SEC] WINDBREAKS AND HEDGES 



Horatio Seymour called the handsomest in Ameri- 

 ca — shall not hide under the windbreak, and along 

 fence rows — both for the berries that feed the birds 

 and those that we ourselves consume. An elder- 

 berry tart is a toothsome affair, even after we are 

 seventy. 



A bee-house should have special shelter, and I 

 advise a windbreak clear around the yard, or at 

 least on two sides. If open to the wind at all, let 

 it be on the south and east. Of course these pro- 

 tective hedges should not be so high or so near the 

 hives as to entirely exclude the sun. No orchard 

 will do its best without a windbreak ; and this is par- 

 ticularly true of a pear orchard. It often happens 

 that a high wind in September strips the trees of half 

 their crops — just before they are ready for harvest. 

 I have had almost all the pears from exposed 

 Anjous tumbled to the ground and rendered unfit 

 for storage. It is a sad sight to one who has 

 watched such a magnificent fruit develop all sum- 

 mer, to find his Christmas pears snatched away 

 from him, and flung, worthless, upon the ground. 

 As a supplement to windbreaks of pears, I suggest 

 spreading a good litter of soft grass or hay under 

 the trees during the autumn months. 



[117] 



