Let Boy Scouts Plant Trees and Shrubs That Attract Birds

Let Boy Scouts Plant Trees and Shrubs thatAttract Birds

RY .1. II. I'M'I., PROFESSOR OF NATURAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF

UTAH

Life in the Plateau region, and especially within the GreatBasin, imposes the obligation to plant trees. Tree culture is oneof the duties of every owner of landed property, and is welladapted to the work of boy scouts. The benefit of planting treesaccrues to all the inhabitants. The owners of land are the prin-cipal beneficiaries from sylvan conditions ; but ours is a land of toomuch sunshine and not enough shade, hence all nearby residentsprofit from tree-growth. Farmers are benefited most directlyfrom the activities of birds that make their homes in tree tops anddwell, by preference, in woodland places. Trees and shrubs,especially extensive groves and forest conditions, mean a greatincrease in the number and variety of native birds; and upon theabundance of native bird life depends part of the prosperity ofagricultural industries. Even in the least of farm projects andfloriculture, (including, also, forestry and lumbering) birds playa useful and indispensable part.

Whoever successfully rears a tree or shrub, therefore, addsto the resources and actual productiveness of the semi-arid lands.Farmers should rear many more trees which increase the value ofthe farm in several distinct ways. It is good policy for towncouncils, county commissioners, school boards, and state officialsto rear trees on highways and on all public property available forsuch purposes; because, in the semi-arid region, the presence oftrees enhances the actual value and the sale price of land that sup-ports or adjoins them. Those who come here from places in whichtrees may represent simply an obstruction to agriculture or amenace to health from the loss of sunshine and the dampness thatresult from their shade, are likely to overlook the immense andunique value of tree-growth in almost any form to the semi-aridand treeless regions of the dry Plateau. No Western town canafford to get along without shade trees on every open street be-yond the immediate business section. No county ditch or canal, noroad or highway, but should be lined with trees for shade, beauty,and possible timber or firewool. Every state reserve should con-tain its young groves of evergreens and hardwoods.

THE TREES TO PLANT

Among the best trees for Western planting are the following:First, lombardy poplar—the tree that has done more to redeem the

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desert and to supply shade and beauty than any other species inUtah. This tree is of great merit where quick growth is desired,and is one of the most attractive objects for desert landscapes.Planted out in the open, along roads and streams, there is nothingfiner in the way of long shadows, bird shelter, and towering ele-gance. Other trees are far more suitable for city planting and forpublic groves close to towns; but out in the country it is one ofthe best, and its sticky buds furnish some bird-food. Boxelder isperhaps as good an all-round shape tree as we possess, yet, like thepoplar, it is best planted away from houses. It has the idealshade form—broad, spreading, massive, dense, and oak-like; itgrows quickly, considering that it is of the hardwood group ofmaples; and in our region is not soft, weak, and unshapely, as itoften is in humid climates. Its seeds are eaten chiefly by gros-beaks and crossbills. The main objection to boxelder is its in-festation by bugs, which suck its sugary juice and by the "woollybear" caterpillars—the larvae of tiger moths. The boxelder plantbug, half an inch long, with red and black wings, is the worst ofthese pests. Just now these bugs are coming out of their winterhiding places into the warm sunshine on the south sides of build-ings and fences. They should be promptly destroyed. Tramplingupon them, or pouring over their heaped-up masses a little hotwater, will be found effective.

For city planting the silver maple (not the silver poplar withits woolly leaves!) is one of the best. It has sharply lobed, op-posite leaves, whitish but not woolly beneath. Like the boxelder,the ash, and the locust, it furnishes supplies of winter food forcertain finches. American ash, the thornless honey locust, the ac-climatized English walnut, black walnut, sycamore, horse-chestnut,the odorless ailanthus, hackberry, mulberries, haws, mountain ash,hardy catalpa, basswood, elms, white birch, black cherry, choke-cherry, several maples, native alder and birch near streams, blacklocust, the jingko and the coffee tree in warm valleys, and cotton-woods and willows along country streams only, are among ourbest broad-leaved species.

Hackberry furnishes bird-food in fall and winter and is alsoone of the- best shade trees. Its berries hang on the trees allwinter, and birds appear to be fond of them. This tree (Celtisoccidentalis) has been recommended by the Government for West-ern planting, and seems to do well in our region. There are two,stately and compact, in the grounds of the City and County build-ing.

The various haw trees are attractive to many species of birds.Several native haws grow in the canyons and elsewhere. Theyate of easy cultivation, make good hedges, wind-breaks, and cat-tle shelters ; and furnish plenty of bird berries during fall and earlyMinter.

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Red mulberry is excellent for summer food, as is also thenative choke-cherry. Fruit growers should plant some of thesein their orchards, also some Russian mulberries, in order to pro-tect their fruits from the attacks of robins and linnets.

