The  new  settlers  were  glad  to  shelter  their  habitations  under
the  lee  of  the  spurs  of  forest  which  stretch  like  promontories
into  the  prairie  lands,  and  extensive  plantations  of  forest-trees
have  been  recently  formed  for  shelter,  as  well  as  for  other
uses.  A  forest  near  the  coast,  in  any  part  of  New  England,
protects  those  farther  inland  from  the  chilling  east  winds ;  and,
while  such  winds  prevail,  a  person  passing  towards  the  sea,
experiences  a  marked  change  of  temperature  upon  crossing
the  last  wood,  and  especially  the  last  wood-covered  hill.  One
who  would  have  his  house  screened  from  the  northerly  winds,
must  take  care  to  have  behind  it  a  hill  crowned  with  trees,  or
at  least  to  have  a  wood  stretching  from  the  north-west  to  the
north-east.  A  garden  surrounded  by  tall  trees  admits  the
cultivation,  even  in  our  severe  climate,  of  plants  almost
tropical.^

1  "The  sensible  cold  is  never  extreme  in  thick  woods,  where  the  motion  of  the
air  is  little  felt.  The  lumber  men  in  the  northern  States  and  in  Canada  labor  in
the  woods  without  inconvenience,  when  the  mercury  stands  many  degrees  below


USES  OF  THE  FORESTS.  7

Forests  not  only  protect  from  winds:  they  must  prevent
their  formation.  The  air  resting  over  a  broken  surface  cannot
be  rapidly  heated  to  a  uniformly  high  temperature^  so  as  to
rise  upwards  in  great  masses  and  create  a  violent  wind.^


the  zero  of  Fahrenheit,  while,  in  the  open  grounds,  with  only  a  moderate  breexe,
the  same  temperature  is  almost  insupportable."  —  Man  and  Nature,  p.  164.
