10 TREES AND SHRUBS 



tccting it, is not wasted, but is well invested. The hedge and 

 shrubbery which keeps the dust out of the house more than 

 pays for itself in saving floors and furniture, to say nothing 

 of muscle and nervous energy spent in cleaning out the dirt. 

 Bodily comfort counteracts nervous irritation and makes for 

 general sweetness of disposition; and it should be our task to 

 make the home the most comfortable place possible. For this 

 reason alone, if for no other, properly and tastefully arranged 

 shrubbery is one source of comfort and pleasure for the 

 household. 



There is no reason why practically any style of horticul- 

 tural decoration may not be used about our irrigated farm and 

 town houses. Formal gardens, informal or natural planting, 

 hedges, windbreaks, orchards and vineyards, vine covered ar- 

 bors, summer houses and porches may all be had where water 

 for irrigation is available. 



Windbreaks and shelterbelts should be used much more 

 in our cultivated valleys than is now the custom. There is 

 little doubt that one of the worst enemies to our orchards and 

 vineyards is our dry wind. Any means of protecting cultivated 

 fields, orchards, vineyards, decorative shrubbery, and stock 

 from the effect of these winds will be valuable to the valley 

 farmer, and one of the most available forms of protection is 

 to be found in the windbreak or shelterbelt of native trees. 



