WINDBREAKS, SHELTERS, ETC. 8 1 



started by warm exposure in midwinter, and the 

 buds afterward killed by a sharp freeze. 



However, I believe that in most cases where the 

 climate is severe, or where the winds have a broad 

 sweep, our best resort is to evergreen trees. In this 

 section I do not know of any tree that is better than 

 the arbor-vitae, either the American or the Siberian 

 variety. Next to this I should select the Norway 

 spruce. This magnificent tree has shown its capacity 

 for adapting itself to a great range of soils, and is 

 everywhere absolutely hardy. In planting the Nor- 

 way spruce I should by all means prefer a row of 

 trees standing so far apart that each one might be 

 individually well developed. This would require a 

 distance of at least twenty feet. If it be desirable 

 to form a windbreak very speedily, plant interme- 

 diate trees, which shall be carefully removed as soon 

 as the trees begin to impinge. Where space and 

 room are of no special importance, additional beauty 

 can be secured by planting at determinate points 

 groups of these trees, that is, at every ten or twenty 

 rods let the line be broken by a group of three to five 

 trees. These should stand closer together, so that 

 when they are twenty or thirty feet high they will 

 make but one compact outline. If desired these may 

 be made very pleasant shelters for seats in summer. 



The arbor-vitae I should plant as a rule more 

 after the manner of a hedge, letting the plants at 

 the outset stand four or five feet apart. The erect 

 arbor-vitae is exceedingly fine for the purpose we arc 

 considering, but it should stand even closer in the 

 row than the common arbor-vitae. The beautiful 

 hemlock is not so perfect for a windbreak as it is for 

 6 



