NARRATIVE REPORT ON THE OAKES NURSERY FOR 1950 
Nineteen-fifty completes the fourth growing season for 
the Oakes Nursery. We produced over one million trees for 
North Dakota districts and about two hundred thousand for 
the Mandan Nursery on contract. We have a larger carry- 
over of one-year stock than we had in 1949 although our 
usable stock for immediate delivery is slightly under last 
year’s production. We have set a production goal of two mil- 
lion seedlings per year. 
With the additional tract purchased late last fall the 
Nursery now contains one hundred and twenty acres. The 
new acreage addition to the Nursery underwent consider- 
able preliminary development. The plot was designed into 
small blocks, and approximately two miles of shelterbelts 
were planted for wind protection. Sweet clover and alfalfa 
were added for cover crops along with a good volunteer 
stand. One-third of the acreage was kept in fallow and can 
be utilized for 1951 sowing. Delay in completing pump in- 
stallations retarded the development of the new addition this 
year. It was planned to complete some seeding on this tract 
this fall, but the lack of water at the desired time prevented 
this operation. New improvements that the Board are con- 
sidering for next year on the new land are: 1) Develop a 
new well and 2) install new pump and expand tree belts to 
cover more seed bearing species essential to our require- 
ments. 
Weather conditions were not particularly favorable to 
some tree species this season, being too cool and dry. The 
entire season was extremely windy, and a small amount of 
damage did occur from soil blowing. Last year’s fall sown 
species as a whole were a failure. The application of water 
and fertilizer did not bring the desired growth of trees. The 
spring was late, the fall about normal, although no hard kill- 
ing frost to defoliate the trees leaves up to full freeze up. 
Fall digging was not entirely completed; a small amount of 
honeysuckle and Russian olive remain in the field for spring. 
Nineteen fifty was another excellent seed crop year. The 
nursery purchased and collected a good supply of cedar, 
buckthorn, caragana, lilac, Russian olive, boxelder, ash, plum, 
chokecherry, honeysuckle, buffaloberry thorn-apple and some 
minor species of seed. The nursery will have a carry-over 
of about one and one-fourth million seedlings. In addition 
twenty-five thousand Colorado spruce were purchased for 
1951 transplanting. The Nursery plans to transplant one 
