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dissipated as where the winds are checked. Hence the value of the 
windbreak which reduces both the evaporation from the soil and the 
transpiration from the plant, for transpiration is also accelerated by 
the motion of the plant under the influence of wind. 
The hot winds, which are equally as characteristic of this forestless 
region as the blizzards, sap the moisture out of the soil as well as out 
of plant, beast, and man, for both are dry. Itis summer drought as well 
as winter drought that we have here to contend with ; and since at least 
the hot winds have been proved to originate within this very region (see 
a very full paper on the “ Hot Winds of the Plains,” by George E. Cur- 
tis, Kansas State Boardof Agriculture, report 1890) and are undoubtedly 
due to its nakedness, we come to the conclusion that forest cover will 
not only check the sweep of these winds and thereby the excessive evap- 
oration, but the very cause of these winds may eventually be wiped 
out. 
What do we learn from these considerations to help us in forest- 
planting on the plains? Plainly at least these two propositions: 
(1) That forest plantations in large blocks have more chance of success 
than small clumps of single trees, since large plantations alone are ca- 
pable of becoming self-sustaining and of improving their conditions of 
growth by their own influence upon moisture conditions of the soil and 
air. 
(2) That we must not only plant densely—much more densely than is 
the common practice—but in the selection of kinds give predominance 
to such as are capable of quickly and persistently shading the ground, 
creating an undergrowth and cover that will prevent evaporation and 
thus make the planting of the light-foliaged, quick-growing valuable 
timbers possible. 
NEED OF COOPERATIVE ACTION, 
I can not here refrain from expressing my sympathy for those in the 
front, who struggle to conquer single-handed these vast and fertile but 
climatically ill-favored regions. While their reclamation certainly does 
not appear to me an impossible undertaking, it seems almost hopeless 
to expect it from the pygmy efforts of the pioneer settler, lost almost in 
this endless treelessness. 
Without means, without knowledge, without a systematic organiza- 
tion, without a well-conceived and methodically executed plan, without 
codperative effort in close battle front, victory, if attainable, must be 
bought by many repulses, disappointments, failures, and even those 
that might gain a firm foothold may in the end succumb, because their 
neighbors failed to support their flanks. 
I believe that forest-planting is one of the necessary requisites to 
permanently reclaiming this vast domain; I believe that reforesting 
this large area, deforested by fire, buffalo, and consequent desiccation, 
is not impossible. But I also believe that success can be forced only 
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