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Show LEAVES' from VS Planting for Windbreak In any unsheltered spot, whether on the wide and treeless areas of th Great Plains or in the equally wide and treeless stretches of the reclaimed desert areas, or in smaller small-er sections where, for one reason or another, there are few trees, it is of the greatest possible value to the farmer to plant a windbreak. In like manner, it is often of great importance to plant some sort of screen, either to hide unsightly views, to mark a boundary, or to provide a background for ornamental ornament-al plantings, for a pergola, or a summer house. Such a screen may be needed by any home owner, whether farmer, suburbanite, or city dweller. PLANTING THE SHELTER-BELT Authorities in the field of arboriculture arbor-iculture recommend that a windbreak, wind-break, or shelter-belt as it is fre- f quently called, consist of two or V three varieties of trees rather than just one, and that it be planted with tall trees in the center rows, somewhat some-what shorter ones in intermediate rows, and low-growing or shrubby ones on the outside rows. In the course of time such a planting comes to have the appearance of a green tent If, as is usually the case, it is important to secure a rapid growth, the center rows may be planted first to cottonwoods but since these are short-lived they should be replaced as promptly as possible by the longer-lived elms either the American Amer-ican or the Chinese variety. For intermediate rows, unless the soil is of heavy clay or low and wet, any of the following may be chosen: Honeylocust, Green ash, Hackberry, western yellow pine (Ponderosa) or Colorado spruce. For the low, outside rows, any of the following will do well on almost al-most any type of soil: Chokecherry lilac, service-berry, American wild plum, Tartarian honeysuckle or Russian olive. PLANTING FOR A SCREEN For a rather tall-growing screen any of the trees recommended for outside rows in the shelter-belt will serve. The Russian olive with its graceful, gray-green foliage is particularly par-ticularly attractive; choke-cherries and service-berries have the added advantage of yielding usable fruit, and the lilac is too well known to require re-quire discussion. SPACING THE SHELTER-BELT The usual spacing of trees in a shelterbelt is two to four feet in the row, for low-growing outside shrubs, and six feet for trees in the inner rows. Rows should lieTrom 8 to 12 feet apart. With such spacing, the treetops will in time interlace and lower branches also will grow so close together that they will effectually effectu-ally keep out the wind and stop drifting drift-ing snows. OBTAINING PLANTING STOCK Cottonwood seedlings are extremely extreme-ly hardy and may be pulled anywhere any-where and transplanted with success. suc-cess. Any of the willows (suited, of course, only to rather low, moist ground) will grow readily from cuttings. cut-tings. Aside from these species, it is better to buy nursery-grown stock rather than to try to transplant young trees from wild growth near by. The nursery stock usually has a much better root system than does the wild stock and hence endures transplanting much better. It is customary cus-tomary for nurseries to sell plant-' tag stock by height As a matter of fact height is less important than stockiness. Experiments, have shown that best results are secured from stock measuring from one-fourth one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch just above the root collar. Such stock may range anywhere from 12 to 24 inches in height. If conifers are being planted, they should be from 6 to 12 inches in height with preference given to trees of the smaller size because the smaller size makes it possible to keep the root system intact. RULES FOR TRANSPLANTING Four fundamental principles underlie un-derlie success in transplanting tree stock. These are: 1. Keep the roots moist at all times; either carry the tree in a pail of water or wrap the roots in a wet cloth. 2. Make the hole for planting wide enough and deep enough to fit the roots of the tree to be planted. : 3. Set the tree & little deeper than it stood in the nursery. 4. Pack the soil firmly about the roots. For further information regarding shelter-belts shelter-belts send five cents to Superintendent of Documents. Washington. D. C, asking tor Farmers' Bulletin No. 1603. TURTLES Turtles belong to one of the four geat orders of reptiles. Their most notable characteristic is the horny shell or shield which protects them. Most of them are capable of drawing draw-ing their heads, legs and tails up into their shells, thus presenting an impregnable surface to their enemies. ene-mies. The well-known snapping turtle, tur-tle, which is one of those which are not able to draw in their appendages, append-ages, is nevertheless a redoubtable fighter. He defends himself, much is does a snake, by striking. |
