CLIMATE. 



ITS FAVORABLE CHARACTERISTICS, AS BEARING UPON FRUIT CULTURE. 



The acknowledged superiority of Michigan as a fruit growing State is"- 

 believed to be very largely due to the favorable character of its climate. It 

 is a well known fact that large bodies of water, especially if at the same time- 

 they are very deep, yield but slowly to the varying temperatures of the sea- 

 sons, holding in store in their depths a portion of the excessive warmth of 

 summer until wrung from them by the angry, biting blasts of winter; and, 

 by a reverse process, to some extent carrying a portion of the chill of winter 

 over into the spring. 



In southern Michigan the prevailing winds are southwesterly, reaching its 

 shores after having been subjected to the equalizing influences already men- 

 tioned, in passing over nearly one hundred miles of the open waters of Lake 

 Michigan, thus affording a partial exemption from the extremes of temper- 

 ature which often operate so disastrously upon the cultural, and especially 

 upon the pomological interests of the more western Stales. 



In speaking of this subject in connection with his climatological charts of 

 the State, Prof. A. Winchell, formerly State geologist, remarks: — 



" The sinuosities of the several (isothermal) lines will demonstrate at a 

 glance the peculiar character of the climate of Michigan, and the fact that, 

 both in summer and winter, it is better adapted to the interests of agricul- 

 ture and horticulture, and probably also to the comfort and health of its citi- 

 zens, than the climate of any other northwestern State. The marked pecu- 

 liarity of the climate of Michigan, in these respects, is attributable to the 

 influence of the great lakes, by which the State is nearly surrounded. It has- 

 long been known that considerable bodies of water exert a local influ- 

 ence in modifying climates, and especially in averting frosts, but it has- 

 never been suspected that Lake Michigan, for instance, impresses upon the- 

 climatic character of a wood region an influence that is truly comparable 

 with that exerted by the great oceans." 



An examination of the isotherms of average summer teinperature will de- 

 velop the fact that the line indicating a temperature of 69 degrees, which 

 crosses Lake Michigan in the latitude of Chicago (about 42 degrees), and 

 which, only seven degrees of longtitude farther west, is found in the valley 

 of the Red River of the North, at latitude 48 to 50 degrees, at the east of the 

 lake trends northward to latitude 44^ degrees, or a little s juth of Traverse. 



