142 FOREST PLANTING. 



body of water, and so far as opportunity has favored ob- 

 servation, its benefits are conferred under similar relative 

 conditions. The parching effect of these winds sweeping 

 unobstructed over the vast extent of the plains, after be- 

 ing robbed of what moisture they might previously have 

 contained, in their passage across the mountains, is suf- 

 ficient to account for the lack of vegetation, and wherever 

 the attempt is made to restore the soil to a cultivable 

 condition, the first step should be to counteract their 

 blighting influence. The ridges and uplands should 

 therefore be planted with such varieties of trees as are 

 found most hardy and least affected, and the Northern 

 and Eastern slopes thus protected, might then be planted 

 with those requiring shelter, with great certainty of suc- 

 cessful results. If the slopes were roughly terraced, as 

 they might be, with a plow, at no great cost, the object 

 would be greatly promoted, by the more permanent re- 

 tention of the moisture from rainfalls. As an additional 

 aid to this end, wherever possible a thorough system of 

 mulching should be adopted. Few persons, even among 

 the practical horticulturists, are aware of the value of 

 this process, when properly performed. I have seen 

 it practised extensively on coffee plantations in Cuba, and 

 have myself applied it to vineyards and pear orchards in 

 New Jersey, with surprising results. But what I mean is 

 a very different process from simply mulching around each 

 tree in a circle equal to the extent of the branches. The 

 whole ground must be covered, to a depth sufficient to 

 prevent the growth of weeds and grass, to supersede the 

 necessity of cultivation between the rows, and to retain 



