THE USES OF SHELTER BELTS. 895 
by an artificial grove, consisting of a variety of trees from eighteen 
to twenty-three years old. Now,through winter the fowls are scat- 
tered over the place from morn till eve; the snow melts more or less 
every day; the slick, fat cattle show feed, care and contentment, and 
are sought after by the cattle buyer; the pigs rise three times daily 
and eat and exercise, and the rest of the time are lying in silent 
sleep; the boys (now the grandsons), rise early and.take plenty of 
time to do the chores, and themselves go to town with grain and 
return with fuel, while the old man, accompanied by his wife, drive 
with pleasure toa neighbor’s orto thecity. This happy change has 
been brought about by the shelter belt raised around the farm 
building and the many found along the road. 
The shelter belt is of use to beautify the farm, to make stock rais- 
ing profitable and farming enjoyable. Combined with fodder and 
grain, stock is made to prosper and the farmer to succeed. As 
shelter belts increase, the landscape improves, the moisture of the 
atmosphere condenses, the land becomes more moist, and the 
soil becomes more fit for agricultural purposes. The higher priced 
crops as well as corn, the king of all crops and the farmer’s wealth 
maker, will be increased in yield. Shelter belts, by breaking the 
wind, as well as by increasing moisture, ameliorate the climate 
and transfer us to more southern climes without changing our 
latitude. And shalllI forget the feathered army that comes to us 
when we supply them Lomes among the trees? The fruit raiser 
knows the benefit of birds to his land. ’Tis true they eat his fruit, 
but see them in the spring hunting in every nook and corner from 
sunrise to sunset the insects that trouble the grower most! How 
we enjoy the singing of the robin and the thrush, and look with 
delight upon the plumage of the oriel, blue bird and wild canary! 
The uses I have mentioned are buta beginning. Like cultivation 
itself, it improves with use, and as our shelter belts grow thicker and 
taller the population increases and the demand for timber, such 
_as hoop-pcles, osiers, etc., increases, and the groves themselves 
become the direct producers of incomes. 
THE EVOLUTION OF A SCHOOL OF FORESTRY IN THIS 
STATE. . 
PROF. S. B. GREEN. 
I believe such a school is now being developed and the movement 
may seem to be going slowly, I think it is keeping pace with the 
demands inthisline. It is the policy of the university to meet the 
demands of the people for higher education of special value in the 
development of the resources of our state and it will not be behind 
in meeting any call there may be for special instruction in forestry. 
In considering this subject, we should study the extent ot the 
present demands for forestry instruction in this state. We have 
here two forest problems, one of which concerns the planting of 
trees upon our prairies and the other the care and management of 
our great forest resources. The prairie population is interested in 
tree planting and is wide awake to the needs of improvement in 
