20 



upon animals exposed to the cold north winds of winter than upon 

 stock that is protected from blizzards. Thus a windbreak takes the 

 place of grain in maintaining the heat of the animal during cold 

 weather. On the other hand, it will add to the farmer's bank 

 account during the summer, for it will afford shade and protection to 

 fattening animals, which lose flesh in very hot weather. 



Windbreak belts in connection with a farmstead form an asset that 

 is none the less real because the actual money value may not easily be 

 determined. The protection to an orchard afforded by forest trees is 

 valuable, since late frosts are not likely to blight the fruit blossoms of 

 a protected orchard. Forest belts *on the south and west sides of the 

 farmstead give ample protection against the parching blasts from the 

 southwest the hot winds of summer, which are destructive to fruit in 

 many parts of the country. It is to be understood, however, that the 

 forest plantations herein recommended are also to be utilized for the 

 production of the needed timber supplies on the farm. By judi- 

 ciously thinning the plantations, 20 acres of planted forest will fur- 

 nish* all the fuel needed on a farm of 160 acres, besides producing 

 lumber for the renewal of the farm buildings. Many Kansas and 

 Nebraska farmers have in twenty years grown cottonwood trees 

 large enough for sawlogs. Mr. W. D. Rippey, of Severance, Kans., 

 cut 200,000 feet of cottonwood lumber a few years ago from trees of 

 his own planting. Mr. Rippey's plantations Avere on uplands where 

 the soil is not particularly well adapted to the growth of cottonwood, 

 and, when lumbered, were but little more than a quarter of a century 

 old. 



On the farm of Mr. T. F. Eastgate, near Larimore, N. Dak., in 

 the lied River Valley, a belt of planted cottonwood trees, supple- 

 mented by a dense undergrowth of wild plum bushes, acts as a wind- 

 break and snow catcher, causing a snowdrift to form in winter 

 over the open field, which is devoted to alfalfa. In the summer of 

 190-1 Mr. Eastgate harvested alfalfa hay from this field at the rate 

 of more than 5 tons per acre. 



Besides serving as a windbreak and snow catcher, thus making 

 the growth of alfalfa possible on this farm, the forest plantation 

 has produced cordwood during its twenty-one years of life at the 

 rate of 4.74 cords per acre per annum. 



The* successful growth of alfalfa on 10 per cent of the area of this 

 region would double the earning power of every acre of land in the 

 Red River Valley; and, since the thermometer here sometimes falls 

 as low as 50 below zero, it is possible to grow this extremely val- 

 uable forage only by utilizing some contrivance like Mr. Eastgate's 

 windbreak, to catch the snowdrifts and form during the winter a 

 protecting blanket over the plants. 



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