Evening star., 1939-06-25
BY George ". Norris,
Senator From Nebraska.

erry trees on farm at Meadow Grove,
all remember, was great catastrophe:
1t was, however, simply an intensification
of what the winds do to the treeless
plains, in some degree, year in, year out.
Laden with soil scooped from dry, dusty
land, they make the shingles creep and
shiver on the roof, they scour paint from
the tenders of automobiles until they
shine like mirrors. They darken and
obscure the sun at midday. They blow
seeds out of the ground; they suck up
moisture SO that crops dry up and wither
on the stalk; the kernels of wheat do not
fill. They blow the soil like snow against
fences, houses or other obstacles; in ex-
treme instances. they bury them. They
carry soil for miles, dropping it like rain
on cities and other lands; there is evil
dence that in the drought years soil from
the plains was blown far into the At
lantic. In the same way, they sweep the
snow from the fields, so that it cannot
melt and restore moisture evenly to the
lands-moisture which crops need and
must have in order to grow.
The windbreaks check the force of the
winds so that they cannot so easily scoop
and swirl the soil into the clouds; so that
they cannot whisk the snow from the
fields, into wasteland gullies or into road
bitches. In this way, they help preserve
the moisture in the soil so that crops can
grow. In other words, they insure for
the crop a greater quantity of snow and
moisture, and as every plains dweller
knows, an ample blanket of snow, evenly
distributed. always has meant a good
crop. Likewise, the windbreaks prevent
the hot west and southwest winds of
summer from sucking up the moisture 50
rapidly from crops growing beside them.
The Forest Service tells me that in gen.
eral mile of windbreak, that is, about
IA acres Of trees, will protect crops upon
about 20 times that area, or 280 acres.
Brought Pines to Farm.
No single instance makes this more
clear, I think, than the story of j. ],
Lydick, who lives near Blair, in Ne
braska. The story begins about 1910,
in the days when it was generally be-
heved that trees could not be grown in
the prairie country, when deeply re-
ligious men said that God never intended
trees should grow upon those plains.
Mr.. Lydick was not well, the doctors
told him that If he wanted to live a
normal span, he should 60 to pine tree
country. But he had his farm, and he
was in love with beautiful girl, and
he did not want to 60. In his dilemma,
he decided that since he could not go to
the pines, he would bring the pines to
his farm. He planted belts of trees
across his quarter-section Of land To-
day, many of those trees are well over
40 feet tall, about their feet are others,
as in a small forest. And Mr.. Lydick is
healthy man.
But the point of the story is this:
In every one of the years OF the great
drought, the man Of whom speak raised
a crop upon his farm. He raised crop
on both sides of his tree strips in year
that was one Of the driest the West ever
knew, when hardly single green thing
was produced elsewhere in that part of
the State of Nebraska.
That is why the farmers Of the plains
States want field windbreaks on their
farms The Forest Service has long watt
ing lists Of applicants for Government
cooperation in planting trees. Today, on
farms where tree strips were planted in
1885 and 1896, there are trees up to IS
feet tall, trees now protecting crops and
soil and benefiting the social fabric of
life on the Great Plains, the welfare Of
which is 50 important and 50 vital to the
welfare Of this Nation. You can ride
casually through any part of the coun-
try where the tree planters have been
and where the new trees have had two
or three years in which to grow-and
farmers will show you what tree wind
breaks are doing. These new tree strips
are still young, but older belts planted
years ago by farsighted farmers show
what they will do when they have
reached their full stature. Here from
the edge Of q field windbreak stretches
fine level field planted with rye. For
200 or 800 feet the rye Is breast high
and healthy, and beyond the sphere Of
influence Of the wtndbreak It u stuntsd