THE COUNTRY HOME [CHAPTER 
poplars, pears, apples, and evergreens. Bear in 
mind that the pear is hardier and longer-lived than 
the apple—with the same amount of care. Mr. 
L. B. Pierce, a first-class horticulturist of Ohio, 
says, “It seems strange to me that so many of our 
Western farmers get along, year after year, without 
windbreaks. My place is warmer than many 
others because of the evergreens, which have been 
planted twelve to sixteen years. Northwest of 
my house is a row of Norway spruce. Last year I 
thinned them out, and found some thirty-four feet 
high. I set them originally six feet apart, and took 
out every other tree to sell. I have a little wind- 
break to protect my kitchen, and the snow goes off 
there some days before it does anywhere else. It 
makes an excellent shelter for the yard and the 
house. I know men who have six-foot fences 
around their barn lots, where arbor-vitee would 
serve just as well, and last for thirty years. If it 
grows too fast at the bottom you may remove some 
branches. The bottom ought to be at least four 
feet wide, or the lower branches will die. Put your 
protection on the northwest of the house, or even 
an orchard placed there will be a protection, and 
keep out a good deal of cold.” Another Ohio 
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