88 HEDGES, WINDBREAKS., SHELTERS, ETC. 



A single tree will cover a square of twenty feet, when 

 grown under the best conditions. But it must be 

 remembered that we have always to recKon with the 

 tendency of this tree to split down directly through 

 the heart or to break off large branches. This must 

 be prevented by watching for indications of the split, 

 and binding it with bands of hoop iron. The 

 arrangement suggested above does not forfeit the 

 rule of doing nothing antagonistic to nature. Such 

 a development of these trees is entirely natural, be- 

 cause in all ways the tree suggests massiveness. 



All weave on high a verdant roof, 

 That keeps the very sun aloof; 

 Making a twilight soft and green 

 Within the column-vaulted scene. 



SECTION I WINDBREAKS FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES. 



It will not be foreign to the purpose of this 

 chapter if I suggest windbreaks for special purposes. 

 ( I ) For bees : Every landowner will do well to have 

 an apiary. Bees are indispensable to aid in polleniz- 

 ing our fruits, many of which are unable to pollenize 

 themselves. Besides half a dozen hives will give 

 a very welcome supply of honey for family use, 

 while a surplus is very useful in adding to the farm- 

 er's income. The best honey tree in the world is 

 the basswood. This tree bears cutting remarkably 

 well, and can be kept, by persistent cutting, in the 

 form of a round-headed shrub. I have them thirty 

 years old and ten feet in hight and diameter. Now 

 let a hedge of this sort be established, and then let 

 rise out of it, twenty feet apart, shoots that shall 



