1851. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
45 
€\)t IMintlfttrul Irpnrtratttt. 
CONDUCTED BY J. J. THOMAS. 
Protection from Winter Winds. 
Those who do not appreciate the higher reasons 
for ornamental planting, will doubtless admit its 
utility, if its pecuniary economy is pointed out. A 
single item,—the saving of fuel,—is a sufficient rea¬ 
son for the protection of dwellings against the range 
of cold winds. 
Every woodman is familiar with the contrast in 
apparent temperature between the center of a dense 
forest, and the face of an 
open field, during the 
depth of winter. In the 
northern states, culti¬ 
vated land is often fro¬ 
zen to the depth of a 
foot; woodland soil oft¬ 
en not half that depth 
under similar circum¬ 
stances. Even some 
green-house plants will 
survive the coldest win¬ 
ters if planted under the 
thick boughs of a forest. 
The same kind of pro¬ 
tection may be very 
easily secured by the oc¬ 
cupants of every coun¬ 
try dwelling, by plant¬ 
ings of evergreens, which will serve wonderfully 
to mitigate the evils of our long and rigorous win¬ 
ters, which are so generally felt. To come at once 
to an estimate by bank-note consideration,—we 
are satisfied by considerable observation, as well as 
actual experience, that on many bleak situations, at 
least one half the fuel consumed might be saved by 
planting twenty-five to fifty good evergreen trees, 
across the sweep of the prevailing winds. It is a 
matter of some importance to one who values coin, 
whether he pays twenty-five or fifty dollars a year 
for cord-wood; and whether by saving twenty-five 
dollars a year, he may save the value of a small 
farm in a life-time. 
And if at the same time that this positive tangible 
profit is secured, a tasteful and attractive appearance 
is given to a home,—an influence of very great im¬ 
portance in the moral education of a rising family,— 
the matter is most certainly worthy of attention. To 
explain more distinctly how a dwelling may be thus 
protected by tasteful planting, we give the above 
imperfect plan; more particularly as writers on or¬ 
namental planting have apparently lost sight of this 
important end. The prevailing winds are supposed 
to be from the south, north-west, and north-east. 
It will be observed in the plan, that the plantings of 
evergreen trees predominate at three points, while in 
other directions the view is left more open. At the 
same time, art is concealed, and artificial stiffness 
avoided. The number of trees for these screens may 
be tripled if necessary. 
There are few parts of the country where native 
evergreens of some kind may not be procured within 
a days journey. They may be conveyed, on sleds 
with great ease and safety while sleiging lasts, as the 
large balls or cakes of earth, which sill evergreens 
must carry on their roots for successful removal, are 
easily loaded on sleds, and the motion is not suffi¬ 
cient to jar off the soil. We have never succeeded bet¬ 
ter with the white pine 
and other trees, than by 
cutting out a circle of 
unfrozen earth round 
each tree, under the 
snow, enough to pre¬ 
serve the tree upright, 
without staking, and af¬ 
ter drawing them home, 
to leave them standing 
unplanted till spring. 
They varied from seven 
to twelve feet high when 
removed. 
One of the most beau¬ 
tiful and tasteful ever¬ 
greens, when grown in 
open ground, is the hem¬ 
lock. Intermingled with 
white pine, balsam fir, white spruce, red and white 
cedar, and other native sorts, occasionally inter¬ 
spersed with such exotics as the Norway, silver fir, 
&c., in connexion with deciduous trees properly ar¬ 
ranged, a plantation presents an exceedingly pleasing 
and varied appearance. 
The Seventeen Year Locust. 
A copy of the recent Transactions of the Pennsyl¬ 
vania Horticultural Society (received through the 
kindness of Dr. Brinckle,) contains a paper from 
Margaretta Morris, and another from Prof. Goadby, 
on the injury sustained by the pear tree from the 
Cicada septendecim or seventeen year locust. It 
appears that these insects during their long residence 
below ground in the larval and pupa state, attach 
themselves to the roots of the tree and injure it by 
abstracting its sap. A special committee, under the 
direction of M. Morris, examined the roots of some 
pear and apple trees, and found great numbers of 
these insects passing from the larval to the pupa 
state. They were enclosed in separate earthern cells 
opening only against a portion of the root. They 
were then in the sixteenth year of their subterranean 
life. Trees thus infested by them presented usually 
a sickly appearance. From the roots of one pear 
tree nearly five hundred of these insect larvae were 
