216 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



favorable. During the month of February, when as a rule the tempera- 

 ture is lowest, and there is the most danger from severe cold, the record 

 for twenty years shows that the average temperature at Ludington is 

 about the same as in Branch and Hillsdale counties, and " careful records 

 kept for several years at Traverse City and Northport show that the mean 

 temperature during the winter months is several degrees higher there 

 than at Ann Arbor" (Sanford Howard, Report State Board of Agriculture 

 for 1867). 



The lowest temperature to which the thermometer falls is, however, 

 of more importance than is the average temperature and, in that 

 respect, the lake, so long as the breezes are from the west, has a 

 marked effect in keeping the temperature above zero. Again, in April it 

 is desirable to have the growth held back as long as possible in order 

 that the buds and blossoms may not be injured by late spring frosts. 

 The observations of the Weather Service show that for the month of 

 April the average temperature at Grand Haven is about the same as in 

 Roscommon county, nearly one hundred and fifty miles further north, 

 while in May the isotherm of Grand Haven crosses the center of the state 

 at Otsego county, or two hundred miles north of its initial point in the 

 state. The lowest limit at Traverse City is about eight degrees F. higher 

 than at St. Louis, Mo., which we think of as well to the south. The pre- 

 vailing cold winds in winter are from the west and, before reaching the 

 "peach belt," must pass over lake Michigan, which is unfrozen in the coldest 

 weather. It can be readily seen that the cold winds coming across the 

 plains to the westward, at a temperature of from 30 to 40 degrees, when 

 they reach the lake with a temperature from 60 to 70 degrees warmer, 

 will be considerably ameliorated in passing over the eighty or ninety 

 miles of open water between the shores. In fact, the effect produced in 

 extremely cold weather is often as much as twenty-five degrees, so that 

 when it is twenty-five degrees below in Wisconsin, it is not likely to be 

 zero at the same latitude in Michigan. A glance at the map will show that 

 to escape its influence, a wind must come from some point to the east of 

 north, from which direction extremely cold winds are almost unknown. 

 The waters of lake Huron and lake Erie have a slight influence upon the 

 temperature, as is shown by the isothermal charts. 



A third effect of the lake is to delay the occurrence of the frosts in the 

 autumn, thus giving grapes, peaches, and other crops an opportunity to 

 ripen. Although the average temperature of the spring and early summer 

 is somewhat lowered by the influence of the cold water of the lake, it has 

 the reverse effect during August, September, and October, so that the 

 average temperature of those months is about the same at Traverse City 

 as in Eaton and Clinton counties. 



ELEVATION AND EXPOSURE. 



Except in the southern part of the lake shore "peach belt" (and even 

 there it should not be entirely overlooked), it is of the utmost importance 

 that proper regard should be paid to the selection of a site for a peach 

 orchard. While we generally speak of elevation as being desirable, it is in 

 a relative sense, principally, that it is of value, as a location upon a hill- 

 side where the land slopes off gradually to a valley one hundred feet below 

 is far preferable to one on a level plateau, even though it be two or three 

 hundred feet higher. Cold air is heavier than warm and, if the conditions 



