TREES AND THEIR PURPOSE 149 



ness is probably uppermost, for one thing, when 

 trees are being considered, which is quite right 

 and natural. But the maximum shadow and 

 shelter from sun and heat are not by any means 

 always attained in the way that seems most 

 likely at first thought. For the impulse is usu- 

 ally to shade the dwelling; whereas it is the 

 earth from which heat is reflected into the 

 dwelhng that should be shaded, rather than the 

 building. 



Shutters will provide for the house itself, 

 its windows and doors, infinitely better protec- 

 tion from the sun than trees can give, for shut- 

 ters admit every vagrant breeze, however in- 

 dolent and languid it may be, while leafy 

 branches deflect and break up even valiant at- 

 tempts of the wind to a considerable degree. 

 The right position for a tree is far enough from 

 the house to admit the air, therefore, but near 

 enough to shade the ground about it where 

 otherwise the sun would beat with its fiercest 

 heat during the hottest hours of the day — a 

 position which is best determined usually out 

 of doors, on the ground itself, at midday, rather 

 than on a plan. 



Almost any upright object will serve as a 

 guide to the shadow's direction, which is the 

 main thing to know. One's own shadow will 



