The Bismarck tribune., 1934-09-19
SHELTERbELT PLAN
BRINGS STUDENTS
TO STATE SCHOOL
Attendance At Bottineau Is 100
Per Cent Above Last
Year, Cobb Says

planting Of . shelterbelt which will
reach from the Canadian line to
Texas have resulted in q 100 per cent
increase in the enrolment at the
State School Of Forestry at Bottineau,
F. E. Cobb, school president and state
forester, said here Wednesday.
Cobb said many long-headed young
men see in the sf1elterbelt proposal
chance for employment If they have
expert training and are moving to
take advantage Of this prospect. He
expects the government to give
trained men preference when work
actually gets under way.
Attendance at the forestry school
reached low mark in 1888 but the
shelterbelt project has pushed 1t up
again.
Delay in launching the shelterbelt
project Is being caused, he said, by
the fact that numerous policies have
to be established before work can be-
gin. Chief among these Is how to
set up system which will most eff
GENTLY obtain title to the land to be
planted. The entire project contem-
plates the planting Of $4,000 900 acres
from Canada to Texas and the land
is owned by persons living In all
parts Of the nation and in foreign
countries. In addition, much Of it
is mortgaged and the mortgage
would have to sign a release, in the
event Of q gift, or give his approval
in the event Of a lease. Thus the
preliminary phases are almost as ex-
tensive as the planting project itself.
The latest information on the To-
cation Of the shelterbelt is that it
will start In Renville county and
come straight south, surrounding Mi
not, to the Missouri river, hitting the
Missouri river at about Garrison,
Cobb said. Then 1t would straddle
the river until the Nebraska line is
reached, putting Bismarck in the
heart of it.
In Nebraska the river turns east
ward to join the Mississippi, but the
shelterbelt would continue southwest
ward into Texas.
Farmers Like Project
Most farmers with whom he has
talked will be glad to donate land
for the shelterbelt, Cobb said. One
reason is they feel it will protect the
productiveness Of their farms by con-
serving and promoting moisture. An
other is they see an opportunity for
employment In caring for the trees.
Cobb expects that insurance compa-
nies and other big mortgage holders
will extend hearty cooperation in
- f<s.
reasons.
One of the chief handicaps to the
plan, Cobb said, is the difficulty Of
protecting the trees from rabbits, the
chief enemy Of trees in North Dakota.
Since 1927, he said, his institution has
given ! 100000 trees to farmers. Ex-
animation Of these paintings has
shown rabbits as the chief menace.
Federal plans tentatively call for
the establishment in North Dakota
of four nurseries, Cobb said, but he
believes the government will buy
many trees from private nurserymen.
It is not always easy to grow seed
lings, he said, the forestry school
having lost large number on lands
which cannot be reached with water.
After tree Is larger, he said. such
watering isn't needed but it is vital
when tree IS in the seeding stage.
Last spring applications for trees
were received from 400 farmers but
some Of these requests will have to
be denied because the drouth has
killed many small trees In the state
nursery, he said.
Drouth Hits Old Groves
Inspection Hof the shelterbelt plant
1ngs in the state shows that many old
cottonwood groves, planted as tree
claims, have been hard hit by the
drouth. Cobb said. This is especially
true where the sod has been permit
ted to grow In the grove or where
cattle have been permitted to tramp
the ground down hard, thus prevent
ing what moisture has fallen from
reaching the roots.
In many cases. however, where old
paintings have been spaced close to-
sether, they have come through IN
good shape. Cobb said. The foliage
has shaded the ground and kept
weeds from growing, thereby con-
serving the moisture, and whatever
snow fell last winter was lodged be-
tween the rows.
This, Cobb confessed, constitutes 4
victory for Canadian forestry experts
who have advocated close planting,
whereas Cobb apd many other Amer
leans have contended for wider spac-
ing. The test Of the drouth shows
the Canadian system to be best, he