FUTURE FORESTRY IN IOWA 7 



wood, etc., was of secondary importance to the farmer. Some of 

 these original groves, after thirty to forty years' growth, have 

 been harvested and have surprised the owners in the money re- 

 turns produced. The yield in lumber, fuel and posts was inci- 

 dental inasmuch as the woodlot had served its purpose for 

 protection. Cottonwood windbreaks and woodlots have given 

 especially good returns when sawed into lumber. Numerous 

 instances are on record of farmers building a large part of their 

 farm buildings from timber planted by their own hands. 



Another feature of the woodlot and shelterbelt which cannot 

 justly be disregarded is its aesthetic value. The farmers of 

 Iowa today are modernizing their homes and making them more 

 attractive. The independent farmer of the present time will not 

 be required to live as the pioneers did, amid none of the con- 

 veniences of modern life, but will have a home which at least 

 approaches in convenience those of the towns and cities. If one 

 addition more than another adds attractiveness to the prairie 

 farmstead it is the timber which surrounds the. home grounds. 

 The aesthetic value is not imaginary it is a real value. A 

 prospective purchaser of a farm generally is willing to pay an 

 increased price for the aesthetic value afforded by the presence 

 of a good grove of trees adjoining the home buildings. 



Every farm owner in the treeless sections of Iowa should be 

 interested in the woodlot and shelterbelt. The planting, with a 

 little foresight, may be made to serve the several purposes of 

 shelter, production of forst products and adding attractiveness 

 to the farm. It will not only be a problem of planting the 

 shelterbelt but also a question of giving the planted area good 

 care. Most of the present planted groves in Iowa have grown 

 in spite of the owners' negligence or lack of proper instructions. 

 It is a mystery how many of the groves survived the trampling, 

 browsing and breakage caused by stock. The portion of the 

 woodlot which is to be used for protection against winds and 

 for production of timber should not be pastured. 



A problem also which confronts many farmers at the present 

 time is that of how to rejuvinate the old shelterbelt which was 

 made up entirely of quick-growing, short-lived species. Many 

 farmers desire to make the shelterbelt and woodlot a permanent 

 feature on the farm without going through the tedious process of 

 growing an entirely new grove after the old decadent trees have 



