Show I Pr 3 State at I Ir r rs It r r Peer 4 n fi r Row ow n ast t Howl vl DALLAS Out in the prairie pran pral tie lie states farmers arm ers have planted wore more than million trees in 15 years These are the states where settlers once complained there was was was' nothing but a barbed wire fence to break minute mile-a-minute winds from the North Pole Now says Louis P. P Merrhl Merrill regional regional re re- gional soil conservation director for Texas Louisiana Arkansas and Oklahoma the interest in tree windbreaks windbreaks wind wind- breaks is greater and keener inmany in inmany inmany many localities than ever before Blinding dust storms in many of the plains states have emphasized I the need for more trees The Abilene Tex Reporter-News Reporter says its area is undergoing the most I prolonged drouth in 30 years The I year four-year rain deficiency since 1944 I is almost as great as a normal years year's fall of 2517 inches Harry Holt the Reporter-News' Reporter farm editor says that other parts of the Southwest are even drier Irrigation projects have failed tailed Farmers had a difficult time planting planting planting plant plant- ing wheat in west Texas The drouth hr hrs s forced livestock off some ranges until only half the normal number remain Farmers Dread Storms Large sections have been swept by roaring choking sandstorms Farmers and city people alike dread them They are an awesome phe phe- When sandstorms become become become be be- come prolonged and severe a dut durt t bowl develops Some farm farmers rs hope the trees are I insurance against this dust bowl threat They remember the when whole sections were made as I I barren as the Sahara Some want trees for wind breaks to protect I growing crops even when theres there's no threat of sandstorms Some just want to look at trees I The popular conception of the project as a wall of ot I trees from Mexico to Canada was wasa I a product of imagination born Ind in d dust sJ bo bowl days ys says Merrill trill No I II I one In au ever tm tn ld of the project that way I The windbreak plan plana a a term preferred by conservation authorities ties ties ties-as as part of ot a coordinated soil- soil conservation program has spread to the Rio Grande valley in Texas northeastern Arkansas and the gulf coast prairie region of ot Texas and Louisiana Plan Includes California The plan has reached even to California where citrus growers have established 2000 miles of protective protective pro pro- protective plantings for their orchards and to Wisconsin which has nearly miles of such plantings No signs of a continuous shelter- shelter belt have appeared across the na na- tion Tree planting has been a matter matter mat- mat j ter for individual farmers In some cases efforts have been made to place the program on a conservation district basis Generally the projects are a success success suc suc- cess according to farmers But in some areas notably that around Lubbock Tex the program has been abandoned Dry weather insects and have done away with most of me tine trees Talks with farmers and conservation conservation conservation conser conser- men show that the program while practical has put more mon money in the farmers farmer's pocket but bu wind-breaks wind certainly are no cure cure- all Says Merrill The planting ol of tree wind-breaks wind is one practice o of many used for control of wind erosion erosion erosion eros eros- ion in localities to which they ar are adapted |