WINDBREAKS, SHELTERS, ETC. 83 



a hedge, because of its propensity to lose the lower 

 branches. Still its dense foliage and noble green color 

 make it rank high for shelter. In New England 

 and some parts of the Northwest, what can be finer 

 than the white pine, w r hile in the Southern states the 

 yellow pine is used by nature for a shelter and may 

 well be used by man. One of the grandest of the 

 'pines to create a solid wall is Pinus Ceinbra. This 

 tree does not rise with me above eighteen or twenty 

 feet, and it makes a diameter of about ten feet, while 

 each tree is compact and sits firmly on the sod. It 

 is a grand tree for all purposes. 



I quote from a very judicious article issued by 

 the Iowa Horticultural Society. For wind-swept 

 prairies "white spruce, silver spruce and Black Hills 

 spruce are all good for single row evergreen shelters. 

 Norway and arbor-vitse are good on dark, retentive 

 black loams, but not generally on light, thin prairie 

 soils or exposed hilly locations. Farm shelter belts 

 should differ. They should be located around build- 

 ing sites and yards, and the inside rows should be 

 one hundred and fifty feet back to keep snowdrifts 

 out of the yard. If land is not plenty, use only ever- 

 greens, but if plenty the quickest growing deciduous 

 cottonwood and willow can be used. For the out- 

 side rows, next to the wind, .plant two rows of cot- 

 tonwood cuttings, then come in sixteen feet toward 

 the buildings and plant two rows of willow cuttings 

 parallel with the cottonwood. So in alternate plant- 

 ing set four pairs of rows each. Thickly-set wil- 

 low will keep wind out below, but cottonwood throws 

 it up. Now, inside toward the buildings, thirty-two 

 feet from the last row of willows, plant Scotch pine; 



