204 CAMPBELL'S SOIL CULTURE MANUAT 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



TREES ON THE FARM. 



Plant trees! It is old advice, and ever good. It was 

 the best possible advice for the pioneers of New England 

 when they planned their farm homes; it was still better 

 for those who went into the valleys of the Ohio and Mis- 

 sissippi and converted the prairies into gardens. And 

 so it is the best advice to be given those who are making 

 homes on the great semi-arid plains o/ the west. Wherever 

 the trees will grow and flourish there can be agricultural 

 pursuits ; and trees can be grown anywhere in* the semi- 

 arid country. 



Shade trees and for shelter and ornament ought to be 

 on every farm of this region. We have abundantly dem- 

 onstrated, and can furnish the evidence that will convince 

 the most skeptical that fine trees for this purpose can be 

 grown in five years in regions regarded generally as the 

 most unfavorable for tree planting. And what is there 

 that can add more to making farm life pleasant and sat- 

 isfactory than a lot of shade trees surrounding the farm 

 house, so that at the noon hour or in idle moments the 

 farmer may rest out in the open air in the shade of a fine, 

 tree. Those who have first looked upon the barren plains 

 of the west have regarded this as only a dream; but the 

 dream is a reality on hundreds of farms. 



Then as to trees for fruit, and with these the small 

 shrubbery of the garden for small fruits of various kinds, 

 and the vines. Good orchards are being grown in the semi- 



