"Forests protect a country from the violence of winds. The lively author of "Life in Mexico' writes,† 'M. de Humboldt, who examined the will of Cortes, informs us that the conqueror had left sugar plantations near Cuyoacan, in the valley of Mexico, where now, owing, it is supposed, to the cutting down of the trees, the cold is too great for sugar cane or any other tropical production to thrive.' And a most intelligent gentleman in Worcester tells me, that he attributes the greater difficulty now experienced in the cultivation of the more delicate fruits in that town, to the fact that the encircling hills, formerly crowned with trees, are now, to a considerable degree, laid bare. The laws of the motion of the atmosphere are similar to those of water. A bare hill gives no protection. The wind pours over it as water pours over a dam. Bat if the hill be capped with trees, the windy cascade will be broken as into spray. Its violence will be sensibly diminished. We are not aware, on the now protected and irregular surface of New England, how important are the screens furnished by the forests.

Travelers from Illinois tell us, that on the vast prairies in that and some of the other Western States, the wind is almost always fresh, and often blows a gale, before which men can hardly stand. The new settlers are glad to shelter their habitations under the lea of the spurs of forest which stretch like promontories into the prairie lands. A forest near the coast in any part of New England, protects those further 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 "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."*

* "'At Guiana, in South America, within five degrees of the line, the inhabitants living amid immense forests, a century ago, were obliged to alleviate the severity of the cold by evening fires. Even the duration of the rainy season has been shortened by the clearing of the country, and the warmth is so increased, that a are now would be deemed an annoyance,' - Ure's Dictionary of Chemistry, - article, Climate".

Now, if forests or plantations of trees exercise such modifying influences upon climate, should not every man who cultivates the soil, take a lively interest in preserving them, and even in creating them where none or a too scanty supply exists at present ? Next to the soil itself, the climate is the most important consideration to agriculture and horticulture. It is the subject of continual apprehension and remark. The dread of intense cold, excessive heat or dryness, high winds, etc, haunt the anxious cultivator from one end of the year to the other; and in the most favorable seasons, he can not hope to escape without loss. Look back to the winter of 1853 and '54, and to last summer. Who could estimate the total loss from extremes of cold and drouth in that single season! We trust that in these days of improvement, when everything pertaining to the rural arts is undergoing an intelligent scrutiny, that the climatic influence of trees will not be overlooked. We have little hope of reaching directly, with one word of warning, a very large number of those who wield the destinies of the" 'small lots, thus sheltered, are not left bare of snow so early in the spring as larger ones lying bare; since fences and trees cause more of it to remain on the ground.

The cold winds in March and April hurt the grass much when the ground is bare; and the winds in winter will not suffer snow to lie deep in land that Is too open to the rake of winds and storms.' - N. E Farmer, VL, 350." woods, but we hope the readers of the Horticulturist will become missionaries in this cause, and do whatever lies in their power to stay the axe.

* "A writer in the 0th volume of the N. E. Farmer, says, 'It Is not merely in forests, nor as supplying firewood and timber that trees are valuable. 'Considered agriculturally,' says an English writer, 'the advantages to be derived from subdividing extensive tracts of country by plantations are evidently great, whether considered in the light of affording Immediate shelter to the lands, or In that of Improving the local climate,' The fact that the climate may be thus improved, has, in very many instances, been sufficiently established. It is indeed astonishing how much better cattle thrive in fields even but moderately sheltered, than they do in an open, exposed country. In the breeding of cattle, a sheltered farm, or a sheltered earner in a farm, is a thing much prized; and In instances where fields are taken by the season for the purpose of fattening cattle, those most sheltered, never fall to bring the highest rents. * * * Dr. Deane has observed, * pasture lands should be well fenced in small lots, * * * and these lots should be bordered at least, with rows of trees.

It is best that trees of some kinder other should be growing scattered in every point of a pasture, so that cattle may never have far to go in a hot hour, to obtain a comfortable shade.'"

Hereafter we shall have something to say on the rearing of plantations in thinly-wooded, or prairie regions.