300 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



FAKMEBS' 



GARDENS-- 

 Shelter. 



•No. V. 



HERE it is de- 

 sirable to raise 

 early vegeta- 

 bles and the 

 finer fruits, this 

 ^^ is an important 

 matter in most 

 of the North- 

 ern States, and 

 one that does 

 not receive the 

 consideration that it 

 deserves. Under the 

 head of '■'■Location,'''' 

 we referred to the 

 shelter aiforded by 

 the form of the 

 ground. 



Where a garden 

 lies upon a gentle in- 

 clination to the South, 

 if the ground above is occupied by an orchard 

 or by forest trees, and especially by ever- 

 greens, little other shelter is needed. But 

 such situations cannot always be obtained. 

 Where the garden is upon level grounds, fences 

 of boards, or stone walls are the shelter more 

 commonly resorted to. But there are objec- 

 tions to cutting up the grounds around the 

 home into small enclosures. It detracts much 

 from their beauty, and the constant opening 

 and shutting of gates and bars is attended with 

 much inconvenience. 



Belts of white pine, arbor vitae, or Norway 

 Spruce planted in double or triple rows on the 

 northerly and easterly side of gardens, furnish 

 a better protection, and at the same time add 

 much more to the beauty of the ground. 

 Where it is desired to raise early vegetables 

 or the finer fruits, some such shelter is abso- 

 lutely necessary. Vines and the more deli- 

 cate pears are often greatly injured and even 

 ruined by rain storms, accompanied by north- 

 east winds. A fence five or six feet high, or 

 an evergreen hedge, will generally save them 

 Under such a shelter, beds for early vegeta- 

 bles may be arranged, and next to them the 

 more tender varieties of pears may be planted. 

 In such situations, the ground will not freeze 

 as deeply in the winter, and will be in a condi- 

 tion to be worked several days earlier than in 

 open ground. 



In such sheltered situations the climate is 

 greatly modified, and is actually found to be 

 several degrees warmer on cold and windy 

 days than in unsheltered places. 



One of the most remarkable instances of 

 amelioration of climate produced by artificial 

 shelter is found in the garden of Mr. Tudor 

 of Nahant. This is a rocky promontory pro- 

 jecting from the coast of Lynn and Massachu- 

 setts Bay. It consists chiefly of ledges, or 

 rock piled vipon rock ; is not more than half a 

 mile wide, and is exposed to the full sweep of 

 the easterly winds, which bring the salt spray 

 over the surface. The soil is thin, and with 

 such fierce visitations of wind and salt water, 

 the vegetation is meagre and only of the 

 coarsest kind. Yet, in such a situation, sci- 

 ence and labor have triumphed over the nat- 

 ural obstacles, and made the almost barren 

 rocks to blossom as the rose ! Corn, and 

 waving grain, trees of various climes, fruits, 

 flowers, shrubbery and rich lawns now meet the 

 eye, where only desolation held sway but a 

 few years before. 



Mr. Tudor found that trees, even those of a 

 hardy character, would not grow, or scarcely 

 live, swept and twisted by the winds, and 

 coated by the salt spray, and he set himself to 

 protect them. The first step was to amelio- 

 rate the climate. Cold winds, surcharged with 

 acrid salts must be kept out, while soft suns 

 and gentle airs must be admitted to the plants, 

 and he has so far changed the climate of the 

 locality, as to enable him to rear tender plants, 

 and to produce fruits scarcely attainable in 

 sheltered spots in the interior. Around one 

 garden he erected fences from ten to fifteen 

 feet high of common lathes, nailed to strong 

 cross pieces, leaving interstices about two 

 inches wide between them. Around another 

 garden the fence is of brick ; the lower five or 

 six feet is close, and the upper portion full of 

 holes about two inches square. These fences 

 so break and sift the winds as to deprive them 

 of all power of either straining the trees, or 

 conveying the salt spray to their foliage. At 

 the same time the temperature is so changed, 

 that several degrees of difference may be no- 

 ticed between the inside and outside of the en- 

 closure. In a cold day, there is a genial, soft 

 atmosphere in the garden, while out of it, No- 

 vember winds may howl along the coast with 

 icy breath. Under this change of temperature, 



