THE RESULTS OF SHELTER BELTS ON PRODUCTIVENESS. 425 



by some friendly belt of trees on the south of them, which prevented 

 the extremely rapid evaporation of moisture and admitted of the 

 natural growth and distribution of the pollen. The writer had a 

 ten-acre field of corn directly north of a large cottonwood grove in 

 the same year which husked out 400 bushels of Xo. i corn, when a 

 neighbor's field near by with equally as good culture, etc., was not 

 worth husking. Xow this is not alone true of corn, as I have found 

 in the succeeding years that this same shelter belt of tall cottonwoods 

 has added very materially to the growth of nursery stock, as three- 

 year old apple trees on this ground dug this fall ran as high as nine 

 feet, the largest of them ; and two-year old A'irginia crabs more 

 than half of them would go in the No. i grade (5 to 7 ft.) 



N'or do we stop here. We find all over this prairie country that 

 all kinds of tender vegetation, garden truck, vines, large and small 

 fruits, do better where protected by shelter belts of trees and hedges ; 

 and in the case of orchards this is true to such an extent that many 

 of the orchards in our country that have not been so protected have 

 perished, while those that have been properly protected from the 

 south winds have thrived and borne fruit equal to those of any state 

 in the Union. 



We notice that our fruit trees where not sheltered from the 

 south invariably lean to the north and northeast (which is directly, 

 the reverse of what it should be) caused by south winds prevailing 

 during the grozciiig season. This is true. I believe, to the extent 

 that at least three-fourths of the growth of our trees is made when 

 the wind is in the south, causing the tender new shoots to lean to 

 the northward, often to such a degree as to drive them through 

 the top of the trees towards the north side. This, of course, leaves 

 the body of the tree exposed to the direct rays of the sun. the 

 result of which is known by most of you. Further comment is un- 

 necessary. 



In 1890 the writer assisted in the passage of a bill by the South 

 Dakota legislature giving a bounty by the state for planting and 

 maintaining belts of trees running east and west, the object being 

 to get continuous windbreaks as nearly as possible on all section 

 lines to modif}- the north and south winds, which are the most 

 prevalent and destructive. While this law did some good, it was not 

 far reaching enough. If some scheme could be devised whereby 

 a good belt of trees could be grown and maintained on each and 

 every section and quarter section line, running east and west 

 throughout the states of Xorth and South Dakota, X'^ebraska and 

 Kansas, it would increase their productiveness many millions of 

 dollars worth annually above the cost of such trees and make this 

 region perhaps the most productive and desirable of any like area 

 in the United States. 



