriantly the first year and were the admira- 
tion of all beholders, but alas, the second year they did not respond to the invigora- 
ting touch of the south wind and the genial May sunshine. They were well named 
black walnuts. Deadasa doornail. Hard maple I dismissed because of its too slow 
growth, and its half brother, the soft maple, had to be abandoned because it is too 
tender unless protected. I have still strong hopes of it after thorough acclimation, 
because its rapidity of growth, which is the chief objection to it in Illinois and 
Wisconsin, makes it a most desirable variety, besides being so easily propagated. 
The yellow locust that has been raised so extensively in many of the Middle States, 
and which is so valuable for fence posts, had to be given up with great reluctance 
after a thorough (?) trial. 
I now confine myself exclusively to box elder, white willow, cottonwood, and white 
ash, and have a fine stand of each of these varieties. In my opinion the box elder 
has little to recommend it except its hardiness, for I haveseldom seen astraight, grace- 
ful tree of that species in any country, and why they are planted in latitudes where 
the maples and elms are easily cultivated isa mystery. But on the western plains 
they flourish where most others fail, and it is vastly better than nothing. The cotton- 
wood, with which the Northern Pacific Railroad Company has been most successful 
in securing a growth for hundreds of miles along its road to defend its line against 
snowdrifts that fill its cuts, is a rapid grower anda handsome tree when young, but 
an unsightly thing in its old age. The white willow bids fair to become a general 
favorite because of its rapid growth and its perfect hardiness, more danger to it 
being apprehended from summer drought than from winterkilling. 
PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 
In regard to the preparation of the soil, that has been pretty much settled by the 
terms of the Congressional act relating to tree claims, but I am by no means certain 
that the course therein marked out is the best. The law is imperative that the first 
5 acres shall be pianted the third year after filing, while some farmers are of the 
28975~—-Bull. 5——4 
