Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1883-05-30

tough prairie sod commences Usually by the
! middle Of the ensuing August the sod has &c
far decomposed that you can commence
"bach-sattlng" This can be done with your
| breaking pillow, unless tue gauge wheel prevents
the pillow from running deep enough IL 80,
| cnanSe 1t for the strongest stirring pillow you
can get Commence 'backsetiug' at the dead
| furrow-throwing your burrows III and toward
il, and bring up three or four inches of fresh
dirt Simply turning over the sod is of no
! account, and IS worse than useless. 1t is full
| as heavy work to "backset" properly rs to
| break, and it costs as much TO do 1t. 1Ou have
now laid u substantial foundation for success,
| aud 1t Will be good practice to let the ground
rest till the following spring, that the action OF
the elements may step in and aid you III the
process OF dlslntegratlOn. Then commence
narrowing, and harrow It'll you can't rost "
BY this time, unless il Is a peculiarly pervorse
piece of ground, you have got it pretty thor
! ougLly "bulldozad," aud If Won are i'll no ur-
gent hurry to get your trees planted, plant tho
! ground 10 corn or potatoes, tho thorough cu!tl-
| Varion Of which leaves the ground in excellent
condition. If you can't plant 10 some hoed crop,
you can
SOW IT TO SMALL GRAIN,
| and in doing this you cannot b3 too careful III
| procuring clean seed, for almost imper
! ceptIble amount OF foul STUFF is sure to en-
! tail vast amount of labor in its determination.
| Altar the crop is off, again plow t5e ground as
! deep as you can afford to, bringing up more
! blowing too deep for forest trees In this the
danger is all the other Way-In shallow plow-
! ing. If You are not situated as to cultivate
! to crop, then summer-fal!ow the ground to be
! planted the coming fall or spring
When to plant is now the question. Either
! fail or spring, which? Could I predict with
| any certainty what the weather would be for
! slN months ahead, / could answer this question
| positively. Without this positive knowledge,
| the best I can 90 is to present tho ''proS" and
- lao1y tho 81
| hility to go ahead on your own judgment If
fall planting is preferred, doa't begin until the
| frost has killed the foliage. In cur latitude
| about the first week ii October is early enough
! 10 commence, and you can keep on panIlug
! TIL the grouni freezes up. If spring
! planting Is preferred, begin as soon
| as the frost IS out doeD enough and
| the ground in good working condition.
| Ono year with another, the entire month OF
| May can be devoed 10 planting forest trees in
! Minnesota or Dakota The advantages of fall
! planting are chiefly al the fsct that the ground
! becomes firmly packed among the roots OF the
Young tree to the exclusion OF the air, and that
1t IS III better position to appropriate the moist
Ure resulting from the winter SHOWS and early
spring rams, getting thereby such ''send-OH'
as to ena5!9 the Young tree to successfully go
through a dry spell thai would DO very damag-
ing, II not fatal, to spring planting Such dry
spells do occasionally prevail all over the
Northwest about planting time, and hang on
uhIHSTClttIlN VII bb6 oGu6E HNuu I'll OJ0h
winter, with frequent or occasional thaWing
or freezing, occasionally proves fatal to
fall planting, the action Of frost heaylng
the fall planted Seeding or cutting
nearly or quite out of the ground Where
we'll rooted young trees are used, we
overcome this trouble to great extent by deep
planting. While spring plating escapes this
danger. it is in bad shape TO withstand pro-
tracted growth, and right there is where fall
planting has the Inside track. But should your
spring planting be followed up by occasional
timely showers, the newly planted trees grow
right along with great vigor. The tree planter
must take his chances. l have for many years
planted largely both spring aud fall, and my
experience does not yet Justify me IN bringing
IN verdict either Way. In fact, [ consider 1t
one Of the least important of the many conun-
drums Of forestry.
THE HANDLING OF YOUNG TREES
before planting is an important matter, and
deserves passing paragraph. You will not
be greatly astonIshed 10 learn for fact that a
very large percentage of all the forest trees
planted on the Northwestern prairies are prac-
ticallv dead before they are planted. This is
especially true OF all the eVergraens or conf
fers, and the trouble is aggravated in this, that
the inexperienced platter can't always tell q
dead tree from live one, and keeps right on
planting stuff onlv lit for q brush heap. 1t
would seem as If any one could tell dead
cottonwood seeding from a live one; and as
more cottOnwoOds are being planted than any
OTHER variety, think r. boat to say that millions
of them are gathered every fall before the ter
minal bud has fOrmGd--are packed with all
their green foliage in tull viger in tight boxes
for shipment, and commence heating at once,
and Oh arrival at their destination are ''tOO
dead to skln"-they are planted, and the victims
are naturally discouraged, and lose their i'll
tere8t in tree planting, because they don't
grow. Millions Of young trees and cuttings,
shipped by careful, conscientious men, who
know their business, are unaccOuntabiy de- |
layed in transit, arriving at destination in a
damaged condition Railroad managers and
orandum of this as the losses occasioned |
thereby are particularly aggravating, and |
arouse the most bitter feeling against |
the railroads. The damage to, and total loss of,
the trees themselves, are wholly insignificant |
in comparison to the losses involved in their !
delay; for a man can plant damaged trees on
his tree claim If he can get them in time, but |
if they are delayed too long Oh the railroads, |
his claim, worth anywhere from 800 to
81, 500, is in jeopardy for the want of $50 or
$40 worth of trees which no has bought am |
paid for, railroad freight included, and he |
must resort to the most degrading and con- |
temptlble articles to hold his claim. AS a |
railroad employe and as an Independent citi- |
zen, and acting in both capacities, it is my |
duty to call the attention of the proper authorl-
ties to the necessity OF reform in this behalf
PLANT DEEP,
and press the loose earth so firmly about the |
roots as to prevent any cavities, and any circu-
laton of air among the roofs. This process
also assists in retaining the moisture. and thus |
Lessons the danger from drought Unless the
weather Is unusually wet, 1t is good practice to
uuake a puddle of mud and water of the con-
sistency of gem cake batter, into which the |
roots of the young tree should be thrust At |
all times during the planting season keep on
your guard against the whitening effects of sun
and wind on the roots. Do not permit the least
exposure in this direction that can possibly be
avoided, and when it comes to evergreens bear
in mind that, owing to the resinous nature of
the sap, what an INEXPERIENCED man would |
consider but very slight exposure is usually |
fatal From my own experience in fishing, l |
am satisfied that brook trout will live OUT of |
water about as long an evergreen will live
with its roots exposed to wind and sun.
WHAT VARIETIES TO PLANT.
A good general ruie is to slant those varieties
that are indigenous to your locality, or as near
you you can ind them. In going from the
big woods of Minnesota to the foot hills OF the
Rocky mountains, one variety after another
drops out, until our choice is limited to the
and box elder. These varieties
keep up a very struggling procession clear
across the great interior traeless region-in
fact, clear across the continent. l am informed
on good authority that the blackberry, red CO.
dar, cottonwood and box elder are the only
varieties Of forest trees that have held their
own, and can occasionally be found in nearly
every portion of the arid region, all other varie-
ties having played out So far as
Western Minnesota and Northern Da-
kota are concerned. I very con-
fidently recommend box cider, green ash, white
willow, cottonwood and elm, as absolutely
sure to grow if properly handled. 1 might
also, with nearly the same certainty. recon-
mend the soft maple, but for its unfortunate
habit of killing dowa if its first winter out hap
pens to be an open one: but for all that, lind
there is a good deal of ''come OUT to them.
With this list you can plant your ten-acre grove