The Dickinson press., 1916-04-15
PLANT TREES
IT WILL PAY
GREEN ASH AND COTTONWOODS
MAKE A GOOD MIXTURE FOR
WINDBREAKS. WHICH
EVERY FARM SHOULD
$3.50. a., HAVE. FIRE.
Small Fruits Do Well. Compass
Cherries, DeSota Plums. Harder
Varieties of Apples are Sue
cessfully Grown.

IhlS is the season OF the year When
people should be thinking about set
ting trees and shrubs in the yards
and starting groves on the farm.
Trees add to the value Of any home,
and the owner of homes in town and
on farms should not neglect so i'm
portant a matter as that Of setting
trees.
There are several good nursery
companies in North Dakota which
will be glad to send catalogues and
full instructions on application.
Following is the advice Of Supt. l..
r. Waldron, formerly of the Dickin-
son station, given to Press readers
last year On tree planting and it is
certainly worth reproducing this
year:
It is necessary when one wishes to
plant a windbreak, to experiment
much regarding kinds Of trees. One
will not miss it much by planting a
mixture of green ash and cotton
woods. The term cottonwood may be
used to include the Norway poplar,
Carolina poplar and the Northwest
ern poplar. The idea is to mix the
ash and cottonwoods. The cotton
woods will develop more rapidly and
will act as nurse trees for the green
ash. By the time the co1tonwoods
begin to go back, or by the time
they are needed for fuel, the gree
ash will be promising trees. If the
cottonwoods or the poplars are
planted alone the grove Of wind
break does not have the premanency
that it should. If the green ash are
(planted alone one does not obtain the
rapid growth that is so much to be
desired.
We recommend that the trees be
planted in rows, the rows to be 8
feet apart. Such a width makes it
easy to enter between the rows with
a 2-horse corn %cultivator, thus they
are easily kept clean. Within the
rows they may be planted 2 or 8
feet apart. If later, one finds that
the planting is too thick some of
them can easily be removed.
When n is planting a consider
able number of trees to form a wind
break or plantation, then it is almost
necessary to start in with small
trees. They develop better root
systems when they are transplanted
young and consequently they grow
more rapidly. The cost of young
trees is very much less than the cost
of older trees. Cottonwoods from "a
to 80 inches tall may be planted and
| ash trees from Fl to "a inches tall.
The cost of such trees is not great.
One nursery in North Dakota last
year listed ash seedlings ~ to "a
inches tall at 81 a thousand, and
cottonwoods from 20 to 80 inches tall
at IS per thousand. One will have
very good success generally by start
ing cottonwoods or poplars by means
of cuttings. The cuttings may be
made in the spring before the buds
scarcely begin to develop.
Cuttings should be made of vigor-
Gus woods of the previous years
growth and they should have a length
| of about 8 inches. They may be
soaked for "a hours after cutting be-
fore they are planted. They should
be planted nearly their entire length,
leaving but one or two buds above
the surface.
In planting the trees burrows are
plowed 8 feet apart wherever the
rows r to be. A pail of thin mud
is prepared and into this a bunch of
Seeding cottonwoods and Seeding
ash are placed. The pail Of trees, a
spade and a man form the planting
crew. The spade is inserted into the
ground and worked back and forth
and as it is removed with the left
hand the Seeding tree is showed into
the hole with the right. A person
generally works backward, thus saw
ing injury to the trees already
planted. After the tree is planted
the dirt must be packed firmly with
the foot around the roots. If desired
the furrow may be partially filled
with a corn c%ultivator. It is well to
leave something of a furrow along
the row as water from rains will
tend to run in and irrigate the trees.
At the end of the first season it is
well to prune the young trees up to
a single whip. If this is not done
they tend to, acquire a bushy form.
This method of pruning should be re-
peated for two or three years. The
trees should finally be made to head
at "a height of five to six feets or
perhaps more. It is best to prune
ash and cottonwoods when the leaves
have fallen. Pruning these trees
while the leaves. are on has a weak
ening effect. The food that is in
the leaf generally goes back into the
tree before falling in the autumn. It
should be remembered that after re-
ceiving trees from the nursery the
roots should be well protected.
If n desires to start in with
evergreens probably the bull pine will
prove more satisfactory in the long
run. The evergreens start slowly.
but after once becoming established
the bull pine will make reasonably
rapid growth. Seedlings are not
livery extensive, but it will be several
;Iyears before Seeding e~vergreens at
tain a height of one to two feet. In
Handling evergreens great. care
should be taken in keeping the roots
taway from the air.
If the resinous sap Of the ever
green roots once becomes dry the
tree is dead. When exposed to the
air such dying will often take place
lin a few minutes.