Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts. 181 



lers from Illinois tell us, that, on the vast prairies in that and some of the 

 other western States, the wind is almost always fresh, and often blows a 

 gale, before which men can hardly stand. The new settlers are glad to 

 shelter their habitations under the lee of the spurs of forest which stretch 

 like promontories into the prairie lands. A forest near the coast, in any 

 part of New England, protects those farther inland from the chilling east 

 winds ; and, while such winds prevail, a person passing towards the 

 sea, experiences a marked change of temperature, upon crossing the last 

 wood and especially the last wood-covered hill. Ore who would have his 

 house screened from the northerly winds, must take care to have behind it 

 a hill crowned with trees, or at least to have a wood stretching from the 

 northwest to the northeast. A garden surrounded by tall trees admits the 

 cultivation, even in our severe climate, of plants almost tropical." p. 6. 



And while on this subject, let us introduce to notice a some- 

 what novel material for clipped hedges, and its proved utility, 

 in the hemlock, (Abies canadensis.) Michaux, 



" It bears pruning to almost any degree, without suffering injury ; it is 

 well suited to form screens for the protection of more tender trees and plants, 

 or for concealing disagreeable objects. By being planted in double or 

 triple rows, it may, in a few years, be made to assume the appearance of an 

 impenetrable evergreen wall, — really impenetrable to the wind and to do- 

 mestic animals. A hedge of this kind, seven or eight feet high, on a bleak, 

 barren plain exposed to the northwest winds, gave Dr. Greene of Mansfield 

 a warm, sunny, sheltered spot for the cultivation of delicate annual plants. 

 When I saw it, the annuals, several of which were rare exotics, were beau- 

 tiful, but the hemlock screen was much more so." p. 79. 



Until within a few years, very little, if any attention has 

 been paid to the preservation or reproduction of forests ; a 

 want of prudence and foresight very remarkable for so calcu- 

 lating a people as are New Englanders in general. With some 

 rare exceptions, we are not aware that any thing has been effect- 

 ed in restoring old and barren lands to utility. There are thou- 

 sands of acres in every town in the state, where scarcely any 

 thing can grow as they exist now, and which might be ren- 

 dered productive of distant indeed, but of almost certain value. 

 The simplest kind of labor oftentimes produces this ; and we 

 know of instances where, in about twenty years, a return of 

 marketable White Pine, useful for wooden- ware manufacture, 

 was obtained from simply ploughing up the land, from which 

 operation alone, innumerable young plants of that tree instant- 



VOL. XIII. — NO. IV. 18 



