272 Elementary Principles of Agriculture 



cutting out the less desirable forms as the growth 

 thickens. Varieties for wood-lot planting should be 

 selected to suit the locality. Hardy catalpa, black 

 locust, black walnut, honey locust, Bois d'Arc, or 

 Osage orange, mulberries, and many other sorts, have 

 proven to be well suited to many sections of the South 

 and West. Not every wood-lot has turned out a success; 

 but a larger number have. Many failures are due to neg- 

 lect or to the use of species unsuited to the conditions. 

 389a. A farmer planted a large acreage of bottom land to hardy 

 catalpas, in rows six feet apart and four feet apart in the row. At 

 the end of ten years he found the books showed the following items: 

 Cost of rent on land for ten years, seedlings, planting, cultivating, 

 trimming, marketing, etc., $56. Value of stakes and small posts 

 secured, early thinning, $63. Stock on hand: 678 posts, first class, 

 10 cents each; 712 posts, second class, 7 cents each; 616 posts, 

 third class, 4 cents each. What was the approximate value per 

 acre per year of the crop? 



390. Windbreaks. In open regions, windbreaks, 

 formed by growing shrubs and trees, have been found to 

 be quite beneficial because of the protection they give 

 to growing crops and orchards, or to stock. Windbreaks 

 reduce the evaporation from the soil and from the 

 plants themselves. They often prevent the drifting of 

 the soil in open, sandy regions. They also protect stock 

 from cold winds in winter and hot winds in summer. In 

 regions that most need windbreaks, it is most difficult to 

 get the trees to grow. The plan that has proven most 

 satisfactory is to make plantings of arborvitse, locusts, 

 Osage orange, red cedar, blackberries, green ash, or other 

 species in wide rows and cultivate the trees until they 

 become thoroughly established. It is not advisable how- 

 ever, to use cedars in windbreaks for apple orchards, 

 because they aid in the spread of the apple rust. 



