112 Our Field and Forest Trees 



and in buying a farm one of the first questions 

 asked is, Has it a grove? Out there, a good 

 grove or wood-lot is said to increase the value of 

 the farm to the extent of about a thousand dollars 

 for every acre planted with trees. Its uses are 

 many. 



Tall trees near buildings are protection from 

 lightning. A grove, sheltering the barnyard, will 

 make the live stock much more comfortable in 

 winter, and it will help to save the farmer's grain, 

 as animals protected from the cold require less 

 food. In summer, a small plot fenced off the 

 wood-lot will be a pleasant place in which farm 

 animals may rest. A belt of trees, called a wind- 

 break, planted on the north side of an orchard, 

 often saves the buds from being nipped by spring 

 frosts; and the grove might supply the farmer 

 with posts and fuel. The farmer can have a 

 grove not only lovely and pleasant in its life, but 

 valuable when the time for its downfall arrives — 

 as timber. His trees can be a source of profit, like 

 his other crops, and can be raised, moreover, 

 where nothing else will prosper. 



Tree planting in the West has been too often 

 done unwisely — this is the reason so few planta- 

 tions have been satisfactory. In places where 

 fence posts had to be brought a great distance, 

 and therefore cost a great price, yards have been 

 filled with trees which did not produce strong, 

 straight branches for post timber. Trees that 



