Making Trees Work on a Farm 



ONE little belt of trees four rows deep, is to a naked 

 40-acre field, what a last year's overcoat is to a tramp. 

 It's protection. The fields of this state need the trees 

 just as much as a tramp needs an overcoat and there's not 

 going to be full comfort for either till they get what they 

 need. So says W. T. Cox, state forester. 



Within the past few years, foresters and agriculturists have 

 been preaching with all the energy of paid spell-binders, the 

 doctrine of tree-planting about fields, as a means of protec- 

 tion and for the furtherance of crop production. Some of 

 these rainy Wednesday mornings, the agrarian who wishes to 

 get the most from the ground with the least exertion, will 

 begin realizing the value of such shelter belts and will pay as 

 much attention to growing them as he does to growing wheat 

 or sheep or other articles which cause the city folks to swear 

 at the high cost of living and censure the middleman. Then 

 such agrarian will call the hired hand, go out and gather in 

 some willows, cottonwoods, box elders, green ash or elm trees 

 and have them safely planted before he conies back to his 

 bacon and tea. It may take him several days to get them 

 gathered and get them planted, but in the end they will fat- 

 ten his bank account like green corn from the silo fattens the 

 steers. 



Weeds Driven By Wind Travel Toward the Northeast. 



A row of trees four rows deep will have an appreciable 

 effect on a full 40-acre tract of land. Evaporation in a field 

 increases with the square of the velocity of the wind, or, in 

 other words, if a shelter belt is provided, it will reduce the 

 velocity of the wind across the field one-half and reduce 

 evaporation four times. Weeds in the Dakotas and Western 

 Minnesota on any field, will take the equivalent of 12 bushels 

 of wheat to the acre, moisture and nutriment Add to this 



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