368 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



produce no grass, which can only be clothed with verdure again 

 by first planting trees upon them. 



Another fact not generally known to farmers is that trees 

 will make a profitable growth on lands that have been so ex- 

 hausted by cropping or even by washing that they will not pro- 

 duce a crop of grain that will pay for cultivating, and also on 

 wet, cold lands that would not produce grain without drainage. 

 It is also true of some varieties of timber, at least, and on some 

 lands that more grass will be produced with the trees growing 

 than if the land was bare. This is especially true of lands that 

 have a steep southern slope, so as to receive the rays of the sun 

 almost vertically, for without shade the grass will be burned out. 

 These southern slopes when planted in timber produce the ear- 

 liest pasture, for the fallen leaves protect the grass through the 

 winter, and it starts early and makes a large growth before the 

 trees leave out in the spring. Botany teaches us that plants 

 have their affinities and dislikes, and locust-trees and blue grass 

 illustrate the first, for while this grass may not be as nutritious 

 when grown in a locust plantation, it produces as large a crop, 

 and on some lands very much more, than if there were no trees 

 growing. 



What Trees to Plant. The tree planter must be gov- 

 erned by his soil and needs in determining this question. It 

 would be unwise to plant largely of varieties that do not grow 

 naturally in your locality, at least until they had been tested. 

 In all localties where the black locust flourishes it will without 

 doubt furnish valuable timber, and be ready for market sooner 

 than any other. Where a quick growth is wanted for a shelter 

 belt or where the object is to grow a supply of fire-wood as soon 

 as possible, I doubt if any thing better than the soft maple can 

 be had, although in some localities the box elder or cotton-wood 

 might be preferable, or on wet soils some variety of willow. 



On many farms there are fields which might be fenced with 

 lines of osage hedge and these allowed to grow into timber, 

 while at the same time they were utilized for fences. In other 

 localities, where evergreens flourish, they will be found profit- 

 able. When the object is to establish a permanent forest, with- 



