THE 



COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE 



DECEMBER 1868 



SHELTER AS A MEANS OF LMPROVIXG ESTATES. 



THE attention of our readers has no 

 doubt often been directed to the im- 

 portance of shelter, not only in relation to 

 live-stock, but also to cultivated crops, pas- 

 tures, and even human beings. Nor must 

 it be supposed that we only require shelter 

 to protect stock against cold. It is also 

 necessary to shield grazing animals from 

 the scorching heat of the sun ; for, although 

 in these islands we have a greater num- 

 ber of cold and cool days than of very 

 hot weather, still we have sufficient ex- 

 perience of the latter to render some shelter 

 from its effects desirable in the case of 

 animals pastured in the fields. Sheep re- 

 quire such shelter quite as much as cattle, 

 and any doubts on the subject will at once 

 be removed, when it is obser\^ed how sheep 

 as well as cattle seek the shade of such trees 

 as are in the pastures, during the mid-day 

 heat. For summer purposes a simple shed 

 placed in some convenient part of the field, 

 and, if possible, near water, is all that is neces- 

 sary. The materials may be of the cheapest 

 kind; rough posts, covered with any inexpensive 

 material which can be conveniently obtained. 

 We have seen sheds of the kind covered with 

 the branches of spruce, fir, and, in fact, any 

 kind of small brushwood, or even whins, and 

 the shelter afforded was quite as good as if 

 the shed had cost ten times the amount in its 

 construction. 



In the Country Gentleman's Magazine for 

 November (page 473), a diagram was given, 



VOL. I. 



shewing the form of plantations made on farms 

 in the mountainous part of the south of Scot- 

 land, for the purpose of affording shelter to 

 sheep during stormy weather. All who have 

 had experience in sheep farming on high-lying 

 pastures, will readily testify to the benefit 

 gained by having such protection at command, 

 and it is therefore surprising that it is not 

 more generally adopted. In many hilly 

 pasture districts nothing of the kind is to be 

 seen, although no valid reason can be 

 assigned for the neglect of it. As the exist- 

 ence of shelter of this kind on hill farms adds 

 to their value, proprietors should make a point 

 of causing proper plantations to be placed in 

 suitable positions, when hill sheep farms 

 fall out of lease, or during the currency of a 

 lease, should the occupying tenant ofter no 

 objections, which we scarcely think would 

 be the case. Even arable farms have a much 

 snugger and warmer look imparted to them 

 by well designed plantations, and the idea of 

 warmth thereby conveyed, exercises a certain 

 amount of influence on those who look at a 

 farm with the intention of offering for it. 



The existence or absence of shelter in the 

 case of pasture or cultivated crops, where 

 shelter is desirable, is easily detected by the 

 appearance of pastures or growing crops. 

 Where plantations have been formed, on a 

 proper principle, in districts which are 

 naturally bleak, the grasses or crops which 

 obtain the benefit of the shelter are forward 

 in their growth, and are much more luxuriant 



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