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astrous to cedars and young white spruce and Scotch pines, 

 large or small, ever experienced. Blue and Black Hills 

 spruce, bright as ever, and small ponderosa pines in nursery 

 rows out from any protection, came through exceptionally fine 

 with no loss at all. Same can be said of the Douglas spruce. 

 The balsam fir also escaped much injury." 



Snow-traps and Windbreaks. 



It is a matter of common observation that snow will lodge 

 on the leeward side of a fence, hedge or other obstacle to the 

 wind. Hence many planters on the open prairies of the 

 northwest have found that a windbreak too close to the 

 buildings will cause the snow-drifts to lodge about them. 

 This undesirable condition is prevented by planting a hedge 

 of willows or other cheap trees that can be kept low and 

 bushy, six to eight rods on the windward side of the main 

 windbreak, by leaving an open space between. This forms 

 what is called a snow-trap in which the snow-drifts lodge. 

 This open space can be utilized for raising vegetables during 

 the summer or it may be seeded down and cut for hay. 



When evergreens are planted too close together, the lower 

 branches will soon die for want of light. If the remaining 

 stumps are too long to heal over for some years, they become 

 covered by the layers of new wood, thus forming knots in 

 the timber. It is interesting to go into a forest and note 

 this struggle for life among the lower branches. 

 Nature's method of pruning certainly makes good straight 

 timber, but for windbreaks it is undesirable because the loss 

 of lower limbs permits unobstructed windsweep right where 

 it is most desirable to stop it. 



In our older sister states examples of such "windbreaks on 

 stilts" may be seen. To obviate this difficulty the evergreens 

 in a windbreak should not be planted too near each other. 

 The rows especially should not be too close together, and 

 the rows should "break joints'' so that the trees of one row 



