-270 PROTECTION FBOM WINDS. 



Protection from Winds. — The effect of protection from the 

 -winds lo nearly the same for delicate trefes as for delicate human 

 beings. " Keep out of a strong draught of air " is a common 

 admonition given to those who' are heilthy, as well as to invalids ; 

 .and this, too, when only the pleasant breath of' summer is^ to be 

 guarded against. Now when we reflect that trees have not the 

 power of warming themselves by exercise, but must Stand with suf- 

 fering patience the coldest bla'sts of winter, with no more covering 

 ■on body and linibs'than sufficed them in genial Summer air, how 

 thoughtless and heartless of us to expert any of them, least of all 

 the denizens of semi-tropical forfest's, to' la.ugh with blossoms, and 

 grow fat with leaves, after being exposed to all the rigors of a 

 northern winter. Ought wd ribt to be rn'osf thankful that even the 

 hardened species of northern zones can bear the vicissitudes of our 

 •climate? And if semi-tropical trees can also be made to thrive by 

 Jiindly protection, 'should we grudge them the "care which their deli- 

 ■cacy demands ? ... 



Much as our tiorticultural writer's have endeavored to impress 

 the importance of protection from winds, by means of walls of 

 hardy evergreen trees, few persons have had the ' opportunity of 

 •observing how great the benefits of such' protection. HoUses, out- 

 buildings, and high fences may generally be so 'connected by such 

 hedges and screens' as to form warm bays and shdtered nooks 

 where many trees a!nd shrubs of novel' beauty may bfe grown, which, 

 in exposed situations, would either die outright or eke out a dis- 

 eased and stunted existence. This remark applies ^with most force 

 to the smaller trees and shrubs for which constructive protections 

 against winds may be erected with no great expense ; or verdant 

 walls may be grown within i. few years. 'Yet larger trees like the 

 Magnolia machrophylla and the Bhotan pine (/'. excelsa) may be so 

 protected in their early growth that the health and vigor acquired 

 during the first ten years of careful attention to their needs will 

 enable them to resist vicissitudes of climate which trees of the same 

 .species, less judiciously reared, would die under. Vigor of con- 

 :stitution in animals is not alone a matter of race and family, but 

 also to a considerable degree the result of education and training. 

 Delicate youths who nurse their strength, and battle with their own 



