SHRUBS FOR WILDLIFE 

 ON FARMS IN THE SOUTHEAST 



By Verne E. Davison, biologist, Biology Division, Soil Conservation Service 



The Right Place for Shrubs 



On many farms in the Southeast patches of briars and small scrubby 

 growth have been allowed to grow up in pastures, fields, and meadows, 

 where they interfere with good farming. Shrubs have therefore come 

 to be thought of all too often as plants that should be destroyed. 

 The areas they occupy are shrubbed out and burned in an attempt to 

 combat insects and to present an appearance of clean farming. This 

 treatment destroys ground cover and hastens erosion. It deprives 

 wildlife of food and shelter. It reduces the number of beneficial 

 insects but does not exterminate the noxious kinds. 



Shrubbing out and burning may be called fighting shrubs blindly. 

 It is easier to manage them. 



Shrubs may be managed so as to fit into patterns of neat, orderly 

 farming. Putting shrubs in the right place or leaving them there is 

 the first principle of such management. Shrubs belong at the edge of 

 woods, in fence rows, in hedges, on stream banks, along drainageways, 

 on steep slopes or rocky outcrops lying within cultivated fields. Here 

 they do not interfere with cropland, pasture, or woodland. They 

 enhance the beauty of the farm and the value of fields and woods. 

 They bear small fruits that can be used in making jellies and preserves. 

 They provide protective cover for eroded or erodible areas on many 

 sites not suitable for other vegetation. 



At the edges of fields and woods, on shrub-lined stream banks, 

 along hedges and shrubby fence rows, wildlife seeks food and cover. 

 Greater numbers of rabbits, bobwhite quail, and insectivorous birds 

 will be the reward of the farmer who keeps shrubs in the right place. 



Wildlife Borders 



Where Fields and Woodlands Meet 



The edges of fields adjacent to woodland are usually unproductive 

 and often severely eroded (fig. 1), for the tree roots extend into the 



Figure 1. — Unproduc- 

 tive borders such as 

 this are a common 

 sight. Wildlife finds 

 no home here, ero- 

 sion is severe, and 

 money spent in plant- 

 ing field crops is en- 

 tirelv wasted. 



