NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



919 



On the other hand, trees giving but little shade will never make a 

 forest cover sufficient to keep out the grass and weeds, no matter how 

 planted. 



In choosing trees for shelter one aims at varieties easily and quickly 

 grown, perfectly hardy, and of dense, compact habit. A single row of 

 trees, excepting evergreens, is not sufficient to make a windbreak. Three 

 or four rows are required to make a perfect shelter. To give height to the 

 windbreak a row of a quick-growing variety, as Cottonwood or Carolina 

 Poplar, should be planted eight feet apart on the north side of a wind- 

 break running east and west, and on the west side of one running north 

 and south. 



The same distance should be maintained between the rows. The two 

 middle rows should be made up of trees having a compact bushy growth 

 like the Silver Maple and Box Elder. These will endure shade and may 

 be planted closer than four feet apart. The inner row should be a compact- 

 growing kind. For the first few years the windbreak will need to be 

 kept well cultivated. When the trees begin to reach across the spaces 

 between the rows, a heavy mulch of old straw may be applied to the 

 ground to take the place of cultivation. By the time that is gone the 

 trees will have the weed question settled for good. Trees for a wind- 

 break should not be trimmed, but allowed to branch freely, right down to 

 the ground if they will ; to encourage this the trees are planted further 

 apart than they should be in a grove. 



A windbreak should not be too close to house and buildings, but 

 allow large enough space to include garden, fruit plantation, as well as 

 a spacious yard about the buildings for planting ornamental things. The 

 appearance is much improved by planting more or less irregular masses 

 of shrubbery against it : these break the rather formal and harsh 

 appearance of the straight lines of the trees and give a more artistic 

 effect. 



The primary object in planting a grove is to establish a wocd lot on 

 which to draw for supplies of fuel and posts ; incidentally it may be made 

 a very attractive feature of the farm and also serve for shelter. 



A list of trees suitable for groves follows. 



Seedling trees must be planted close enough together to shade each 

 other at the sides, to prevent the growth of lateral branches, and compel 

 an upward growth. 



Trees in a grove, to be of any value, should be tall and straight. By 

 being forced to stretch up to get the light they naturally become so. 



Two feet between the trees in a row is about the right distance at 

 first. The rows may be far enough apart to cultivate easily with a two- 

 horse team, or about eight feet ; nurse trees and permanent trees, Elm, 

 Ash, and Basswood, should not be nearer than eight feet apart in 

 the row. 



While small, the trees may be cultivated the same as Maize, with an 

 ordinary two-horse cultivator. Another excellent tool is the acme harrow, 

 which cuts about seven feet wide : it is a good weed destroyer and leaves 

 the soil well pulverised to retain the moisture ; it will cultivate an acre 

 of trees in an hour. Until the trees begin to shade the ground, they 

 should be cultivated frequently, about once in ten days or two weeks, and 



