346 STATE POMOLOGtCAL SOCIETY. 



On Climates. 



"In this part of Canada we snffer from drought but not from 

 diminished rain-fall. I must explain this apparent contradiction. 

 England is a land of verdure, the lawns are like velvet, the trees 

 and thatched roofs covered with moss. What a conti'ast to our dry 

 climate, and 3"et the annual rain-fall of London is nearly thirteen 

 inches less than that of Montreal. It is from aridit}' of air, and 

 consequent rapid evaporation that we suffer. 



In Russia we find fruit cultivated largely in climates where the 

 conditions of extreme cold, dr\-ness of air, and scant}' rain-fall are 

 greatly intensified. 



In the Government of Kasan, above latitude 55 where the winter 

 temperature is five degrees lower than in the city of Quebec, the 

 rain-fall a good deal less than one-half, the evaporation as great, we 

 find apple growing a great commercial industry, the industry-, in 

 fact, in twelve peasant villages. This is the coldest profitable 

 orchard region of the world, and the conditions of growth deserve 

 study. The soil upon these exposed blufHs is a fine comminuted 

 dustv clav, like a " loess." For retaining moisture, for absorbing it, 

 for holding frost without injurj- to the roots, there is no better. 

 The dry fall here causes perfect maturity of growth ; the thick, fine 

 textured leaf does not suffer from the dryness of the air. It was 

 Mr. Budd, whose microscopic study of the leaves of these climates 

 first showed their peculiar cell structure. Thus we see that the 

 apple tree of Kasan is a tree thoroughly adapted to the climate it 

 lives in. However, the cold of Kasan seems more uniform than 

 ours. In this Province we suffer from the warmth of the sun in the 

 late winter and earh* spring, warmth followed by sudden cold. 

 This results in "bark-bursting" and "sun-scalding" of the trunk 

 and lower branches. Such injury is rare in Eastern and Middle 

 Russia, but how much this is owing to the climate, how much to the 

 character of their hardy race of trees I cannot say." * * * * 



" St. Petersburg is in lat. (JO, so far North that the stars cease to 

 be visible during two months in summer, the sun is too short a 

 distance below the horison. A cold coast climate ; a Gaspe or 

 Anticosti climate, one would suppose. A cool, short summer, a 

 long changeable winter, not colder on an average than Montreal,, 

 but subject to greater extremes of sudden cold. Early terminate 

 growth is the special ciiaracteristic needed here." 



