] . *
is
Conservative.
SHKLTKIl 11KT/TS AND KVKUGUKKN
ISA11NS.
As wo approach this subject , let us
put several important facts together :
First , the last terrible winter of ' 99 has
brought sore disappointment to many a
fruit-grower , especially to those en
gaged in raising peaches ; and this in
dustry must be put upon a now basis.
Second , in ' 87 , Prof. T. Russell , of the
signal service , found , that when the tem
perature of the air was 84 ° , with a rela
tive humidity of 50 ° , evaporation , with
the wind blowing live miles an hour ,
was 2.2 per cent greater than in a calm.
At thirty miles an hour evaporation was
more than six times as much as when
there was no wind. And wo all know
how our hot south winds fairly devour
the moisture.
Third , a gentleman of our state , who
for years kept the weather register for
the government , found that , if he took
the thermometer from the open and put
it in a thick grove of rod cedars ,
the mercury rose four degrees. He
also found that on a cloudy day , with
the mercury below zero , if he took the
thermometer from a sheltered place and
put it in the full sweep of a northwest
wind , the mercury would drop three
degrees. Another experiment was to
take the mercury from two feet from
the south side of a barn , and put it the
same distance from a close-sheared
cedar hedge , and it would rise two de
grees.
Here then we have the dangers which
menace us. The hot winds of summer
and the cold winds of winter , which
drink up the moisture , so that the roots
of our trees are frozen dry , and thus
their vigor is exhausted.
To offset the dangers we must pro
duce a calm , and shut out the fierce and
destructive cold.
W. B. Reynolds , of Arcadia , Neb. ,
has an artificial fish and irrigation pond ,
fed by a powerful wind mill. I stood
by the side of it with the owner when a
strong gale was blowing , and there was
not even a ripple on the water. There
was perhaps a half aero in the pond.
Ho said at first he had been much
troubled by the water washing the banks ,
so he planted them thick with willows ,
which completely checked the winds.
But now another difficulty arose. Ho
wished to get ice from the pond , but it
would not freeze with the belt of trees
§
around it , and he must cut them down.
Hero is an important fact the power
of the wind break. I saw peach trees ,
this spring , sound to the tips , that were
in full bloom after 35 ° below zero ,
because well sheltered. What should
we use for the shelter belt ? Red cedar
and ponderosa pine. We have seen that
evergreens were a silent furnace , giving
off heat in winter , and they are a per
petual windbreak in winter as well as in
summer.
Careful experiments made recently in
Germany , show that the average do-
ciduous tree throws off ton times as
much moisture as an evergreen , and wo
have seen the cedar and pine flourish
whore a cottonwood or ash could not
possibly live. So the evergreen must
be used because it can live on so little
water , and also because it will not drink
up so much moisture that belongs to
other trees. The Platte cedar will en
dure any climatic change , and for ages
has berne the extremes of drouth and
flood , hot winds in summer , and winter
blizzards. Properly grown it will trans
plant as easily as an elm or box-elder ,
and will grow nearly as rapidly. You
can got good 2-year old , 10-inch seedlings
for § 1 per hundred , let them grow a year
in nursery row , when they will be 18 to
24 inches , well rooted and branched ,
and all ready to plant out. For a ten
acre lot I would put out two rows , eight
feet apart , put the trees eight feet dis
tant in the row , and break joints. One
ow of cedar and one of ponderosa would
make a fine shelter belt.
Evergreen IJurnH.
In our dry climate , we have but a few
wet storms. Many successful farmers
take their cattle through the winter
with no shelter but a wire fence. There
must be loss in this method , however.
Excellent protection can be made with
three rows of Platte cedars , planted as
above , and through the lot plant cedars ,
say a rod apart. As the trees get size ,
trim off the lower limbs , save on the two
outside rows , so the cattle can go under
them. Cultivate well for five years
and you can turn in your cattle. In
short , you have an evergreen barn , near
ly as good as if made of lumber , healthy
and thrifty , and getting better all the
time.
In Illinois where the winters are often
wet and the storms are bad , I have seen
these shelters of Norway spruce. These
trees are worthless in Nebraska , but we
have others to take their place. Cattle
should not bo allowed in the shelter
yard in summer. The manure should
bo hauled out , and the laud plowed. It
has been thought that manure would
kill evergreens. Well , it will kill any
kind of a barn in short order if it is not
cleaned out. But I have noticed in the
East , in public parks and private
grounds , there is an immense amount of
stable manure put around the choicest
Rooky Mountain evergreens , to make
them thrifty and to heighten their sil
very colors.
An evergreen barn can be made ex
ceedingly beautiful. The outside row
can be of silver cedar from the Rockies ,
which is as hardy as the Platte cedar.
Outside of this , if you wish , you can put
a row of Picea Pungens , or silver spruce ,
which is the most beautiful tree on
earth.
AH to the Cost.
If you use only Platte cedar you can ,
as I said before , get the seedlings for a
cent apieco. If you want larger trans
planted trees , you can got thorn $5 to
$10 per hundred. The Puugens will
cost you , 18-inch trees , $15 to § 25 per
hundred , but think of the beauty of
them ! If you are not an expert in
handling evergreens , you can get good
trees in variety , planted and cared for
two years for 25 cents per tree. One
hundred dollars will make a fine ever
green barn , which will bo of great use
as well as an ornament.
O. S. HAUUISON ,
President Park and Forest Association.
HIGH ON HOOF.
The sale of Simpson Fennel's cattle at
his home in Fremont county , Iowa ,
about fifteen miles southeast from Ne
braska City , at six cents a pound on
foot , shows that good meat is in demand
by British buyers. A shipper purchased
the Fennel herd of beeves and sent them
directly to England after paying Fennel
ninety odd thousand
ou-a-gold-basis
dollars for them. Had the money fal-
acies of Bryauarchy prevailed in 1896
would Fennel's cattle have been mea
sured by gold or silver ? Is the Scripture
o : "By whatsoever measure ye mete
it out ; it shall be measured to you
again ? "
POLITICAL.
"To begin a war to secure self-govern
ment to one Spanish colony and to re
fuse it to another equally desirous , and
according to Admiral Dewey more cap
able of it , exhibits inconsistency that is
not easy to explain , " says the Portland ,
( Me ) Press ( rep. ) in its comments on
the president's Pittsburg speech.
"One thing that President McKinley
persistently omits to explain in speaking
of the Philippine campaign is the censor
ship , says the Philadelphia Ledger ( rep. ) .
"It seems to be doing more harm to the
American cause than to that of the in
surgents , and the American people are
becoming thoroughly dissatisfied with
it. As it appears to serve no good pur
pose , why is it not abolished ? "
"Our word goes to the representatives
of the republican party throughout the
Union to stand by its primordial prin
ciples and refuse to accept greed as its
motive , though it may be wrapped in
the flag and consecrated by the spume
of pseudo-patriots , " counsels the San
Francisco Call ( rep. ) . "The rights of
man , government by consent of the
governed , the equality of all before the
law , were the high legend written upon
the battle-standard of Lincoln republi
canism. Let that legend shine out like
the stars , and the nation will turn to it ,
away from all the counterfeit enthusiasm
and forged pretence of the crowd of
grub-hunters and small tinkers , who
have no use for the party unless it can
stuff their bellies or their purses , "
