Utilizing Barren Knolls And Other Waste Places And Forest And Wheat Culture

Krom the Korestry Conventlon proceedlng.] 'l'here ure very few farms In Smithern Micliigan that have not niore or less waste lund wliich coulUbe made vnluable ly the proper planting of trees. I have in nilnd steep liill-side and otlier slopes ' that have been strippc-d of timber, and whose upper soil has, by constant wnsliIng, been made to cover wlth silt the valleyi and levéis btlow. Huw many such sud blots deface the landscape of our southern counties? Thaee ujjly laudmarks might be made beauliful by plantInrwlth the common locuBt. Tuis tree will grow rapidly on ihe poorestsoil, and ia tlie best known (not excerting red cedai) for fence posta, It reproduces freely by euckers; is never barked by stock or inice; is no longer troubled to tmy t-xtent by the b ri-r, and will hold itselt'in imy soil. Muny of you have liraid the late Dr. Wurder teil of lus purchase in ühio of a fsrm of wora out sandy land that had b en turned out as worthless for general farining On thls Larm the re was originally a row of locust trees Uiting eaoh side of the hijjhway. These in time spread over the entile tract and Detted him, when cut for fence poste, three hundred dollars per acre. We often seo spots of fertile land cut off from fields by swamps, stream?, ravines and roads. These ehoujd be planted to black walnut or white oak, the gooi! qualities of wliich need no inention. Tliere are also marshy, spriny places that the owner cunnot cultívate. On these the taniarnck should be plantod, as it rmvs freely in such places. It is a uiost beautiful tree In early spring; is ürst class tor timber abovë grouiul lc1 makes faiiïy goodposts. These are not all the benefits - far from it - to be had from clothing these useless places in living green. Few comprehend the protectiou oí such wooded areas to the winter wlieat erop. A not able instance - for wliich I cun voucli - is aflordedon the farm of lüchard Green, Manchester, Michigan. He has grown large areas of winter wheat for over forty years on the same farm, cousisting ol about two hundred acres. Never has his erop yielded as low as tweoty busf.els per acie; the maximum forty-t-lght, six and one-half, and the average for the whole period has been twenty-cight and one half bushels. Now mark, ibis farm lias a couMinious belt of timber on the southwest and north eides. It would be i'iiteresliug to solve the probleni: How much land can be used tor forest wind-breaks and still produce the same amount of wheat on the balance? Mr. Garlield: - I have noticed a direct relation between a smnll foreet nrea- as n hedfje row or narrow tlraber belt and a wheat field. A mere brusti row in a neglected fence line would nffect a strip twenty rols wide when on the windward side of the field. Mr. : - How far apart cou'd one plant hedges or narrow timber belts and have all the :round protected fairly well ? Dr. Kedzle: - It is remarkable how well even a lace fence will bold snow. Hedges forty rods apart would be euffl ciently close to protect all the ground. Mr. Hnnnah: - Here comes in locality again. In the Traverse región we need nntliing U hold the snow. Mr. : - You may need sercens when your forests are jrone. Mr. Hiithawiiy : - I had a corn field, of wliich two-thirds was protected by a wind break. The othi-r third was more or los open to the winde On a strip lifteen rods wide nexl the wind-bre.ik there was no soft corn. On the next twenty five rods there was some soU rom, and 011 the remalnlng part of tne field over which the wind had a swtep, tbere was much soft corn. Mr. Baur: - In Germany they get down to the bottom of this subject. Tlu-y have tittteen schools of foFestiy and these rank witu the best schools they have. Wit must do tlie sanie. '1 Imtc should be chairs of foreetiy in every agricultural Bchool in the country. In 1858, I petltioned our Legislature to pass a law requiring all north and south roads to be lined on both sides with evergreen trees, and all cast and west roads to be treated iu the same way with deciduous and nut hearing trees. Nothing was, done, however. Mr. Cook:- In IUluola tliey let the Osage orange grow elghteen or twenty feet high. In many places the roads are blockadcd for weeks. The snow lodges on both sides of the hedire.