FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 211 



apple, is now in effect driven uiuler tlic lee of Lake Michigan ; and altliough 

 even our staple grain crop, wheat, was but two years since almost a total fail- 

 ure from want of shelter and i)rotection, and thougli we have reason to, fear 

 that we have not yet seen the worst, the process of destruction yet goes on un- 

 checked and with a strange fatuity ; altliough the subject is one that deeply 

 concerns us all, no measures are being taken or even seriously contemplated to 

 stay the growing calamity." 



Any farmer who has had experience in the growing of wheat, has observed 

 the difference in the crop, in those portions of his fields adjoining a piece of 

 woods. Even a rail fence affords such protection from the winds, and so re- 

 tains the snow for a covering, that the greenest and finest part of tlie field in 

 the spring is the strip next the fence. As illustrating the marked effect of 

 very slight shelter, I need only remind you of a fact that you all have doubt- 

 less observed, that wheat fields left in ridges running north and south yield 

 better crops than if rolled smooth after seeding. The reason of this is found 

 in the protection afforded from the cold southwest winds, and the shelter for 

 the snow which these furrows afford. 



The question then naturally suggests itself, how can the evils resulting from 

 the unwise clearing up of the forests be further prevented and remedied? 



I speak of the unwise clearing up of the forests, not because our farmers 

 have shown any lack of wisdom in clearing off a portion of the forests, to fit 

 the land for cultivation. This was of course necessary, for forest land yields 

 no food to the human race. It is essential to man's enjoyment of the pro- 

 ducts of the earth that a portion of its surface should be cleared for their cul- 

 tivation. But experience has shown that a certain proportion of woodland to 

 cleared land should be maintained, and that the woodland should be properly 

 distributed in order to insure the best results from farm culture. Those who 

 originally cleared the land in this country, showed their lack of foresight in 

 clearing off the entire front of their farms, and only leaving the timber stand- 

 ing in belts at the rear. This mode of clearing is particularly unfortunate 

 upon farms fronting on east and west roads. It is common in this county, and 

 becoming more so each year, for one to see miles of farming lands presenting 

 a continuous stretch of open country, from east to west, without a tree to 

 break the force of the prevailing westerly winds, which unimpeded by any pro- 

 tecting piece of timber, sweep cold and bitter over fields of grain and around 

 unsheltered houses and barns. Had the early settlers left belts of timber 

 of a few rods in width, standing along the west side of their farms, or 

 what would have been better still, allowed a strip of trees to remain around 

 the entire border of their lands, the gain in protection to their crops, and a 

 more even temperature of the air, as well as the beautiful aspect thus impart- 

 ed to the landscape, would far out-weigh any loss or inconvenience in working 

 the land. A few years ago I visited a farm in Canada, which was thus entirely 

 surrounded by a belt of trees about two rods in width, left when the land was 

 first cleared, which to my mind was one of the most beautiful farms I have 

 ever seen. The appearance of the rich fields of grass and grain, seen by the 

 passer-by through the intervening trees, was not alone pleasing to the eye, but 

 gave evidence of the beneficial effects of the protection thus aiforded. 



In order that the fertile and productive farms of Michigan shall not be ren- 

 dered barren and unfruitful, through the combined infiuence of cold and 

 drought, it is essential that a proper proportion of the woods now standing 

 should be jjreserved, and that shelter-belts of timber should be planted and 

 cultivated in those localities where the trees have been too much cut away. 



