84 ENGLISH WOODLANDS 



On hill farms judiciously planted woods mitigate 

 the cold and prevent the crops from being 

 flattened by the winds. 



Woods planted on hill land for shelter can 

 hardly be expected to produce remunerative 

 timber, especially if they are above the 1,000- 

 foot contour-line. The conditions are not 

 favourable to the growth of trees and the cost 

 of haulage is generally very high from these 

 woods. 



Very commonly long narrow belts, composed 

 principally of conifers, have been planted for 

 shelter. These belts are extremely ugly, and 

 the cost of fencing is excessive. The shelter 

 from the wind which they give is very little. 

 Instead of giving protection they have the 

 appearance of requiring protection. Many of 

 the trees die, and the rest are sickly and stunted. 

 There is no reasonable chance of growing re- 

 munerative timber in narrow belts. 



If an owner decides to incur the expense of 

 making a narrow shelter belt, beech is the best 

 tree to be planted. In case the beech do not 

 grow, sycamore may be used. Beech are very 

 hardy, and if their fences are allowed to go 

 down as soon as the trees are safe from 

 injury, the sheep and cattle find under their 



