20 STATE HOKTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



wind, or be in the vicinity of deep water." All correct, but then these four 

 buildings do not cool down in the absence of the sun like the earth, but radiate 

 the heat stored up in them during sunshine, just as deep water does. There is 

 no mystery about it, it all works just as straight and sure as the rule of three. 

 Buildings, just like water, heat up slower than earth in sunshine, but hold their 

 heat longer after sundown. 



My neighbor has some 20 acres of Concord grapes. His straight rows 

 of SO rods' length look beautiful when in leaf and fruit on his level ground. 

 When he bouglit his 30 acres then covered and surrounded with grubs and 

 debris he did not ask me or I should have told him that in the next 40 acres 

 north or Avest was ground much safer because less flat. No, he liked this nice 

 level plain where from any point he could overlook the entire patch. He did 

 not belong to any society, either horticultural, agricultural, or poniological ; 

 did not attend the meetings or read the reports. He was after grapes anyhow. 

 One year ago came a frost after the leaves were out that injured them badly. 

 Still they bore a considerable crop, but in September he tended fires around, 

 them night after night to save them and the papers lauded him foi* his sagacity. 

 A half-mile from there was an acre containing 10 or 12 varieties of grapes 

 on ground slightly sloping to the north (not the best slope for grapes), that 

 were untouched by frost spring or fall. Of this the papers said nothing. 

 Friend W. has 10 acres of Concord grapes on nearly a dead level protected on 

 three sides by trees and bushes. He had a middling crop in spite of some 

 damage by frost. A. had one and a half acres a mile west on land sloping 

 rapidly southeast down to a deep ravine and bayou of Muskegon Lake. They 

 not only escaped frost but the owner sold nearly SlOO worth before W.'s 

 were fit for market. Water is a great element, or rather compound, and 

 needs to be studied. I agree with the Kentuckian when he spoke of its vast 

 importance to the world, especially to the cause of navigation, without agree- 

 ing with him when he adds, "but it's poor stuff to drink." These deep bodies 

 of water that never freeze must necessarily modify the winter temperature of 

 all lands within their influence. These shallow, lacustrine bayous that freeze, 

 affect the spring temperature by absorbing heat while thawing, thus keeping 

 back and preventing premature development of fruit buds, while in the late 

 fall while freezing they throw off heat, thus lengthening the time for the 

 ripening of vegetation. But by choosing tlie location something can be done 

 away from large or small bodies of water to protect against frost. It has been 

 said ''the history of a word is often more interesting than the history of an 

 empire," and a popular writer says "the value of a word depends entirely upon 

 the degree of completeness with which it expresses the idea or the object to 

 which it owes its origin." On a former occasion I paid the highest compli- 

 ment I was capable of to the man (whoever he might be) who first used the 

 expression "atmospheric drainage." This expression is truly a " oimltum in 

 parvo,'^ and the man who understands fully its force is most truly the wiser for 

 it, and if he be a cultivator it will help him on througii life. 



I hope the friends of Benton Harbor, St. Joseph, South Haven, and neigh- 

 boring places have not expected much from this short essay for I dislike to cause 

 disappointment. Most surely they are more competent tu enlighten me on po- 

 niological subjects than I them. I appreciate the compliment to me intended by 

 the Secretary in inviting me to address you on this occasion, and with this kind 

 compliment I am fully rewarded for the effort it has caused me. 



Mr. Tate : I have the following memoranda upon grape vines as they came 

 through the winter, taken a few days since : 



