Kamp 

 Wheat 

 Farms - 



Windbreak. 

 Broadwate: 

 County 



CONSERVATION CHARLEY — Harry Corey 



Z-0-O-O-O-O-O-O-M, Swish, Flap, Flap, Flap, and another gust of wind 



sends a flock of soil particles winging into the wild bliB yonder. 



A' most any windstorm worthy of the name results in swirling clouds of dust de- 

 parting from cropped fields. Each swirling cloud~ieaves the fields a littler poorer. 



On many soils there is 10 to 20 times as much humus and phosphate in the scnl that 

 blows from a field as in the heavier particles that remain hghi^. Humus anophes- 

 phate are two of the most important items in good, fertile, productive land. That 

 land flying through the air is mighty fertile but it doesn't produce any crops. 



Strip cropping and stubble mulching are the two most important dryland conservation 

 practices for keeping cropped soils at home. These two practices affe^qtTite effective 

 in good crop years. But when rain and snow are scarce and little stubble is produced 

 much of the soil's protection is lost. In such years lots of topsoil, lots of humus, ' 

 and lots of phosphate can sprout wings. In such years a third conservation practice, 

 field windbreaks, can more than earn its keep. 



A field windbreak is nothing more or less than rows of trees planted along the edge 

 of a cropped field. On larger fields rows of trees at intervals across the field might 

 also be necessary to insure full protection. 



Montana has very few of these field windbreaks. On the other hand, our neighbors 

 in the Dakotas and Canada have made good use of them — and are reaping the benefits. 



Most soils will not blow until wind currents move 'faster than 15 to 20 miles per hour 

 at the ground line. Experiments have shown that a good windbreak can slow a 30 

 mile per hour wind down to less than half that speed. And the wind is slowed down 

 as far out in the field as 15 to 20 times the height of the trees— the taller the trees 

 the greater the protection. 



Windbreaks probably won't increase yields every year. But over a period of years the 

 results are unmistakable. A lot of humus and phosphate and nitrogen that might other- 

 wise have departed via the air lanes is kept at home. As a result the field remains 

 more productive and fertile than it would have been had the winds peeled off a little 

 topsoil every year. Being more fertile it can produce larger crops year after year. 



Field windbreaks of course, won't work everywhere. Small, irregularly shaped 

 fields might not lend themselves to windbreaks. But most of our larger cropped 

 fields could make good use of the protection which trees can offer. 



With planning and care field windbreaks can be as successful as farmstead shelter- 

 belts — and will repay the effort many times over. 



c 



