496 



Canadian Forestry Journal, Jpril, ipj6. 



The Great Northern has been doing 

 more of this work recently than any 

 of the other roads and doing it in a 

 very systematic way. Mr. Mouck's 

 report of the methods they were us- 

 ing and the results were most in- 

 teresting. He described their meth- 

 ods as follows : 



Wherever the snowbreak was to 

 be planted, the right of Avay was 

 widened sufficiently to keep the in- 

 side of the planting one hundred feet 

 from the centre. A strip fifty-six 

 feet wide is broken about four in- 

 ches deep and rolled or disked. This 

 is then backset to about the same 

 depth in the fall. The following 

 spring this same land is deep plow- 

 ed, from twelve to sixteen • inches 

 with a Spalding subsoil plow drawn 

 by eight horses. The next spring, 

 that is in the spring of the third 

 year, it is ready for planting. This 

 method was generally approved as 

 the most efficient. 



A'ursery Stock. 



The stock, raised in the company 

 nursery at Minot, was planted in 

 live rows eight feet apart and four 

 feet apart in the rows. A row of 

 shrubs on the outside, spaced closer, 

 two rows of willows and two rows 

 of some taller species. Eight feet of 

 cultivated ground was left on each 

 side of the plantation to serve as a 

 firebreak. The planting was done 

 by the section crews, and extra 

 gangs were needed. 



The shrubs found most satisfac- 

 tory were the caragana and the ar- 

 temisia, though the latter has not 

 been used extensively. The golden, 

 the laurel leaf and the white willow 

 have all been tried. The laurel leaf 

 was a little freer from insect attack 

 than the others. The cottonwood 

 had been used most for the taller 

 species on the inside, but had proved 

 of very little value as a snowbreak. 

 All seemed agreed that the willow 

 formed the most effective element in 

 the break and Mr. Mouck strongly 

 advocated a pure plantation of wil- 

 low, discarding the other species. 



He was anxious to get information 

 on the suitability of evergreens, but 

 very little experience with them was 

 available. He did not doubt that a 

 properly selected plantation, one 

 with a row or two of low, bushy 

 growth and a few rows of some 

 higher species, would stop the drifts 

 but had not experimented enough to 

 be able to say definitely what species 

 should be used. The others all 

 agreed that there was no question 

 of the satisfactory service of a live 

 snow fence and that the only prob- 

 lem was the selection of the most 

 suitable species and the determina- 

 tion of the best methods of planting 

 and soil preparation. The only 

 places where plantings have been 

 markedly unsuccessful are the alkali 

 spots and Mr. Mouck thought this 

 difficulty could be overcome by the 

 proper deep cultivation to break up 

 the hardpan. 



"Let the Trees -Do It." 



Mr. A\"elsh, of the Omaha, cited 

 the best examples of a live snow 

 fence that was really doing busi- 

 ness. About 1880 the Omaha plant- 

 ed groves for the protection of the 

 cuts on their main line in Minnesota. 

 These were of mixed species plant- 

 ed on land bought outside of the 

 right of way or on land where the 

 perpetual right to maintain a grove 

 was leased. The trees were culti- 

 vated for six or seven years, but no 

 care has been taken of them since. 

 For thirty years these groves have 

 absolutely pre^'ented snow trouble. 

 AVhile the other roads have been 

 laboring with the snow fences, the 

 Omaha has been sitting back and 

 letting the trees do the work. At a 

 very conservative figure, the cost of 

 maintaining snow fences for these 

 thirty years would have amounted 

 to ^35 per rod, or $11,200 per mile. 

 In one place where a cut was length- 

 ened, so as to extend beyond the 

 protection of the grove, trouble is 

 experienced every winter. This 

 testimony leaves no doubt of the 

 efficiency of the live snow fence. 



