MICniGAX STATE I'OilOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 373 



is especially to be seen iu the cultivation of the grape there, 

 and also in Europe, and in our Northern States, where, under 

 the influence of snch seasons, neither the vine nor its fruit is 

 affected by disease of any kind. These conditions we have 

 noticed are also peculiarly advantageous for the formation of 

 fruit-buds, and the storing up of the necessary perfected food 

 for a future crop, and for the ripening of the wood, so neces- 

 sary that it may endure the winter with safety. 



II. DRAINING OF FRUIT LANDS. 



In conformity with the foregoing remarks, we see the im- 

 portance of thorough draining of our fruit lands, which pro- 

 duces in soils not naturally possessing them, the conditions 

 of warmth and dryness which we have named, thus rendering 

 the condition of the earth, in respect to warmth and dryness, 

 analogous to that of the air, of the importance of which we 

 have before spoken. Besides these advantages, is the thorough 

 aeration of the soil, wherebv it is enabled to absorb fertilizing 

 matter from the atmosphere, rain, and snow, and the moisture 

 evaporated from the springs below. Thus, paradoxical as it 

 may seem, the same means which guard against excessive wet 

 also serve to supply moisture in excessive droughts. How 

 aptly does the poet describe this condition : 



"In grounds by art made dry, the watery bane 

 Which mars the wholesome fruit is turned to use, 

 And drains, while drawing noxious vapors off, 

 Ser\-e also to diffuiie a full supply." 



III. PREPARATION AND CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL. 



Ic seems scarcely necessary, in this presence, to say that 

 thorough preparation and enrichment, of such soils as are not 

 already rich, is essential. Ordinary farm culture will not 

 produce the highest class of fruits; they must have garden cul- 

 ture, and with this they never fail. After this thorough prep- 

 aration, the cleaner the culture the better, at least iu our older 

 States, where the soils have been depleted by cropping. But 



