Both John Walker and W. L. Kerr, superintendents of these facilities were capable and notable plant breeders, who introduced a number of cold-hardy edible and ornamental trees still grown today. The nursery stations grew and distributed many millions of tree seedlings to prairie farmers including caragana, ash, poplar, cottonwood, maple, elm, willow and others. The Sutherland Station alone distributed over 147 million trees between 1913 and 1966! Sutherland Station closed in 1966 but a portion remains as the site of the Forestry Farm and Park in Saskatoon. The Indian Head Station later became part of the PFRA and was closed in 2013. Indian Head distributed an estimated 750 million trees which protected 50,000 farmyards and 1 million hectares of farmland.
Dominion Forestry Nursery Stations
The Dominion Forest Nursery Stations at Indian Head and Sutherland Saskatchewan were enormously important in the production of trees for farm shelterbelts as well as horticultural breeding, research and education.