FORESTRY AND CONSERVATION 383 



nia that will be perfectly effective, the belts should be placed on all 

 four sides of the area which is to be protected. 



The belts advised in the model plan are of sufficient width to 

 produce all the timber that will be needed on a farm of 160 acres, 

 while the fields are sufficiently narrow to be protected from winds by 

 the single lines of trees occupying the fence rows. Experiments 

 have demonstrated that a windbreak, on level land, will be effective 

 for a distance of at least ten times its height. For perfect protection 

 on the model farms herein described, the trees in the windbreak must 

 reach a height of at least 50 feet. 



An objection to growing trees along fence lines has been made 

 by farmers on the ground that such trees steal the soil nourishment 

 from the crops which are on the edges of the fields. It is true that 

 healthy, vigorous trees make great demands on the soil moisture in 

 their immediate vicinity, but wherever their influence is felt as wind- 

 breaks they conserve enough moisture, by preventing rapid evapora- 

 tion, to more than pay for all that they use. By planting a deep- 

 rooted crop like alfalfa under the shade of the fence-line trees, good 

 returns from the land may be secured in spite of the fact that the 

 trees absorb a part of its moisture. It is a great mistake to begrudge 

 a useful tree the space it occupies, and particularly so in the naturally 

 treeeless prairies of the Middle West. 



Special Features of Forest Planting A bout the Farmstead. On 

 rare occasions it is found to be impracticable to concentrate the dif- 

 ferent elements of the farmstead in one place. In the great majority 

 of cases, however, it is both practicable and economical to have a 

 farmstead, and the choice of its site is of the first importance to the 

 landowner. If the farmsteads of several adjoining sections were laid 

 out in accordance with the plan herein suggested, four farmhouses 

 would be grouped at each crossroads corner, bringing neighbors to- 

 gether in a little settlement. The position at the crossroads is also 

 likely to facilitate the reaching of church, school, and town. An ar- 

 gument against such an arrangement is the possibility of its leading 

 to neighborhood quarrels. 



In many cases, however, uniformity of soil does not exist. The 

 farmstead must then be located with reference to the adaptability of 

 the soil to the forest growth, since a farmstead without trees for 

 shade and shelter is not worthy of the name. The forest planter, 

 therefore, is often the one to determine the location of a permanent 

 site for the farmhouse, and he may also lay out at least the plan of 

 the farmstead itself. 



Windbreak belts in connection with a farmstead form an asset 

 that is none the less real because the actual money value may not 

 easily be determined. The protection to an orchard afforded by for- 

 est trees is valuable, since late frosts are not likely to blight the fruit 

 blossoms of a protected orchard. Forest belts on the south and west 

 sides of the farmstead give ample protection against the parching 

 blasts from the southwest the hot winds of summer, which are de- 

 structive to fruit in many parts of the country. It is to be under- 

 stood, however, that the forest plantations herein recommended are 



