126 ANNUAL REPORT 



north or west winds, and the difference between standing on the 

 windward or leeward side of an evergreen belt in a cold wind is 

 as great as between January and June. To shut out all the wind 

 the width of the belt necessary will depend on the variety used. 



A single row of White Spruce will stop more wind than a 

 single row of any other variety. A slow grower until two feet 

 high after which it makes an annual growth of not less than two 

 feet. Its habit of forming a dense growth below, together with 

 its ability to grow on any soil, wet or dry, and flourish in dry 

 seasons as well as wet, make it the most desirable of all for a single 

 row. 



For a large belt of evergreens the common White Pine is un 

 doubtedly the most valuable of all. If a few rows only are de- 

 sired for a quick growing shelter belt the Scotch Pine is the 

 best. 



In the southeast part of the state on clay subsoil the !N"orway 

 Spruce may be used. They make a more rapid growth than the 

 White Spruce but are not so reliable over a large portion of the 

 state. 



Three rows of White Spruce set five feet apart in the row, 

 with ten feet between the rows will make the best possible wind- 

 break for the amount of ground occupied. The White Cedar is 

 also valuable for a windbreak and a timber of great value both 

 for posts, ties and telegraph poles. It grows reasonably fast on 

 good soil and should find a place around every farm home, utilized 

 for a hedge, windbreak, screen or as single specimens. 



The Balsam Fir makes one'of the finest ornamental trees. Its 

 tall, graceful form and dark green foliage renders it one of the 

 most conspicuous. On heavy soil it makes a good windbreak for 

 from fifteen to twenty years, and still longer as a shelter from 

 high winds, but as it grows tall and begins to get old the lower 

 limbs die. 



A grove of White Pine, or Scotch Pine, set four feet apart in 

 the row, with the rows eight feet apart, will need to be trimmed to 

 eight feet apart each way in the course of ten years. At that 

 time the Scotch Pine will make the most fuel. It makes very 

 good summer wood and a rotind chunk of it eight or nine inches 

 in diameter put in a heating stove at night will show more live 

 coals in the morning than a chunk of maple of the same size. 

 After the thinning out the White Pine will grow the fastest, 

 making an annual girdle of wood of about three-fourths of an 

 inch in thickness, and will gain from two to three feet in height 



