Miscellaneous. 



552 



[December, 1911. 



having their taxes reduced and in having 

 rural taxation extended to others than 

 agriculturists. 



It now remains to be seen whether the 

 farmer will profit by the increase in 

 value which the reduction in the taxes 

 will bring to his land, or whether it will 

 only lead to an increase in the mort- 

 gages. In the latter case his financial 

 standing in a few years will be no better 

 than it was before the reform of 1903. 



THE USE OP WIND-BREAKS. 



(Prom the Agricultural Neivs, Vol. X., 

 No. 227, January 7, 1911.) 



In most parts of the West Indies, con- 

 spicuous examples can be easily found of 

 the great degree to which the growth of 

 plants is retarded by exposure to con- 

 stant winds. The larger trees, as regards 

 the tips of the m upper branches, are 

 shaped to slope upward from the wind- 

 ward to the leeward side, showing that 

 the wind has had an action similar to 

 that of pruning on one side of the 

 branches only ; while the herbage 

 around them is scanty, and seems to be 

 barely permitted to exist. Such are the 

 conditions that obtain in regard to the 

 ordinary, hardy plants. There is small 

 wonder, then, that the agriculturist, 

 when he is raising varieties of a delicate 

 nature, and possibly of exotic origin, 

 finds it necessary to provide protection 

 for them against the wind. It is these 

 circumstances that have given an origin 

 to the important subject of the planting 

 of wind-breaks. 



Wind-breaks, or shelter belts, as they 

 are often termed, may be either per- 

 manent or temporary, according to the 

 nature of the crop that they are de- 

 signed to piotect. For perennial crops, 

 such as limes or cacao plants that will 

 form large trees are required. Annual 

 crops, such as cotton and most kinds of 

 ground provisions do not necessarily 

 demand large or long-lived plants for 

 purposes of protection. 



The permanent wind-break, planted 

 at the same time as the crop which it is 

 intended to protect, grows up with this 

 generally at a quicker rate, so that 

 when the plants of the latter have 

 attained maturity, the wind-break is 

 available for their protection. Among 

 the plants more commonly used in the 

 West Indies in this connection are pois 

 doux (Inga laurina), Madura ; or Nicara- 

 gua shade tree (Glincidia maculata) ; a 

 quickly growing plant, galba (Calophyl- 

 lum Calaba) which withstand sea- 

 blasts well ; savonnette (Lonchocarpus 



violaceus) ; white cedar (Tecoma leucoxy- 

 lon) used more particularly in Mont- 

 serrat, while bamboos have also been 

 employed for the purpose, although 

 their great drying action on the soil 

 forms an objection to their extended 

 employment. 



The temporary wind-break most com- 

 monly used are Guinea corn and pigeon 

 peas. In cotton cultivation, one or the 

 other of these may be planted at the 

 head of the rows, on the windward side, 

 if the best results are to be obtained. 

 As in the case of the permanent wind- 

 breaks, the protecting crop grows up 

 with the main one, and the period of its 

 existence is more or less that of the 

 plants which it is designed to shelter. 

 The advantage of wind-breaks of this 

 kind is that they can be removed when 

 the principal crop is harvested, leaving 

 the ground entirely clear for such 

 cultuial operations as may be necessary. 

 They possess disadvantages on account 

 of the fact that their sheltering action 

 extends to a short distance, only to 

 leeward to them, necessitating the 

 taking up of valuable space where the 

 area of cultivation is large by succes- 

 sive rows of shelter belts ; and because 

 they are of little or no use in storms or 

 in very high winds. 



It will be well to consider, at this 

 stage, the general effects of wind-breaks. 

 Reference has been made already to 

 their directry protective quality, by 

 which they prevent mechanical injury 

 by wind. Among such damage is the 

 breaking off of branches and the re- 

 moval of flowers and fruits, by which 

 the productive capacity ot the trees is 

 lessened, and in the first instance oppor- 

 tunities are given for invasion by disease. 

 The chances of serious loss of flowers and 

 fruits in chis way are not usually great 

 in cacao orchards ; it is in citrus cultiv- 

 ation that greater harm is likely to 

 accrue from this cause. In any case, 

 the presence of a shelter belt, where this 

 is required, lessens the stunting action 

 of the wind, and thus removes one of 

 the largest handicaps that have to be 

 met by the plants in their struggle for 

 existence. 



The ways in which the wind-breaks 

 are of use to plants are, however, gener- 

 ally secondary. They often serve to 

 ameliorate the conditions under which 

 the plants are existing, to such an extent 

 as to enable them to attain a state of 

 energetic healthfulness in which they 

 resist successfully all attacks of diseases 

 and pests ; while much of the effort that 

 would be otherwise required in combat- 

 ing untoward conditions is employed in 



