FORESTRY AND CONSERVATION 409 



protection is, and in general will be, the primary object, planting 

 should be done from the commercial standpoint, since by using only 

 profitable species it will easily be possible to secure the double ad- 

 vantages of shelter and ornament, and at the same time to derive a 

 revenue from all the plantations. 



Until quite recently forest planting has declined or was at a 

 standstill in the older farming regions of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, 

 and Kansas, and the cutting of mature plantations offset the new 

 planting that was being done. Shelterbelts are increasing in the 

 newer farming districts of the Dakotas and Oklahoma, and, owing 

 to their evident value to plantations, interest in planting is now 

 being revived. This growth in interest is shown by figures from 

 forty-five of the principal commercial nurseries which handle forest- 

 tree seedlings. In 1906 they sent out 24,530,929 young trees; in 

 1907, 38,540,202; and in 1908, 40,791,193. Seventy per cent of 

 these trees were hardwoods and 30 per cent conifers. The advan- 

 tage and the necessity of having a certain proportion of the land 

 in agricultural districts under forest cover have been clearly demon- 

 strated; 5 per cent of the prairie region should be forested, and 

 farther west on the plains 3 per cent may very well be devoted to 

 tree growing. 



The Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture is pre- 

 pared to render practical assistance to farmers and tree planters, 

 and since the opportunities have been foremost in the treeless States, 

 the first efforts of the Forest Service were directed toward this re- 

 gion. There has been a wide distribution of literature in these 

 States, and for several years Kansas and Nebraska have received 

 more of the Forest Service literature than any other States. In 

 Illinois planting is no longer being practiced so extensively as in 

 the past. The total area planted by the farmers of this State is 

 somewhat more than 15,000 acres, but the areas which might very 

 properly be devoted to tree growing aggregate some 1,500,000 acres. 

 The species chiefly used have been black walnut and hardy catalpa. 



Probably 125,000 acres have been devoted to timber growing 

 on the farms of Iowa. This is but a small fraction of the 2,000,000 

 acres which should be planted in order to keep the proper balance 

 between cultivated land and woodland, and here again forest plant- 

 ing seems to be on the wane. Species which have been planted 

 chiefly are, in the order of their predominance, silver maple, black 

 walnut, cottonwood, boxelder, willow, ash, elm, and catalpa. In 

 the western and southern prairie portions of Minnesota it is esti- 

 mated that there are nearly 1,200,000 acres which should be planted. 

 There have already been planted about 115,000 acres, and there is 

 now a slight increase in the extent of planting. The species which 

 are most commonly planted are boxelder, cottonwood, maple, wil- 

 low, ash, and elm. In North Dakota more than 1,500,000 acres 

 could very properly be planted with forest trees, in addition to the 

 52,000 acres which it is estimated have thus far been devoted to 

 this purpose. It is interesting to note that in general throughout 

 the entire State, which is a relatively new farming region, tree 



