THE COUNTRY HOME [chapter 



poplars, pears, apples, and evergreens. Bear in 

 mind that the pear is hardier and longer-lived than 

 the apple — with th'^ same amount of care. Mr. 

 L. B. Pierce, a first-class horticulturist of Ohio, 

 says, " It seems strange to me that so many of our 

 Western farmers get along, year after year, without 

 windbreaks. My place is warmer than many 

 others because of the evergreens, which have been 

 planted twelve to sixteen years. Northwest of 

 my house is a row of Norway spruce. Last year I 

 thinned them out, and found some thirty-four feet 

 high. I set them originally six feet apart, and took 

 out every other tree to sell. I have a little wind- 

 break to protect my kitchen, and the snow goes off 

 there some days before it does anywhere else. It 

 makes an excellent shelter for the yard and the 

 house. I know men who have six-foot fences 

 around their barn lots, where arbor-vitse would 

 serve just as well, and last for thirty years. If it 

 grows too fast at the bottom you may remove some 

 branches. The bottom ought to be at least four 

 feet wide, or the lower branches will die. Put your 

 protection on the northwest of the house, or even 

 an orchard placed there will be a protection, and 

 keep out a good deal of cold." Another Ohio 



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