Beautifying the Farmstead. 41 



live stock by providing trees in the cattle yards. The finer and better 

 the trees about a farmstead the more the attention is likely to be 

 attracted and the greater the impression of homelikeness. A single 

 tree is often sufficient to make a place attractive. (Fig. 45.) 



Trees, then, are of great importance in giving an attractive appear- 

 ance to the farmstead as well as in making it a more enjoyable place 

 in which to live by providing Avelcome shade and protection from 

 undesirable winds. Trees should be planted with the possibilities 

 of this twofold use clearly in mind. In most of the country north of 

 the 4()th parallel there is need of protection from the cold northwest 

 winds of winter and also of shade about the buildings in summer. 

 To meet the former requirement groups or clumps of trees should 

 be so located that they break the force of these objectionable winter 

 winds, while at the same time they occupy the least possible area 



FIG. 45. A single tree is often sufficient to make a place attractive. 



of tillable land. In the hilly parts of this region many farm build- 

 ings are built in the lee of a rise of ground or close against the side 

 of a hill, so that there is less need of shelter planting. In the eastern 

 and extreme western parts of the country such shelter plantings 

 would be more effective if made largely of evergreen trees, especially 

 those which normally hold their lower limbs, but in the central 

 Prairie and Plains regions the moisture conditions in winter are 

 such that only the hardiest deciduous trees will succeed. Where 

 such shelter is needed the buildings should be so located with 

 respect to it that not only will the trees give the needed protection 

 but also form a background or setting for the buildings from as 

 many points as possible. In addition to the trees providing the shel- 

 ter, smaller flowering trees can be used in front to give an added 

 interest to the planting. In other large areas, particularly in the 

 western part of the country, where protection is needed from the 

 drying southwest w 7 inds, a similar use can be made of shelter plant- 

 ings. It is often possible to transform an apparently barren waste 



