WINDBREAKS II 



at one season of tlie year and from another quarter 

 at another season, it heconies necessary to consider 

 whether the windbreak is intended chiefly for winter, 

 summer, or picking-time protection. Sometimes all 

 three are required; many of the best orchards have 

 windbreaks around their entire circumference. There 

 is too much trouble and expense, however, attached 

 to the maintenance of a windbreak to justify a man 

 in keeping one where it is not plainly required. 



The materials which may form the windbreak are 

 various. Each man must judge for himself which is 

 most practicable in his own locality and under his 

 own circumstances. In many cases the lay of the 

 land may be depended on. Some of the best orchards 

 and fruit-growing regions in America are to be found 

 on sharp mountain slopes or along steep hillsides. In 

 such cases the slope of the mountain or hill may be 

 sufficient to furnish all necessary protection from the 

 wind. In other cases natural woods or belts of tim- 

 ber occur in convenient proximity to the orchard and 

 in such a way as to furnish the desired shelter. Nat- 

 ural woods give the greatest possible protection, but, 

 more than any other windbreak, they are open to the 

 charge of harboring noxious insects, rabbits, mice and 

 other vermin. 



Under most circumstances it is necessary to plant 

 artificial timber belts for the protection of the orchard 

 where protection is desired. These may be either of 

 evergreen trees or of deciduous species. The conifers, 

 such as pines, spruces, hemlock, and arbor vitae, all 

 make good windbreaks, and are especially desiraljle 

 where winter protection is the main consideration. 

 They are somewhat more difficult to transplant and 

 establish than deciduous trees are, but there is seldom 



