32 
as comes to his fields. He can not afford to permit grass and weeds to 
rob his young trees of moisture any more than he can permit them to 
rob his corn. When once the trees have completely shaded the ground, 
no other growth is possible. 
Among the quick-growing, densely foliaged trees only one species 
seems especially valuable as a nurse tree in the colder parts of the West, 
and that is Boxelder. Farther south the Silver Maple and Russian 
Mulberry may be used, while in Texas it is thought the China Berry 
will prove a valuable nurse tree. The Umbrella tree (Melia azedarach 
var. umbellifera) should prove even more useful in the same region. 
Artemisia (A. abrotanum tobolskianum) has been planted as a nurse 
in various mixtures at several of the Western stations. It is perfectly 
hardy, but is an extremely vigorous grower, and cuttings when less 
than two years planted have grown so rapidly that it has been neces- 
sary to cut them back severely to prevent them shading out the more 
valuable trees. Artemisia is a tall-growing bush, sending up many 
stems from the collar, and it has been found necessary to remove all the 
stems but two in their second year. It grows readily from cuttings, 
and is sure to prove useful as a surface wind break, though it will prob- 
ably prove too rampant a grower for use aS a nurse. Asa nurse it will 
have to be handled with the knowledge that in the first season it will 
spread enough to cover 6 square feet of ground, but after that not gain- 
ing much in size. 
Bleagnus angustifolia, the Russian Wild Olive, has been recom- 
mended as a nurse tree for usein the Northwest, being perfectly hardy, 
as also has Tamarisk (Tamarix amurensis), a Russian form of the well- 
known ornamental shrub, though the latter seems hardly a dense 
enough grower to be as useful as Boxelder. 
THE USE OF EVERGREENS IN WESTERN PLANTING. 
It will be observed in the experiments hereinafter noted that in all 
the plats set in 1897 spaces were left to be filled in with evergreens. No 
one questions the great value of this class of timber trees for grove 
planting in the West. The fact that they retain their leaves through- 
out the year makes them the most useful species that can be employed 
in making wind-breaks, while their erect habit of growth and strong 
light wood gives their timber peculiar value in farm construction. 
The principal difficulties heretofore experienced in western conifer 
planting have been the high price of stock and the poor average 
stand secured. Doubtless the cause of the high prices charged by 
nurserymen for evergreens has been the small quantity of such stock 
demanded by the market. In nursery operations a great quantity of 
trees can be grown for very little more money than a small quantity, 
and if the nurserymen could be assured of a large market, there would 
