276 PROTECTION TO NURSERIES. 



ropean larch. • • • These should be planted pretty thickly, say 5 or 6 feet apart, 

 and in strips of 3 or 4 rods wide, to produce their best effects, both as shelters and for 

 timber, for which they are highly recommended. Do not be misled by the swampy 

 habit of the native tamarack, nor induced to set the larch in the sloughs, which should 

 be planted with willows. 



Protection to nurseries; French experience. — Screens or wind-breaks [says Carrifere'] 

 are indispensable to a nursery, as well to shield the plants from the hot sun, as to shel- 

 ter other kinds from cold in winter. Their direction will vary according to the contour 

 of the ground, but they should almost always run east and west. Wind-breaks, ac- 

 cording to local circumstances, may be oblique, either to the north or south, and it 

 may be necessary to have them in a line between these points, for the climatic condi- 

 tions under which the nursery is placed, and surrounding objects, such as a mountain, 

 a grove, a river, or a lake, or large buildings, may determine the course of prevailing 

 winds, and observation alone can decide as to which are the most prejudicial. Having 

 settled upon the direction of the lines, the next thing to determine is the species with 

 which they should be planted. Some kinds are preferable to others, and they vary 

 with the soil and climate. We always prefer evergreen trees ; but these are for the 

 most part of slow growth, and when the intention is only to shelter the nursery in sum- 

 mer against the ardor of solar heat, the choice is left among the deciduous kinds of 

 rapid growth, which do not shed their branches too near the ground, and of which the 

 foliage and aspect is sufficiently ornamental. There is another consideration that is 

 not less important. We should not select trees with long, tracing roots, which, by 

 spreading, so to speak, " eat up the soil," by robbing the plants even when growing in 

 pots. In these respects we have two species of the Tamarix that unite almost all the 

 good qualities required, the T. tetrandra and T. Indica. These trees are very accommo- 

 dating as to soil, have a hardiness well tried, and a very rapid growth — endure pro- 

 longed drought without injury, and appear indifferent to excess of moisture. Their 

 roots are small, close, and but little spreading; they bear trimming, and their elegant 

 foliage of light, feathery spray form plumes of most pleasing effect, while their blos- 

 soms of rose, flesh colored, or almost white tint, in spikes or branching panicles pre- 

 sent a most agreeable aspect. The first of these blooms in April and May, and the 

 other toward the end of summer and in autumn. The tamarisk grows easily from slips, 

 which may be set from November to February, and will form the first season shoots I 

 to 2 meters high. They should be set about 8 inches apart, and may be cut back when 

 20 inches high to make them thicken up. Sometimes a trellis of grapevines will answer 

 every purijose of a screen for young fruit trees. 



But, as we remarked at first, the evergreen species are generally employed as a 

 screen, and of the conifers the Biota orientalis is particularly suitable when the soil is 

 light, warm, and but little calcareous. In places where the soil is more moist, and more 

 clayey, and the climate more severe, the Thuya occidentaJis is much more hardy. The 

 common yew (Taxus haccata) is also very precious as a wind-break. Its foliage is very 

 dense, and of a green so deep that it borders closely upon black, and the perfect 

 docility with which it bears clipping renders it a most valuable tree for a shelter hedge. 

 We sometimes employ the common pitch tree Picea excelsa, but this tends to grow to a 

 large tree, and readily sheds its lower branches. The red cedar (Juniperns Virginiana) 

 is also sometimes used as a wind-break, and in proper soils produces a fine effect. In 

 many districts of Southern France the pyramidal cypress {Vupressus fastigiata) is used 

 to advantage. 



Of the evergreen shrubs other than conifers, we have the box (Buxus sevipervirens) , 

 evergreen oak iQuereus ilex), the holly, the Buplevrutn fruticosum, the Rhamnus oleifoUus, 

 the Aucuha japonica, &nd the Japanese spindle tree {Evonymus japoyiica). The latter 

 may be used when we need shelter of limited extent, for they are generally of low 

 growth. In some places we may plant the Lauro-cerasus vulgaris, colchiea, and lusitanica; 

 and in other cases may employ shrubs with semi-persistent leaves, as the Eha^nnus hy- 

 bridus, Ligustrum japonicum, ovalifoKum, and vulgare. In some privileged localities of 

 Southern and Southwestern France, we may plant the Ehamnus alaternus, Arbutus 

 uredo, Viburnum tinus, and a host of other species. 4 



The breadth of space to be reserved between the lines of shelter varies somewhat 

 according to the use, but it should be never less than 2 meters between, because the 

 paths for service would be always of about this width. If there be no necessity of using 

 the ground sparingly, it wouldbe better to give them greater width, so that the plants 

 sheltered may be a little away from the screen, and it would be still better if a path 

 could bo allowed on both sides. 



Timber-belts for farm protection in Kansas. 



Mr. W. Marlatt, of Manhattan, Kans., in a paper read before the State 

 Horticultural Society, in 1875, after alluding to the frequent and severe 



^ Pepinidrea, p. 38, 41. 



