56 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 



Not one of these causes was of itself sufficient to produce 

 our treeles prairies, and not one of them is entirely proof 

 against the influence of man. Prairie fires have long since 

 ceased to be a serious menace ; the evil effects of lack of 

 moisture are in part overcome by modern methods of sur- 

 face cultivation, and will grow less as the forest area is in- 

 creased; extremes of temperature lose much of their terror if 

 mulching is practiced; the force of winds is broken by groves 

 and tree-borders, and by judicious attention to topography; 

 and soils may be improved by cultivation and by the use of 

 fertilizers. If the tree-grower gives heed to all this, and if 

 he takes further precautions by selecting hardy native or 

 acclimated stock, preferably very small or grown from the 

 seed in order that the roots may not be disturbed, and pro- 

 tects his trees against cattle and other domestic and native 

 animals, he will have success. However, all this requires 

 intelligent care, time and patience, and naturally suggests 

 the question: "Does it pay?" It is safe to say that as a 

 money making investment which will bring early returns 

 it is not a success.* 



The writer believes that as an investment for one's 

 children it does pay, but few people think far enough in 

 advance, or can afford to let a part of their capital lie idle 

 during their own lives for that purpose. There are, how- 

 ever, immediate returns which the tree planter himself 

 lives to enjoy. Trees add to the beauty of our surround- 

 ings. Nothing can equal the charm of those native groves 

 which formed, and in limited areas still form, natural parks, 

 and nothing has so overcome the appalling monotony of 

 our prairies as the groves set out by men yet living. 



But other immediate benefits result from growing trees 

 whether in artificial or native groves. They act as wind- 

 breaks against both the cold blasts of winter and the 

 leveling storms of summer, and thousands of homes in 

 Iowa are made habitable only by their presence. They 

 serve to equalize temperature, as groves and their imme- 



*For illustration sec paper by Elmer Reeves, read before the Iowa Park and Forestry 

 association in December, 1901, and published in its first proceedings. 



