230 TREES AND TREE-PLANTING. 
produce the desired protection. For field wind-breaks 
the leafless trees have much value, and their judicious 
disposition will greatly check the cutting storms. When 
we come to select plants best suited to the protection of 
our own homes and their surroundings we find abundant 
material from which to make a choice. For trees and 
for tall screens the favorite with many is the Norway 
spruce, which grows rapidly, is easily transplanted and 
managed, and presents a welcome tint of green that is 
always persistent and full. The other spruces are also 
desirable, particularly the white and black, as they bear 
the knife and shears very well, and may easily be kept 
within due bounds when used as hedges for shelter. The 
majority of wind-breaks planted in the prairies are com- 
posed of deciduous trees, and are usually of the com- 
monest species, such as the cotton-woods, box-elder, soft 
maples, etc.—any tree of rapid growth or that can be 
most cheaply procured. This practice, however, need 
not prevent the use of hard-wood and other trees in 
making shelters; but, in instances, impatience may pre- 
vail over judgment as to the more valuable species, and 
induce the use of trees of rapid growth to insure a speedy 
result. The native hemlock is particularly commended 
as a lawn tree standing alone, but it is also one of the 
very best species for forming a screen or shelter-hedge, 
as it may be clipped to a perfect plane, and, where nec- 
essary, can be confined to narrow limits. 
“The common red cedar, called the ‘ poor man’s ever- 
green,’ on account of its cheapness and the facility with 
which it may be produced in all parts of this country, 
as well as the certainty and rapidity of its growth, is a 
most useful and valuable plant for the farmer. Though 
not of so fine a color as some others, this tree makes a 
dense foliage when set as a shelter-belt and wind-break. 
It also makes a close hedge, and might be used to ad- 
vantage as a screen and as a protective hedge for gar- 
dens and about hot-beds. 
