2 MISC. PUBLICATION 4 3 4, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



of the prairie-plains, 2 this condition, aggravated by disastrous droughts 

 of recent years, has resulted in extensive blowing and wastage of the 

 best topsoil and the ruining of many farms. Public interest has 

 lately been awakened to the need of restoring vegetative cover to this 

 land by planting trees and shrubs and revegetation in general. 



The need for trees and shrubs in the prairie-plains area is funda- 

 mental — for the protection and beautification of farm homes and 

 schools, the reduction of wind erosion of fields, the protection of crops 

 by shelterbelts, the production of fuel and fence posts, and for the 



Figure 1. — Thrifty 2-year-old shelterbelt in Greer County, Okla., Chinese elm 

 at left, black locust at right. Height, 12 to 14 feet. Planted by Prairie 

 States Forestry Project, Forest Service. 



furnishing of food and cover for songbirds and upland game birds and 

 animals (figs. 1 and 2). The use of properly designed shrub wind- 

 breaks as snow traps to reduce drifting on highways is an additional 

 little-explored field with great possibilities. 



Most of the forest planting in the past has been in the eastern and 

 southern United States and has been aimed at bringing back the 

 pines, spruces, and other conifers over large areas devastated by 

 logging and repeated fires. The literature regarding the propagation 

 of conifer seedlings is extensive and authoritative; but information 

 concerning the seed and the propagation of the deciduous trees and 

 shrubs suitable for prairie-plains planting is rather meager. 



Tree planting on the prairie-plains received its greatest impetus 

 between 1873 and 1891 from the Timber Culture Act passed by 



2 The region specifically referred to in this bulletin does not include all of the true plains or the eastern 

 prairies, but is more or less on the dividing zone between the two areas. It includes certain parts of North 

 and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and north Texas, which lie between the 97th and I02d 

 meridians of longitude. 



