The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-01-16
TRI-STATE GRAIN
GROWERS HERE
Continued from Page Three.

be made IL it is put into small cocks
and allowed to cure for a day or two
before stacking or putting into the
NOW.
The speaker then went into the de-
tails of handling hay at the Interna-
tional Harvester Co. farm where more
than 80 acres of various kinds Of for
age crops were harvested. He also
told of the use of salt and lime or
or damp and of the success which has
been attained with this method.
Better Rural Education.
One OF the important discussions Of
the AFTERNOON program was that of G.
G. Carlson OF Valley City, who ad-
dressed the convention on the sub
ject Of Rural Education.
The speaker dealt with the great
necessity Of q system Of rural educa-
ton that will result in intoxicating an
interest and liking for things rural,
for the farm and its products. He said
that within the last decade consider
able improvements have been made
but that there is still vast room for
betterment
Trees Are Essential.
President Waldron, at the conclu-
sion Of Mr.. Carlson's address, called
on the next speaker scheduled, e. c.
Hilborn, also of Valley City, who spoke
on the subject of Lessons Learned
From North Dakota's Twenty-Five
Years Experience in Tree Growing.
Mr.. Hilborn Is secretary Of the North
west Nursery Co. Of Valley City, and
his wide experience should prove OF
value to those interested in tree grow
ing.
In part Mr. Hilborn said:
I'VE still think of North Dakota as
a prairie state, but today North Da-
kota is far from being a treeless state.
Our trees seem few enough when com
pared with states covered by native
timber, such as Wisconsin, but when
we compare the older sections Of our
states with the same prairies OF twen-
ty-five years ago, or with Montana to-
day, we are impressed with what has
been accomplished.
THE losses from trees planted in
this state are tremendous. l wonder
if you have any idea of the immense
quantity of trees that are annually
wasted in this state. 1t is probable
that 100000 worth of trees are lost
on the part of the planters. And Of
those trees that are growing, only a
very small part are making one-half
the annual growth they should be
making Something must be wrong |
with the common method. Something !
is wrong. Let us profit by what we
have learned during the past quarter |
century, and then make our efforts
count for more. Trees will grow in
North Dakota just as fast as they |
do in Wisconsin, If given |
a chance. The causes of poor growth, |
as we'll as failure, / wish to discuss !
under three different heads. 1 will |
put first the one that l wish to i'm |
press most strongly upon the minds |
Of this audience.
First: Trees are starved and stunt |
ed because no reservoir is provided to
preserve the moisture. The greatest |
work that the roots have to do Is to |
secure moisture with which to feed |
the tree. There is no soil in North |
Dakota so poor that it will not pro- |
duce the finest of trees. The only ex-
ceptions to this would be patches of
gumbo and alkali, which contain
harmful substances. Some of the finest |
trees in America grow on poor, worn
but there is an abundance of moisture. |
By far the larger part of the tree is
by the leaves, directly |
from the air. Every leaf is a fac
tory, but it takes lots of water to |
keep that, factory running If given a |
chance, the roots Of the trees will corr
in development somewhat to
the branches or the top.
Second: A bad arrangement of
the grove is the cause of much loss.
1t is really a considerable problem to
plan out the entire grove.
Very important is the snow fence and
the snow trap. At least a double row
Of some good, close-growing hedge
plant, such as willow, Caragana, wild
plum or Artemesia, is needed to act
as a snow fence to pile up the drifting
SHOWS. Three rods of open space
should be left between this and the
regular grove. Where this is neglect
ed, the snow piles up in the grove and
breaks down the branches and many
Of the trees, and spring finds the grove
in sorry mess. There will be hun
dreds of groves in just this condition
this coming spring. The large drifts
that are piled in the snow trap, as
explained, will melt through the month
Of April, and the snow water will go
into the ground and help to fill up the
of moisture for the trees in
the grove itself. This will insure
plenty of moisture even in a dry
spring. II
Third: The selection of proper {
varieties is important. Never plant {
cottonwoods or poplarS G
amongst other trees in a grove. These
are soft woods and surface growing |
,reeS" Their roots run along the sur /
ACE in all directions. They pump out {
more moisture from the soil than any {
other type of tree. 1t takes them but {
4 few weeks in early summer to draw '
out all the moisture from a grove. I
So But the real grove Of trees should I
be made Of forest trees. that is, forest
owing trees. The one tree that stands
ahead of all others in value for this
state is undoubtedly our green ash
This is often confused with the white !
ash from the low lands east of here.
Our native green ash thrives under
more dry conditions. Plant the green
ash in an alternate arrangement with
the box elder as a nurse tree, and you
have an ideal arrangement. The box
elders start quickly, soon shade the