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all right and has a thorough sub-drainage, it cannot well be too level, as the 
more level the land, the easier it is to cultivate, and the better the work that 
is done by the improved implements used for orchard cultivation. 
SHELTER. 
The question of shelter is one that is often overlooked by fruit-growers, 
and yet it is one thathas a very considerable influence on the productions of 
the orchard. Absence of shelter means injury and loss from heavy winds, or 
from hot winds, and in many districts injury from frost, so that it will pay 
any grower, when selecting the site of his orchard, to take advantage of any 
natural shelter that may exist. Such shelter may consist of belts of native 
timber, belts of scrub, or a background of higher land. Where belts of timber | 
exist, they should be allowed to remain standing on all sides from which damage 
is likely to come, leaving a good substantial belt and not a mere fringe of trees ; 
and where a belt of scrub is left, it should be of a sufficient width for the wind 
not to blow.through it, otherwise it will soon die out. Where there is no 
available natural shelter, then it is advisable to provide an artificial one, which 
should consist of a belt of trees, preferably evergreen, that are adapted to the 
soil and district ; and in the case of open plain country these belts should be of 
forest trees and of sufficient width to be a thorough windbreak ; two or three 
rows of trees, though of some use, being of comparatively little value when 
compared with belts two or three chains in width. Such belts of forest trees 
would, in addition to their value as windbreaks, become eventually of consider- 
able value for their timber, for it is only a question of time when good timber 
will become a very scarce commodity in many parts of the colony. 
(Lo be continued.) 
