THE NEW FORESTRY. l6l 



CHAPTER XIII. 

 SHELTER BELTS AND HEDGE-ROW TREES. 



SECTION I.— BELTS. 



In an earlier chapter we have alluded to the importance of 

 combining shelter to adjoining lands with the laying out and 

 distribution of the wooded areas, but the subject of tree belts 

 planted with the special object of shelter to farm stock and 

 crops demands separate notice. No doubt i belts, when judi- 

 ciously laid out, do afford shelter from cold cutting winds during 

 winter and shade in summer, but from a special acquaintance 

 with the subject on high-lying inland situations we believe that 

 the value of single shelter belts has been much exaggerated. 

 They are non-productive, so far as timber is concerned, for 

 they have to be kept dense, and if the advantages they are 

 supposed to afford in the way of shelter are not equivalent to 

 their cost of maintenance there must be loss instead of gain. 

 Belts are usually planted on north-west, north, and north-east 

 exposures, and consequently, like a north wall in a garden, 

 they have a cold and a warm side, but unlike the wall the cold 

 side is of little utility, for the influence of its cold shade extends 

 just about as far as does its protection on the other side. 

 A belt running east and west on level ground has a distinctly 

 injurious effect on all crops on its northern side, and this is 

 particularly noticeable on grain, turnip, and potato crops. 

 Besides, it is mainly from winds that belts afford protection, 

 as in calm weather their influence is nil. In addition .to this, 

 belts occupy land often as good as that which they are "planted 

 to shelter. In England belts from thirty to fifty yards wide, and 

 even much wider, are common on estates, often taking up many 

 acres of good land. Strange to say, too, these belts often 

 consist almost wholly of deciduous species, which afford least 

 shelter when it is most needed, viz., in winter. These are some 

 of the merits and demerits of belts, and should be considered 

 in planting. In any case, in order that such belts should 

 cost as little as possible, and at the same time be effective, 

 they should occupy as little land as possible and be dense 

 enough to stop winds. A width of from twenty to thirty yards 

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