PLANNING THE FARM IO5 



sections, belts or clumps of trees grouped throughout the 

 farmstead for a protection from hot, southwest winds 

 are also desirable and they add beauty. Trees for shade 

 and to reduce the summer temperature of the home often 

 are important, and foresight in planting the proper kinds 

 of trees in the best places is wise. Some farms have 

 been unfortunately planned, and the buildings so placed 

 that it is very difficult to locate groves and clumps of 

 trees where they are most needed. Not infrequently the 

 dwelling or the barn buildings, or both, are located so 

 close to a public road on the west or north that there is 

 no room for a timber belt. A similarly fatal mistake is 

 often made by placing the buildings on the top of a hill 

 that slopes to the north or west. This last arrangement 

 is especially undesirable if the hillside is gravelly or 

 otherwise unsuited to the rapid growth of trees for shel- 

 ter, shade and ornament. 



Farmers who enter timbered lands are too apt to cut 

 away all trees near their buildings. The necessity for 

 removing trees from their fields seems to develop a de- 

 sire for destroying trees. Many a farmhouse in the 

 timbered regions has been placed on a hill, the trees 

 have been cut away all around, and no protection left on 

 the north and west sides, thus changing a cozy nook 

 into a blank opening, having only a house instead of a 

 cozy home. Trees may yet be planted, however, and 

 the farm made homelike. 



It is often an advantage to have the farmstead near a 

 public road, as this facilitates communication with the 

 outer world. The wife likes to have a glimpse of passers- 

 by, and the neighborly call of a friend who can drop in 

 is pleasant to all members of the family. The free de- 

 livery of mail and the public conveyance of children to 

 the consolidated rural school, which should be the rule in 

 every farm community, also are less expensive and more 

 satisfactory when the house is not too far from the high- 



