FORESTRY. 441 
at work there, and the eye of unscrupulous greed is watching her 
chance to lay the barriers low, dry up the lakes and streams and 
for money convert this fair North Star state into a frozen desert 
waste, unfit for human habitation. It is our first duty to see that 
proper laws are enacted and enforced to preserve that forest area in- 
tact and prevent the lakes and swamps from drying up, and that 
course with the benefits that are bound to accrue to us through the 
work of our Canadian neighbors in starting groves and windbreaks 
to fit their own country for successful agriculture, will preserve to 
us the advantages we now have and in the near future help to move 
the line of orchards considerable farther northward. 
On the west, every tree and shrub planted and luxurious growing’ 
crop is making the west winds less arid and is greatly to our favor; 
while the opening up of farms and planting of timber in Nebraska 
and Kansas are already showing its ameliorating effect upon our 
climate. What we now most need is not extensive forests but small 
groves and suitable shelter belts for orchards, gardens, buildings, 
the orchards themselves and the necessary ornamental trees and 
shrubbery to make the homes beautiful and attractive. To bring 
this about the most quickly, there is need of a better knowledge of 
the planting and care of forest trees, and some careful forethought 
about the places where to plant them to secure the greatest benefits 
and give the most protection. 
It is an established fact that orchard trees planted in the proper 
relation to a windbreak, either natural or artificial, make a thriftier 
growth and stand more upright. 
1. The windbreak of timber to a certain extent prevents the snows 
of winter from drifting or being blown away, and also saves the 
‘fallen foliage upon the ground where most needed, and at the same 
time prevents the soil from being so deeply frozen, and, conse- 
quently, there is less danger of injury to the roots. 
2. The leaf mulch and shade from the timber tend to keep the sur- 
face soil from becoming compact, and more of the water from heavy 
showers sinks into the ground, penetrates deeper and dries out 
more slowly. 
3. There being more snow on the ground to melt in the spring, 
the soil absorbs more moisture. 
4. The buds of trees are less liable to be winter-killed or injured 
in extreme weather when properly sheltered, and the trees on the 
favorable side of a grove or belt will frequently blossom full when 
those upon the opposite side are killed. 
3. A windbreak upon the north and west side of the orchard and 
garden saves a crop of fruit by sheltering from the northwest winds 
that often occur when the trees and plants are in bloom and from 
later colder snaps that often cause the greater part of the crop to 
blight and drop before half grown. 
6. Windbreaks very often save heavily laden trees from being 
broken down or uprooted, or the fruit from being blown off in 
heavy wind storms. They tend to make orchards more uniform in 
bearing. We have frequently seen unprotected orchards barren of 
fruit, when those well protected were bearing heavily. 
