State Boahd of Forestry. 35 



to the soil conditions. If the bank is low and flat, sycamore and 

 elm may be set back of the willows. If conditions will warrant 

 trees of a higher commercial value than elm and sycamore should 

 be planted. The slope of the banks should be sown with bluegrass, 

 and if there is too much shade for bluegrass, they should be 

 planted with vines and shrubs that will endure shade, such as 

 American sarsaparilla, briars, cornels, bladder nut, wahoo, wafer 

 ash, etc. 



Neglect to fortify the banks of our streams means an annual 

 loss of many acres of valuable land, whereas if they were planted 

 with trees they would not only be protected, but would grow valu- 

 able timber. 



Issued January 16, 1911. 



[Press Bulletin No. 16.] 

 REPEAL THE LAW. 



Our wide-open ditches were once small creeks which have been 

 straightened and dug deeper and wider in order to facilitate 

 drainage. These wide creek-beds, together with the two broad 

 ridges of earth on each side of the ditch, usually occupy about 

 two rods of space. This space is waste land and produces nothing 

 but a crop of weeds. 



Now it is proposed to reclaim such waste land by planting 

 trees on each bank. If forest trees are planted, such species should 

 be selected as grow a deep root system, produce little shade and 

 have a high commercial value, such as black walnut, ash, hickory 

 and poplar. Orchard trees would have the advantage over forest 

 trees in that they would not grow so tall and would shade the ad- 

 jacent land less. If the ditch and its banks are narrow, the banks 

 could be planted with peach and plum trees. 



By planting trees, not only would the waste land be made re- 

 munerative, but the trees would assist in holding the banks. When 

 these ditches were dug the sides were left very steep, and subse- 

 quent rains, alternate freezing and thamng have loosened thou- 

 sands of tons of earth from the sides of the ditches, which has in 

 a greater part been washed away and the remainder deposited at 

 the bottom of the ditch to increase the cost of cleaning it out. 

 In the spring of the year it is not an unusual thing to see a stretch 

 of bank a foot in width slip into the ditch and be lost forever. 

 Wise landowners will see that ditch banks are protected by plant- 



