CHAPTER XVII. 

 WIND-BREAKS. 



Bailey describes four harmful results and thir- 

 teen benefits from wind-breaks. A careful orehard- 

 ist often shelters his trees by protection that avoids 

 injury without losing the advantages. Adam says 

 the best wind-break is another row of trees. An 

 orchard of several hundred acres needs none : 1 ' The 

 outside row acts as wind-breaks." Tall growing 

 varieties of fig trees are sometimes selected as wind- 

 breaks for other vegetation. 



If a farmer will have one, let it be a kind that in- 

 terferes the least with atmospheric drainage, and 

 that will not be a breeding place for noxious insects 

 and harmful fungi. Some contend that wind- 

 breaks should entirely surround orchards in order 

 to lessen the effect of breezes that enervate trees by 

 alternately bending and releasing the limbs from 

 atmospheric pressure, their vitality being expended 

 in the effort to recover upright positions. But 

 theories of this kind will not be discussed, as it 

 would extend our work beyond the scope of a field 

 manual into less substantial considerations. 



Among writers the prevailing opinion is certainly 

 in their favor. Of Bailey's thirteen benefits but 

 three apply to fig growing: "1. A wind-break 

 may protect from cold. 2. Reduces evaporation 



