SOME PRESS BULLETINS. 
15 
the seed is put down into moist soil, while hand work is apt to leave 
seed covered with loose, dry soil, in which case the seed will be de¬ 
layed in coming up and a poor stand result. If the seed is planted 
deep (not less than five or six inches), this trouble will be to a certain 
extent avoided. If machines for planting are not available, the hand 
potato planter used in the East will do the work fairly well. 
With the limited amount of moisture that is available for the crop, 
the plants will do better if planted at a greater distance apart than is 
usually practiced. If the hand planter is to be used, the field can be 
marked out as for corn and planted in rows both ways. If the ma¬ 
chine is used, rows from forty inches to four feet apart with hills 
twenty inches to two feet apart in the row will probably give the best 
results. 
Cultivation .—After the potatoes are planted, the success or failure 
of the crop will, to a large extent, depend upon the cultivation given. 
The first cultivation should be given soon after the potatoes are 
planted, before the plants are out of the ground. Set the cultivator to 
run as deeply as possible to loosen and aerate the soil. The culti¬ 
vator should be immediately followed by the harrow to smooth the 
surface and re-establish the soil mulch. After the potatoes are up, 
frequent shallow cultivation should be given till the vines become too 
large to work. 
WIND=BREAKS AND SHELTER BELTS FOR THE PLAINS 
BY B. O. LONGYEAR. 
Wind breaks, as the term implies, are plantations of trees or 
similar plants intended to check the force of the wind. They may be 
used to lessen the drying effects of hot winds in summer to prevent 
injury or loss to fruit in autumn, and to shut off the cold winds of win¬ 
ter from yards and buildings. Wind-breaks tor the last purpose are 
usually called shelter belts, and are often made several rods in width. 
' The location of the wind-break will, of course, depend on the 
direction of the prevailing winds. For general purposes the' north 
and west sides of the area to be protected are the ones along which 
the trees are planted in most portions of this state. Shelter belts should 
be planted far enough from buildings so that drifting snows on the 
inner side will not be an inconvenience. 
The simplest kind of wind-break is one formed by planting some 
one species of tree in a single row. If a tall-growing tree is 
used alone in this way there is a tendency for the trees to spindle up 
and in time the trunks lose their lower branches. Such an arrange¬ 
ment may do very well for a time, or where only partial checking 
of the wind’s force is desired. But where more complete shelter 
