14 FORESTS, WOODS, AND TREES 



tion of the leaves. It is the force of the wind which, 

 at the same time that it hurls the salt spindrift inland, 

 damages the tissues of the trees (3). The favourable wind- 

 break effect of screens of trees, or forests, is perhaps one of 

 the best arguments for locating sanatoria for tuberculous 

 patients in forest districts. 



Dr. W. Gordon (4) proved that the strong prevailing 

 westerly and south-westerly winds in Devonshire are 

 harmful in phthisis, mainly owing to their chilling and 

 depressing effect, though they tend in a lesser degree to excite 

 bronchial catarrh in feeble persons. What I wish to 

 emphasise is the invariable action of cold wet wind on 

 plant and animal life in reducing vitality. To these winds 

 are due the formation of peat on wind-exposed sites in 

 localities with a high rainfall, as in the mountains of this 

 country above a certain elevation. The further west, the 

 greater the exposure to the wind and the higher the rainfall 

 at low elevations ; so that this kind of peat, known as 

 mountain peat (5), is prevalent in the west of Ireland on 

 land not much higher than 100 or 200 feet above sea- 

 level, while in the east of Ireland, as in the Dublin 

 mountains, peat scarcely occurs below 1000 feet altitude. 



The advantage of forests and shelter belts to human 

 beings, cattle, and crops in wind-swept districts must be 

 admitted. In the western parts of Scotland and Ireland, 

 and in Wales, the gardens of the gentry, which are 

 surrounded with plantations and belts of trees, are remark- 

 able for the luxuriance and variety of their shrubs, flowering 

 plants, fruit trees, and vegetables, rivalling often the 

 choicest gardens of the Riviera. Outside these sheltered 

 grounds the neighbouring peasants in their exposed fields 

 can never fatten cattle, and in some seasons lose by 

 wind a great part of their corn crops. In the absence of 

 protection from wind, they are unable to raise fruit like 

 apples, which might be one of the most profitable industries 

 in counties like Donegal, Galway, and Kerry. For profitable 

 horticulture in these wind-swept districts, the provision of 

 shelter by trees is essential. 



