NEED OF TIMBER-BELTS FOR FARM PROTECTION. 279 



follow his own tastes, or adapt bis planting to secure the greatest profit in timber or 

 protection to his own farm, planting about one-tenth of his land with trees, it is 

 probable that all the desirable ends which we have been considering will be gained, 

 and the landscape sufficiently diversified to be pleasing to the eye. 



Here then * * * we have two pictures presented to us. In the one, we look into 

 the future, and see wide-spread desolation, an extended treeless country, vis ted by 

 destructive storms, by severe droughts, with its streams dried up, and food for maa 

 and beast in such scarcity that the poor can scarcely obtain a supply. In the other, 

 we see a charming landscape, a rich fertile country, a population enjoying all the 

 blessings wtiich flow from peace and plenty. 



The following suggestions concerDing shelter-belts are oifered by 

 Messrs. H. M. Thompson and Son, of Milwaukee, Wis.: 



It has been fonnd that belts from 7 to 8 rods in width are, all things taken together, 

 the best. These belts should be planted on the outside with some evergreen whose 

 roots strike deep into the ground and do not spread near the surface, and whose 

 leaves and branches will afford protection from the winter winds. In the center 

 can be placed the deciduous trees. If, however, the farmer wishes first to experiment, 

 and should think belts of this width entail too much cost and labor, belts of two or 

 three rows will be found to make remunerative returns, and even one row planted, say 

 not more than 6 feet apart, will give rich returns in increase of crops, and add very 

 much to the attractions of the estate. The trees for planting should be those best 

 adapted to the soil and situation, and will vary much with different localities. There 

 are, however, certain trees, such as the larch, Scotch and pitch pine, that are so well 

 adapted to dry soils, rich or poor, and the Norway spruce, Scotch, Austrian, and white 

 pines, American arbor-vitiae and ash, which are best for moist, rich soils, and which so 

 fully meet the wants of the farmer that they should always form a large portion of his 

 planting. Belts composed of Scotch pine, Norway spruce, white ash, and European 

 larch, planted from the outside of the belt, in the order named, have been found to 

 meet, in almost every particular, the need for which they are planted, and to afford to 

 the farmer every protection in the way of timber that he can want. The value of such 

 a timber-belt is felt very early, and cuttings for stakes, hoop-poles, bean-poles, fuel, 

 &c., begin much earlier than may be thought; while the after-products of hop-poles, 

 telegraph-poles, railroad-t es, and lumber for general use follow year by year, and are 

 a constant annual source of profit. 



Professor H. H. McAfee, formerly of the Iowa Agricultural College, 

 a close observer in forest-culture, in an article on shelter-belts,' remarks 

 that prairie-farms need shelter mosc on the west, next on the north, next 

 on the south, while their usefulness on the east is not so great, though 

 sufficient to call for planting. A good combination for an evergreen 

 belt is 2 or 3 rows of white pine for center, 2 rows of Scotch or Aus- 

 trian pine on each side, and 2 rows of red cedar or arbor- vitoe outside of 

 these, making 10 or 11 rows, and giving, by different rates of growth, a 

 belt with a conical cross-section, and limbs from the ground up. Another 

 good evergreen combination would be ISTorway spruce for center, white 

 spruce next, and black spruce and red cedar or arbor-vitee outside. 

 These kinds were hard^- in Iowa, except in too great drought. A shelter- 

 belt of cheap soft wood may be made of two rows of gray or white wil- 

 low, flanked by one row of Lombardy poplar on each side, rows 8 feet 

 apart. Willow alone is apt to spread too much, and this poplar alone is 

 apU to lose its side branches, but thus combined, the poplar, which is 

 always erect, holds the willow up and the willow grows twigs enough 

 to make a fair barrier. But any liii)d of tree, except perhaps such thinly- 

 foliaged trees as the walnut and coffee-nut, will make fair shelter-belts, 

 if enough width is given them. At least 10 rows of any of the maples, 

 birches, poplars, or other common woods should be put in the belts, or 8 

 rows of white or scarlet oak, which hold leaves in winter. Where road- 

 side planting is done to obviate snow-drifting in winter or to furnish 

 shade and shelter in summer, less rows are needed. 



' Iowa Horticultural Report, lri75, p. 292. 