McAtee names the gray birch as one of the most attractive oftrees for winter food supply. "In summer and autumn it is visitedby many kinds of birds in search of the insects that it harbors, andin winter it seems a particular favorite with all the smaller finchesand sparrows." He strongly urges, for winter birds, the Euro-pean mountain ash and the Siberian crab-apple.

Mountain ash, imported or native, supplies bird food through-out the winter. Its red berries persist and are objects of greatbeauty amid winter storms, when they attract some of the largerbird visitors—waxwings and grosbeaks—also several residentspecies.

THE FINEST EVERGREENS

Virginia cedar is recommended by the Government, but eitherof the Western cedars (Rocky Mountain and Utah) would prob-ably serve our needs still better. These handsome shrubs or smalltrees are well worth while in any garden for ornament alone.They grow slowly at first, so that good-sized specimens shouldbe preferred. As soon as they are dug up, for transplanting,plunge the roots into a bucket containing thin, black mud, andkeep them there till they are planted; then they will grow withoutdifficulty. This is a safe method for the planting of any ever-greens.

The most attractive evergreens in the world are these nativecedars (properly, junipers) and the Colorado blue spruce, whichhas no peer. The Douglas fir (called, locally, red pine) the yellowpine, and the lodgepole pine, all Western, are handsome and easilygrown. Evergreens are visited by many of the winter birds,while they furnish nesting places and shelter for others in springand summer. The juniper "berries," and the cones of pine and fir,provide a certain amount of bird food.

Among annual plants, millet, hemp, oats, barley, unarmedbrome grass, wheat, and sunflowers for open fields, and wild rice,wild celery, and pond weeds in marshy places where there is anypossibility of attracting wild ducks, may be planted.

The last undertaking should be the work of the state.

PREFERRED SHRUBS AND VINES

Various sumachs, among the shrubs, are highly recommended.Probably our own fragrant sumach, the native squawberry (Rlptsaromatica trilobata) would be the best in this region. In almostevery canyon it grows wild, its bright-red, flattened, acid, fragrantberries (with strong, anti-septic odor) being well known to mostWestern boys and girls. Both handsome and hardy, its berries

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are available throughout the year. Its tough, flexible, stems areused by the Indians for making baskets, especially for papoosecages; and would serve boy scouts in several ways. The smooth,elder-leaved sumach would probably be of similar excellence as anattractor of birds. The leaves of both species flame like red fireafter autumn frosts.

Native wild rose is a shrub of easy culture and peculiar fasci-nation. Its red fruits last all winter for the birds, while its flowersin summer have few peers as to beauty, fragrance, or number. Itclearly deserves a place in every one's garden, and may be had forthe taking. Native currants, the best of small fruits, furnishplenty of bird food in summer and fall; they are easily grown,and survive long drouth.

The little native snowberry, like the imported species, keepsits waxen-white fruits through the snowy months. These bird-enticers are of easy cultivation. Among vines, the old-fash-ioned Virginia creeper holds high rank, and the Boston ivy seemseven better. At the LTniverity of Utah, a few of the latter havegrown up the side of the brick buildings, and their berries havegiven us, this winter, several flocks of the beautiful Bohemianwaxwings. Native climbing clematis is a hardy vine with numer-ous white flowers and long-tailed, plumy seeds. It climbs withhooks, and will cover unsightly dead trees or fences.

Other suitable shrubs are the common barberry with white,and the black alder with persistent red, berries. McAtee says thesheepberry (Viburnum leutago) and the important blackhaw have unexcelled winter-feeding value, whence we may infersimilar value for buffalo berry (Sheperdia argentea), which flour-ishes in the southern and eastern parts of the Plateau, and fornative haws, which are found almost everywhere. High-bushcranberry, Japanese barberry (and probably, therefore. Westerntrailing barberry") and common privet hedge, are others that sup-ply winter bird-food. Trailing barberry, or Oregon grapes, servesalso as Christmas "holly."

Flowering dogwood, an Eastern shrub, is highly recom-mended ; but I do not know how well it thrives with us. Wehave red-osiered dogwood, a shrub of great beauty and high vi-tality, which also supplies bird-food. It grows along most of ourcanyon streams, has reddish-brown bark, with strong and heavywood. It is often wrongly called kinnikinnick, which is rare inthis region. Dogwood has red twigs, masses of white flowers,white berries, and large, pointed leaves. It grows well in cultiva-tion if given plenty of water, and is beautiful at all seasons.

As spring work for boy scouts and bee-hive girls, the plantingof trees and shrubs that supolv bird food has three purposes: 1.to make the country beautiful; 2. to attract and sustain nativebuds; 3. to develop boys and girls.