Page:Growing Black Locust Trees.djvu/15

Rh to catch and hold the soil later to be plowed off the edges and sides. All of the preparation requires work, but it is well worth the effort as it secures the desired results in holding the soil until the trees become well established.

To be effective, check dams in gullies must be carefully made. For brush dams use scrubby or low-grade trees or brush and cut the limbs and trunks into lengths of 4 feet or more, depending upon the width of the gully. Place these across the gully. Bind them by adding some long branches lengthwise of the gully, with the tops upstream. Build a compact structure and weight it down with heavy tree-trunk sections or with rocks. If necessary, drive stakes through the brush and limbs to secure the dam in time of flood. All dams should be low, often 18 inches but not to exceed 2 feet in height

(Fig. 8). The best time to make dams is in the summer, when the trees are in leaf. Dams built in the summer or fall should get a good catch of soil in which to set locust seedlings the following spring. Trees or other growth near gullies should not be cut, as their living roots and tops will be of much value in binding the soil and checking surface erosion. Other types of check dams are built of stone, logs, or other material, often with heavy chicken wire and grass, straw, or light tree tops. The dams, except those of stone, are temporary, and it is expected that they will be replaced by dams of living trees, grass, or vines.

The aim should emphatically be to get the trees planted with the least possible delay after they are removed from the nursery bed. The digging, or lifting, and all subsequent handling of locust planting stock require special care. The soil about the roots should be