142 Horticultural Department. [Bulletin 121 



HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. 



ALBERT DICKENS, M. S., Horticulturist. 



Trees for the Sanded Areas. 



IN MAKING plans for utilizing land which has been damaged by 

 floods, the forest-trees deserve careful consideration. There is little 

 question as to the success of trees in such locations, and but little as 

 to their ultimate value. Land that is so badly sanded as to require 

 manuring before it contains sufficient humus to support crops of 

 grass and grain will support some species of trees. One great advan- 

 tage in planting such soil to trees is that when once started the dan- 

 ger of blowing is obviated. In growing grain or fodder crops upon 

 such land, there must be for many years the danger of its blowing 

 badly, which is certain to injure its value very considerably. The 

 particles of organic matter in various stages of decomposition are, 

 when partially dry, very light, and certain to be blown away if ex- 

 posed to the wind. Experience in farming sandy land has taught 

 that severe blowing reduces fertility to a very marked extent. In 

 planning for the use of such land, the factor of certainty is much 

 greater with tree crops than with annual crops. Practically all of the 

 flooded land is so low that tree roots will reach the strata of constant 

 moisture in a very short time, which in itself insures certain, and, in 

 most cases, rapid growth. The protection of the land from blowing 

 is one of the necessary factors in improving it, and trees will do this 

 more certainly than any other crop. 



In many cases, where a deep deposit of sand has been made, there 

 is danger of the land being badly washed by high water. A volume 

 of water which would have occasioned little damage prior to the great 

 flood of last year would now probably cause considerable washing of 

 the banks, and a growth of trees along and near the bank would to 

 some extent lessen this danger. 



The principal objection to planting forest-trees as a crop is that 

 considerable time must elapse before any part of the crop can be mar- 

 keted. In the case of the flooded areas, this objection is certainly less 

 forceful than in case of good farm lands, for, with much of it, any 

 crop secured will be a light one and return at best but small profits. 

 In view of the facts that flooded lands must be carefully handled in 

 order to improve their texture and fertility, and that considerable- time 



