No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 411 



straigliter, fewer limbs are broken when laden with fruit or snow, 

 the number of windfalls is smaller and the evaporation of moisture 

 from the soil is reduced. 



The matter of windbreaks to protect fruit plantations in the east 

 has received too little attention. There are many orchards protected 

 bj' natural windbreaks in the way of hills and woods that render 

 artiijcial windbreaks unnecessary. But the establishment of com- 

 pact windbreaks would prove profitable to many orchardists. Not 

 having used them extensively it 1® natural to underestimate their 

 value. Good windbreaks protect trees from cold, reduce soil evapo- 

 ration, lessen windfalls and breakage of trees and limbs, retain leaves 

 and snow on the ground, thus affording better protection to the soil, 

 make labor pleasanter in the orchard and protect blossoms from 

 severe winds. Probably the best and most effective tree for wind- 

 breaks is the Norway spruce. The trees should be planted three or 

 four feet apart and given good care until well established. It is 

 thought by some that trees planted eight or ten feet apart make a 

 more effective and permanent hedge. No doubt the greater distance 

 favors a larger and more perfect development of the trees. 



Too much care cannot be exercised in preparing the land for the 

 orchard. It should be plowed deep and sub-soiled, if the subsoil is 

 very tenacious. The most thorough, deep pulverization should also 

 be practiced which will make the proper medium for the roots, in- 

 crease the amount of available plant food and the capacity of the soil 

 to absorb and hold water. This preparation must last for years, and 

 therefore it should be most thorough. 



For the most profitable returns more attention should be given to 

 the propagation and selection of trees than is customary. The usual 

 method of purchasing through agents or direct from nurserymen who 

 propagate wood chosen indiscriminately is certain to prove only par- 

 tially successful. Fruit growers will never secure the best results 

 until they apply the laws and principles of plant breeding. Laws 

 and principles relating to stock breeding have long since been recog- 

 nized. Men have been enabled to breed better stock and to make the 

 breeding of first class stock more certain because of this recognition. 

 But breeders of fruit trees are far behind stock breeders in the intel- 

 ligence with which they operate. It is well understood by stock 

 breeders that animals have an individuality and that the character 

 of the offspring is largely determined by the parentage. The breeder 

 of high grade stock of any kind seeks a parentage of the finest type. 

 He follows a careful system of selection, breeding the best in each 

 generation with the knowledge that his stock will gradually but 

 certainly improve and profits increase. The stock breeder desiring 

 to build up his herd and to increase his earnings would not think of 

 breeding stock the pedigree of which he is ignorant. The breeder of 



