212 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



palpable than these. If the wisdom of the few is to control the action of the 

 many, the argument for replanting must be predicted upon a more substan- 

 tial basis. It must be shown that present or prospective profit will certainly 

 attend the enterprise, or the whole matter must be relegated to the manage- 

 ment of experiment stations, to test the expediency of the project. 

 Prof. L. H. Bailey talked to the convention about 



WINDBREAKS FOR THE FRUIT GROWER, 



making the point that there is greater difficulty in the growing of fruit in 

 Michigan now than formerly, owing, in large measure, to the deforestation 

 or large areas. Forests aids the fruit grown in two important respects: 



1. It prevents the disastrous effects of sweeping winds. 2. It conserves 

 and regulates atmospheric moisture. It is very doubtful if the extremes of 

 temperature or fluctuations in annual means are most intense in Michigan in 

 recent years from the effects of forest removal. It may not even be true 

 that there are more high winds now than formerly, but it is true that winds 

 sweep over the farm with greater force. Winds sweep the surface and bear 

 away the moisture of the soil at the same time that they come in contact with 

 the trees and bushes themselves. The effect of the windbreaks is to check 

 the force of winds in prescribed areas. It has a local influence. 



Prof. Bailey made the following practical suggestions with regard to the 

 making of windbreaks: 



1. The windbreaks should not obstruct atmospheric drainage. 



2. The windbreak should never be dense enough to force the buds on fruit 

 trees in those localities which are subject to late spring frosts. 



3. As a rule, in localities where atmospheric drainage will not be seriously 

 checked, the windbreak should have a comparatively dense bottom, formed 

 by undergrowth or low branching trees. 



4. So far as practicable, the windbreak should be planted at a distance of 

 six rods or more from the fruit plantation. 



5. Native trees are preferable for windbreaks. 

 C. W- Garfield remarked : 



Since the organization of the commission, I have felt that if it could crys- 

 talize but just one thing, and that, to set aside and preserve from vandalism 

 an area of native forest, it would have justified its existence. 



A generation ago, forest areas could have been reserved at the head waters 

 of the Grand, Raisin, Kalamazoo and Huron rivers which would have 

 afforded an object lesson of the greatest value to our people. 



The more we cultivate out the vegetable matter from the soil, that serves 

 as a sponge, the more suddenly the waters of a rainfall are lost to the land. 



Had such reserves been kept, the presence of perpetual reservoirs in the 

 southern part of our State would be a manifold blessing. 



Id can still be done at the head waters of the Muskegon and Au Sable 

 rivers. 



The advantage of such a reserve to science is no small item. There the 

 native flora and fauna would be preserved for future study. 



The United States government has reserved the Yellowstone Park for 

 these same purposes, and if we ever wish to do this, the present is the only 

 time. 



lu 1883 or 1884, Wisconsin reserved twenty-one townships. It was railed 



