The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-12-18
TO TEST SCIENCE
OF WINDBREAKS
CIV. P. Kirkwood, in Minneapolis
Journal.)

JUN ldlst
Western Minnesota is going to find
out what the tree can do to add to
the success and stability Of farming.
The tree-or, it is better to say, trees,
trees in groups, trees In ranks and
files, have been tried and true friends
of farmers ever since the world be-
gan, or since farming began. But just
what assistance they can render In
any particular locality is a thing to be
determined by measurements. expert
ments and close observation. It is
such measurements, experiments n
observation that are to be made In
western Minnesota, or, more properly,
west central Minnesota.
The plan is the outcome Of the spirit
Of development in the part Of the state
named, a spirit of mutual aid that
aims at making life in the open coun-
try just as profitable and satisfying
as life in the town,
" Windbreaks Prevent Auctions.
Go into a prairie country and in the
fall you will find here and there auc
tions in progress. Inquire into the
causes, and you will discover that the
| absence Of trees has something to do
with them, in part at least. New peo-
pie have come into the region. They
have had barely enough means to get
started. Yet they have ploWed and
GAiS IA WV IN CASHS AANS SAAA
a windstorr1, a storm of the kind that
blows for hours or even days. This
has dried the surface soil n swept
it away, piling it up in drifts. A
small crop has resulted. hope has van
ished and the newcomers have been
obliged to sell out'and try a hazard of
new fortunes somewhere else. frees
MISUNDERSTANDING have saved their
crops and their hopes.
Western Minnesota's Problems.
There is room for new settlers in
western Minnesota and 1t was to aid
those already there and to protect
those who are yet to come that the
plan of solving the windbreak problem
as applied to the region took shape
in the mind of E.. c, Higbie, superin-
tendent of the west central Minneso-
ia School of Agricultural. An appeal
was made n from the college Of for
estry of the University Of Minnesota
| Robert Wilson was appointed to make
tests to establish the worth and uses
to be made of the windbreak on the
prairies to the westward.
Mr.. Wilson's first move was to draw
up a tentative plan Of. campaign.
This, having been gone over by the
faculty of the college Of forestry, n
by h state forester n his assist
ant, was revised, n now MI. Wilson
is at Morris, the seat of the west CEN
trail school, to push the work as rap
idly as possible.
Forestry for Protection.
Prairie forestry in cludes two main
problems-forestry for protection and
forestry for fuel and lumber. In west
ern Minnesota the chief problem is
that of protection. The other is of
secondary interest. But forestry for
protection is by no means a simple
and cas- thing. It is intricate n in
volved. Fortunately. however, there
are many windbreaks in western Min
nesota. grownsfby earlier settlers there,
and these may be used as the bases of
experiments. and measurements, sc
that before veryrlong the art Of grow
ing >windbreaks there will be reduced
to something of a science. Newcon-
ers will be able to start right in PLAN.
ming for the protection Of their homes
and their fields, and farmers who have
made mistakes will be able to modify
their breaks SO as to get still better,
results. ,
Plan Of Campaign.
Mr.. Wilson's plan calls. first, for g.
study of the paintings already made
and the exact benefit or harm result
ing from them, and, second, for he
testing Of principles arrived at in other
regions in which conditions are similar
to those Of west central Minnesota.
In making his study Of the paintings
already made, Mr.. Wilson will first
take careful measurements to deter
mine the effects of . windbreaks on
water, light, and mechanical force.
This will require tests with delicate
instruments in both protected and I'M
protected areas. Measurements will
be taken simultaneously at a base sta
ton in the unprotected part Of a field
and at a series Of stations along a. line
running through and at right angles
to- the center, of the windbreak and to
a point some distance to the windward
Of the ;windbreak.! AS the wind closes
in around the. ends. of the windbreak,
measurements will also have to be
made at stations, paralleling those Of
the central line in order to determine
the extent of this closed-in effect.
The Water Factor.
In the study of the water factor,
at each Of the stations measurements
of humidity and of evaporation will
be made hourly with carefully devised
instruments. The soil moisture will
also have to be tested accurately. The
areas Of root-extent adjoining the
trees will, again, be closely measured.
The effects upon light will be deter
mined by the use of the photometer,
readings being made hourly. The
thermometer, OF wind-gage, will tell
the story of the force Of the wind in
protected areas and at the base station
In the open.
Along with these experiments will