WIND-BREAKS 



WIND-BREAKS 



1979 



the last row of orchard trees, if possible. It is usually 

 best to use native trees for the wind-break, since they 

 are hardy and well adapted to the particular climate. 

 Wind-breaks often harbor injurious insects and fungi, 

 and care must be taken that species of trees liable to 

 these difficulties be not used. In the northeastern 

 states, for example, it would be bad practice to plant 

 the wild cherry tree, since it is so much infested with 

 the tent caterpillar. In some cases, very low wind- 

 breaks may be as desirable as high ones. This is true 

 in the open farming lands in the dry regions, since it 

 may be necessary only to check the force of the wind 

 near the surface of the ground. Wind-breaks only two 

 or three feet high, placed at intervals, may have this 

 effect. Pence-rows sometimes act as efficient wind- 

 breaks. Along the sea-coast, gardeners often plant low 

 hedges for the purpose of protecting the surface of 

 the garden. Along the Atlantic coast, the California 

 privet is considerably used. This is ikgustrum ovali- 

 folium, a Japanese plant. In parts of California, one of 

 the mallow tribe {Lavatera assurgenti flora, Fig. 2730) 

 is used for this purpose. Farms in the open windy 

 country may be efficiently protected by belts of wood- 

 land, or if the country is wholly cleared, rows of trees 

 may be established at intervals of a quarter or half 

 mile across the direction of the prevailing winds. 

 Fig- 2729. L . H . B . 



Wind-breaks in Middle California. — The most common 

 wind-break seen in middle California is composed of 

 a tall thick hedge of Monterey Cypress [Cuprensus 

 macrocarpa), either clipped close or allowed to grow 

 naturally; it withstands heavy winds better than almost 

 any other heavy foliaged tree and is rapid in its growth. 

 The Osage orange was at one time somewhat exten- 

 sively planted as a wind-break, but is now rarely met 

 with. 



The Italians and Chinese, who have almost complete 

 control of the truck-gardening industry in and around 

 San Francisco, make extensive use of a Californian 

 tree-mallow, Lavatera assurgentiflora, Fig. 2730 — as a 

 wind-break and protection from the drift-sand, which is 

 such a prominent feature of the outskirts of the city. 

 This plant is indigenous to some of the islands off the 



coast of southern California and, probably, was intro- 

 duced into the San Francisco peninsula by the Mission 

 Fathers, as the pioneers of 1851 and '52 report that it was 



2727. The Giant Reed— Arundo Donax. 



A tall plant of striking habit suitable for wild gardens and 

 borders. 



then growing spontaneously and iu great abundance on 

 the sand dunes where the city now stands. This Lava- 

 tera proves to be well adapted to the peculiar conditions 

 under which it is cultivated; it stands long seasons of 



2728. A small wild garden at the 



