Ra ge eo; ee 
DECIDUOUS TREES. 5765) 
doubt give off sufficient moisture to the atmosphere so that crops 
grown on the remaining two-thirds would exceed the total amount 
now raised on the whole. And the expense of planting that one- 
third would not be so much as the damage incurred bya single 
year of failure. Thus this greater expense, or fine, if you please, is 
imposed upon us because we have devastated our forests and refuse 
to go to the lesser expense of replacing them. 
The benefits to be derived from groves and windbreaks, either 
natural or artificial, around the farm buildings and in the pastures 
are incalculable. In these times we can ill afford to buy coal or 
wood or even burn old stumps to have the heat sent hurrying out of 
the house by the fierce blasts ofa “norther” that shrieks outside 
like a multitude of demons trying to get in, and, in fact, getting in, 
not only at every crack of door and window but through the very 
walls of the house. Should it be necessary to do any outdoor work 
during one of these wind storms, we have to buckle on our shoes, 
button and belt on our great coats, tie down our caps, and as we step 
out, we involuntarily shrink back as the wind takes our breath away; 
for we forgot to tie that in. Go to the barnyard or even into the 
barn, and every animal you see stands humped up, looking as 
though life was a failure and they were thinking of trying death for 
relief. 
It costs at least one-fourth more to care for stock under these con- 
ditions than when buildings and yards are properly protected by 
groves and windbreaks. Besides this there is the additional com- 
forts to all the members ofthe family and tothe stock, so that, that, 
in itself, should prompt every farmer in the northwest to have a 
good efficient windbreak around or, at least, on the west and north 
of his buildings and yards. It is the most effective and cheapest 
way he can move his farm toa much warmer climate. 
Not to be classed as a calamity howler, it is a matter of congratu- 
lation that so many of our Minnesota farmers have these protecting 
groves upon their premises; and the best crops during the past 
year were in those portions of the state where belts of timber and 
groves are most plentiful—in fact, in some of the most favored locali- 
ties we have had extra fine crops. A noticable feature is that most 
of the homes best protected by trees are where once was the broad 
open prairie, and experience taught their proprietors to get up a ~ 
breastwork of trees. 
But how often when traveling through what was once a wooded 
country we see buildings that were put up under the sheltering 
forest trees with their cooling shade in summer, now wholly unpro- 
tected, having the trees all cut away around the buildings, making 
it look so bleak, bare, desolate—anything but home. It seems these 
people who had a grand protection to begin with did not know how 
to appreciate it tillit was gone, and with the one idea of clearinga 
farm so they could grow wheat, made the great mistake of commen- 
cing at their very doorway and enlarged the clearing as fast as 
possible. 
