Norman Mackenzie Ross was Superintendent of the Dominion Forest Nursery Station, (later known as the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration) from 1901 – 1941. Educated at the innovative Biltmore Forest School, Ross was the first trained forester working in the Canadian government service and he laid the foundation for breeding trees suitable to our cold prairie climate. Early on, Ross recognized the value of this species as a shelterbelt tree. Shelterbelts are long, dense rows of trees and shrubs planted as a barrier to reduce wind speed and are key to the success of prairie agriculture. Shelterbelts reduce soil erosion, trap snow, and provide important wildlife habitat which enhances biodiversity. In the decades that followed Ross’s tenure, more than 23 hybrid poplars bred at the PFRA and still planted today have cottonwood parentage.
The origin of cottonwoods in shelterbelt tree breeding
Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) - a familiar tree on the prairies - hybridizes easily and its genes have been used extensively in breeding.