IO THE AMERICAN APPLE ORCHARD 



wind is allowed to pass over it, and that evaporation 

 is much less from ground not open to the sweep of the 

 wind. Since the conservation of moisture is one of 

 the large and fundamental problems in orchard man- 

 agement, the use of the windbreak in securing this 

 end is highly desirable. 



Perhaps the most important use of all to which 

 the windbreak is put in the management of apple 

 orchards is the protection of the fruit toward picking 

 time. It is not at all uncommon for heavy September 

 gales to bring down 25, 50 or even 75 per cent of the 

 entire crop of apples ; the losses from this source some- 

 times amount to hundreds, or even thousands of dol- 

 lars, in individual orchards. 



There are objections which always come up with 

 more or less force when the planting of a windbreak 

 is considered. In the first place the windbreak takes 

 up a certain amount of land. It never requires less 

 room than would an entire row of fruit trees of the 

 same length, and it usually requires more. Even when 

 a space somewhat greater than this is allowed to the 

 windbreak, it is often found that the outer rows of 

 fruit trees are starved by the greedy feeding of the 

 trees in the windbreak. In other cases atmospheric 

 drainage is seriously interfered with, though this 

 defect can usually be remedied by proper foresight. 

 In some cases windbreaks harbor insect pests, but 

 though this objection has been frequently urged 

 against them, it has usually been considerably over- 

 drawn. In fact, the only important objection, in the 

 judgment of the writer, is the one first mentioned. 



All windbreaks will naturally be planted on that side 

 of the orchard from which the wind comes. Since 

 the prevailing winds are sometimes from one quarter 



