STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. I9I 



from cokl winds artbrdeil by extensive tracts of forest does have an 

 influence on the temperature most beneficial to fruit trees, and even to 

 hardy young forest trees, and that the loss of this shelter, by the destruc- 

 tion of tlie forests, causes corresponding injury. The failure of the 

 peach crop in New England is attributed, by good authorities, to the 

 deprivation of the shelter formerly aflbrded by the foiests. 



Continued cold weather, within certain limits, is less injurious to fruit 

 trees than frequent and sudden changes from warm to cold, and vice 

 versa. In the shade of forests the snow which foils remains on the 

 ground, \vhile, if the same land were cleared of wood, the snow might 

 fall and melt several times during the winter. It is easy to see that 

 when forests are of large extent the climiite would, in the former case, 

 be much less changeable than in the latter. 



The specific heat of trees is not only greater in winter than that of 

 inorganic bodies, but less in summer, as is proved by the warmth of a 

 fruit just taken from the tree when compared with that of one which 

 has lain for any length of time on the ground, even when both are 

 equally exposed to tlie sun's rays. Every one must have noticed, when 

 a dense fog fills the air in summer, that water drops from trees long 

 before fences and buildings are wet; hence the moisture of the air is, in 

 wooded countries, condensed in the form of rain or dew much more 

 frequently and regularly than in treeless countries, which depend for 

 precipitation of the moisture of the air on causes far less constant than 

 I he continual presence of trees. 



The electric condition of the air, as aflected by the thousands of miles 

 of conducting substances, which, in the form of railroatl tracks or tele- 

 graph wires, have been stretched over the country, deserves investigation. It 

 is noticed that summer thunder showers do not. as witliin my own remem- 

 brance, when over, leave the air bright, clear, and refreshing, but sultry 

 and close. It is thought highly probable by some who have given much 

 attention to meteorology, that this change, simultaneous with the intro- 

 duction of railroads and telegraphs, is closely connected with it. I know 

 not whether this change affects vegetation for good or ill, but it appears 

 to me likelv to favor the growth of fungi, and consequently to injure 

 other plants; but, as I have said, we need further obsen^ation on this 

 point. 



Artificial drainage of land, though highly beneficial to fruit trees, 

 indeed absolutelv necessary when nature has not provided it, is yet too 

 limited to produce any general effect on the climate. But it can not be 

 doubted that with the increase of population and the necessity of pro- 

 ducing the utmost quantity of food from the land, this operation will be 

 carried to an extent which will produce a perceptibly beneficial effect on 

 the climate. 



The extent to which fruit culture can be carried in large cities is of 

 course limited, but so far as it goes, the shelter afforded by high walls 

 surrounding small gardens, accumulating warmth by day to be imparted 

 to the air by night, has, in the oldest parts of the country, the same effect 

 in rejuvenating old fruits as is possessed by the virgin soils of Kansas and 



